wrote:
:|>> The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that the state must not be
:|>> involved with religious issues.
:|>ambrosesearle@yahoo.com (ambrose searle AKS richard gardiner) wrote:
:|>Bullcrap. To "be *involved* with religious issues" is not prohibited
:|>by the high Court. For example, the teaching of religious issues has
:|>been explicitly allowed in public schools
:|>
:|>"School District of Abington Township v. Schempp," 374 U.S. 203, 225
:|>(1963).
Schempp was a strict separation victory.
However, reader beware, Gardiner AKA Searle is spinning his word ganes
again, part of his standard M.O.
School District Of Abington Township v. Schempp
374 U.S. 203 (1963)
by
Tae Courtney
Facts of the case:
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by law required that at the beginning of
each school day students were to read at least 10 verses from the Bible and
then recite the Lord’s Prayer. Students could not be excused from these
exercises unless they had a written note from a parent or guardian. These
exercises were followed by the flag salute and then announcements. All of
these exercises were held in the school buildings, under the local school
authorities, and during school sessions. The Schempp family was of the
Unitarian faith and the son and daughter attended Abington Senior High
School. The husband Edward Schempp testified that a literal reading of the
Bible presented religious doctrines “which were contrary to the religious
beliefs which they held, and to their family teaching”. Although the
religious exercises were voluntary, Edward Schempp chose not to have his
children excused from participation due to his belief that it would have a
negative affect on the children’s relationships with their teachers and
classmates.
Question Presented:
Whether or not the Pennsylvania law and Abington’s policy, requiring public
school students to participate in classroom religious exercises, violated
the religious freedom of students as protected by the First and Fourteenth
Amendments.
Decision:
The three-judge federal district court panel agreed with the Schempp
family, declaring that the statute violated the Establishment Clause of the
First Amendment as applied to the States by the Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment. The Abington Township School District then appealed.
When brought before the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court also ruled in
favor of the Schempp family. The Court found that the exercises were
essentially religious ceremonies supported by the State and therefore a
violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Since the
students were to read from the “Holy Bible”, a Christian document, the
Court said that the practice preferred the Christian religion. The fact
that a student could be excused from these religious ceremonies was
irrelevant since it did not prevent the school’s actions from violating the
Establishment Clause.
The Lemon Test:
In this case, the Supreme Court used what would become the first two parts
of the Lemon Test in order to reach a decision. The law issued by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had to have a secular purpose (first part) and
its primary effect could not be to advance or inhibit a religion (second
part).
Ed Schempp recently died, he was 95.
POSTED WITH PERMISSION FROM HIS SON
Jim
My father died last Saturday morning. I was up in New Hampshire in the
White Mountains, and I thought this is what he would have wanted,
surrounded
by beauty of nature. Did you see the lunar eclipse? My mother and sister
were with him, and they recited poetry and sang songs and spoke to him and
held his hands, although there was no way of knowing if he knew this. We
said good-bye in our different ways. A Japanese Haiku poem says: "The
purity of the moonlight is such that it freezes the water it touches." I
spent some time with candles and wine.
We will have a little memorial service for him in Philadelphia on Nov. 30
when I am giving the sermon at the church where I was raised. We will have
a more formal service next Feb 29, because he was a leap year boy, and 2004
is a leap year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edward L. Schempp died November 8 at age 95. Ed was a member of the
Germantown Unitarian Church from 1943, later was a co-founder of the
BuxMont
UU Fellowship, later a member of the Cherry Hill (NJ) and Starr King (CA)
UU churches. He is survived by Sidney, his wife of 69 years, his children
Ellery, Roger, and Donna. He was a staunch supporter of humanist thought
and ideals.
Ed always encompassed humanists, atheists, freethinkers, as well as
believers of one stripe or another, in his thoughts, and he loved us all;
he had little patience with the 'hide-bound' and loved to twit them; and in
song, he could sing any traditional hymn with glory in his heart. He
agreed
with humanists, but loved Sunday song and a thought-provoking talk.
A dedicated UU for 'liberal religious thought', he was deeply interested in
social justice, civil rights, civil liberties, in issues of separation of
church and state, and humanist values. In 1963, the Supreme Court decided
Abington vs. Schempp, a landmark decision that found ritual Bible-reading
in
the public schools a violation of the First Amendment's clause prohibiting
"establishment of religion", pursued with the assistance of the ACLU, of
which he was a proud life-long member.
In 1984, responding to a call from the UUA to summarize UU concepts, his
words were selected as encapsulating UU values. These were published by
Beacon Press and circulated on purple postcards:
"Unitarian Universalism is a fierce belief in the way of freedom and
reverence for the sacred dignity of each individual. With Jefferson we
'have sworn eternal hostility against every tyranny over the mind'.
"Unitarian Universalism is cooperation with a universe that created us. It
is a celebration of life. It is being in love with goodness and justice.
It is a sense of humor about absolutes.
"Unitarian Universalism is faith in people, hope for tomorrow's child,
confidence in a continuity that spans all time. It looks not to a perfect
heaven, but toward a good earth. It is respectful of the past, but not
limited to it. It is trust in growing and conspiracy with change. It is
spiritual responsibility for a moral tomorrow."
Ed Schempp received numerous awards, including recognition from the
American
Humanist Association, Americans United, the Freedom from Religion
Foundation, the Philadelphia Freethinkers, and others. The Supreme Court
decision of 1963 serves as a lasting tribute to his 'fierce belief' in
freedom and his love to twit the fundamentalists.
As a personal note, I also mention his love for science and for beauty in
music and nature. Dad inspired in us wonderment in the natural world and
introduced us to the splendors of our National Parks, of our gardens
[excepting squirrels], of the world around us. My adventures and love for
music and other beauties started with his inspiration.
We mourn his passing but remember the light that he shined.
Ellery
*************************************
[ I added this to the original ]
The memorial to Ed Schempp for those who din't know anything about him or
what he accomplished:
Abington School District v. Schempp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abington_School_District_v._Schempp
wrote:
:|You mendacious little twit! Nobody, including you, thinks that your
:|above writing fairly represents what I was saying. Have you always
:|been a compulsive liar?
:|
Yes he has. At least as long as he has been posting in Usenet as himself
(Richard Gardiner -- 3/99 to 9/00) and as Ambrose Searle (5/01-7/01 and
earlier in 03 and now fairly steady for several months)
Just so you know who and what you are dealing with:
**************************
Now for Ambrose Searle AKA Richard Gardiner's rambling discourse I add
this:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[as Gray Shockley said:]
(Your "opinion" is not an adequate citation.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dave Thompson" said to another but it can be applied to Ambrose Searle
AKA Richard Gardiner as well
Ummmm, you are a historical troll that has been posting this dreck for a
while now. It doesn't matter if you stopped for a while or not. None of
your posts are new, they're just the same thing you've posted before and
have been shown to be baseless. You obviously don't like it when you've
been caught right in the beginning. I'm sure it won't stop you but at least
it serves notice to others that aren't familiar with you who they are
dealing with.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take anything that Ambrose Searle aka Richard Gardiner types with a grain
of salt. As he has demonstrated time and time again in the past of several
years ago, the past of a year and half ago and finally quite recently,
truth and him with regards to posting are not on speaking terms.
MY EVIDENCE:
*************************
Gardiner AKA Searle's church state posting history covering 3-99 to 902,
5/02 - 7/02 and this current year
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N16F22596
http://snurl.com/2ws8
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q54F21596 (up to date as of 11/18/03)
*************************
http://makeashorterlink.com/?I2AF32596
http://snurl.com/2wsb
*************************
.
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