I remember how it was -- JR
Saturday, December 12, 2020
Kansas school cancels Operation Christmas Child after the Freedom From Religion Foundation complains
A Kansas middle school has canceled its participation in Operation Christmas Child after an atheist group wrote to the school district alleging the program “violates basic constitutional principles” of separation of church and state.
“While it is laudable for a public school to promote student involvement in the community by volunteering and donating to charitable organizations, the school cannot use that goal as an avenue to fund a religious organization with a religious mission,” Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) wrote in a Nov. 3 letter. “Certainly, there are other secular nonprofit organizations that offer charitable opportunities.”
After receiving FFRF’s letter, Tony Helfrich, superintendent of Pratt School District, responded in a letter of his own, saying he “investigated” the claims and learned that the mission of Operation Christmas Child was “more sectarian” than school authorities had realized. He also assured the atheist organization that the school would “discontinue” its participation in the shoebox program.
Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Christian international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, has reached 178 million children with shoebox gifts filled with toys, school supplies and hygiene items in more than 150 countries since 1993, according to its website. While the project provides tangible gifts for children and their families, Samaritan’s Purse also partners with local churches to present the Gospel to the children in their native language before distributing the boxes.
Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, addressed the controversy in an interview on “The Ingraham Angle”: “We don’t hide the fact that we’re Christians,” he said, “it’s on our website, we’re very upfront about our position and our faith.”
He encouraged the students of Liberty Middle School in Pratt, Kansas, to send their packed shoeboxes directly to Samaritan’s Purse since their school has decided to no longer take part in the Operation Christmas Child program.
“Even though your school doesn’t want to participate, you can participate,” Franklin said.
In addition to ceasing its support of Operation Christmas Child, FFRF called on the school to stop holding “See You at the Pole” events and to monitor the email of school employees, making sure staff members “remain neutral toward religion while acting in their official capacity.”
In a recent interview with The Christian Post, Edward Graham, son of Franklin Graham and assistant to the vice president of programs & government relations at Samaritan’s Purse, said “more kids have heard about Christ through these shoebox distributions than ever heard about Christ in stadiums with my grandfather.”
Samaritan’s Purse hopes to collect enough shoeboxes this year to reach at least 11 million children around the world.
Secretary DeVos: 'We’re Going to Have a Lost Generation' if We Don’t Get Kids Back to School
Secretary Betsy DeVos warned on Wednesday about the dangerous effects of continuing to keep school-age children out of in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The scientific data has repeatedly shown that with proper precautions in place, schools are rarely the site of mass COVID-19 infections. Despite the data, some states and teachers unions have continually pushed to keep school buildings closed and conduct virtual learning instead.
"We know so many of the private schools, parochial schools have been able to stay open for full-time learning, and it is the public schools, the inner-city schools that are shut, and those are the kids who are at home in some cases have two parents that go to work that are not overseeing their virtual at-home learning, and they are falling behind," Fox News host Sandra Smith said.
"Well, and we’ve heard so much discussion about the need for equity and equality. And these are the kids who are the ones that are being failed the most. The traditional public schools, with whom the teachers union have played politics, have kept these schools closed, have denied these kids the opportunity to continue their learning. It is shameful, and they have got to get back into the classroom," DeVos said. "We see it being done safely and without incident or minimal incident across the country, as you said in many private and charter schools, in schools around the world kids have got to be back in school. And we’re going to have a lost generation if we don’t heed that continued warning."
"The data shows that kids can safely be in school. They must be in school learning. And we have got to ensure that particularly the most vulnerable kids are able to access classrooms, are able to get back," DeVos continued. "You know, families with economic means have been able to figure alternatives out. We have got to empower those families. If these schools continue to refuse serving kids in-person, give the families the resources to find a place that will take care of their kids and their education."
France unveils law to fight Islamist radicalism by banning gender segregation at swimming pools and making school compulsory from age three
The French government unveiled a new law on Wednesday to fight Islamist radicalism that will ban gender segregation at swimming pools and make school compulsory from the age of three.
The project is being promoted by President Emmanuel Macron to root out what he calls 'separatists' undermining the nation.
France has suffered numerous Islamist terrorist attacks, including the gruesome beheading of a teacher in October who had showed his class cartoons of Islam's prophet, followed by an attack inside Nice's largest church that killed three.
The proposed legislation targets home schools, mosques or associations that promulgate an ideology running counter to French values, which authorities have called the 'Islamist hydra' that can cultivate violence in some.
Among notable measures, local authorities would no longer be able to enforce separate swimming sessions for men and women at local pools.
The bill also proposes making school obligatory from the age of three, allowing the option of home schooling in special cases only. The measure is aimed at ending so-called clandestine schools run by fundamentalists with their own agenda.
Another article encourages mosques to register as places of worship, so as to better identify them. Many of the nation's more than 2,600 mosques, which often have Quranic schools attached, currently operate under rules for associations.
In addition, a judge can forbid anyone convicted of provoking terrorism, discrimination, hate or violence from frequenting mosques.
Foreign funding for mosques, while not forbidden, would have to be declared if it exceeds 10,000 euros (£9,000).
With claims by some that the draft law is too soft, or a political manoeuvre by Macron ahead of 2022 presidential elections to capture followers on the far right, it is likely to see lively debate when it goes before Parliament in coming months.
The topic is delicate because of the large Muslim population in France, estimated at 5 million. The proposed law, with the title 'Supporting Republican Principles,' directly mentions neither Islam nor Islamism in an effort to avoid stigmatising Muslims.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, also in charge of faiths, said separately later that Macron has asked him to organise a parliamentary mission to fight anti-Christian, anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim acts.
'The hate of religion is increasing. It touches everyone. It hurts,' he said on BFMTV.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin speaks during a media conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday. Darmanin said he was asked by Macron to organise a parliamentary mission to fight anti-Christian, anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim acts +4
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin speaks during a media conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday. Darmanin said he was asked by Macron to organise a parliamentary mission to fight anti-Christian, anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim acts
Introducing the draft law to fight separatism, Prime Minister Jean Castex stressed that it 'is not a text against religions or against the Muslim religion in particular.' Instead, he said, it is 'a bill of freedom, a bill of protection, a bill of emancipation from Islamist fundamentalism' or other ideologies pursuing the same goals.
Castex, speaking at a news conference after the draft law was presented to Cabinet, said those who seek to 'divide, and spread hate and violence' are at the heart of 'separatism.'
Separatism is especially dangerous because it 'is the manifestation of a conscious, theorized, political-religious project with an ambition to make religious norms predominate over the law,' he said. France 'intends to defend itself,' Castex added.
The draft bill also makes changes to France´s much-cherished 1905 law separating church and state and guaranteeing a secular nation in order to modernize and clarify matters of faith, Castex said.
Changes in 'morals, practices and threats' make modifications necessary to the secularism law and an older 1901 law governing associations, the prime minister said.
In a section on human dignity, the draft law would make it a crime punishable by fines and up to one year in prison for a doctor to provide a young woman with a certificate that she's a virgin, sometimes demanded ahead of Muslim marriage ceremonies.
To do away with forced marriages, a measure requires the couple to meet separately for an interview with an official when there is a doubt about free consent. If the doubt persists, the official must take the issue to a prosecutor, who could forbid the marriage.
Those practising polygamy would be forbidden French residence cards.
Macron spelled out in a speech in October his reasons for wanting to tackle Islamist extremism in all its forms. He said extremists want 'to create a parallel order, build other values, develop another organisation of society, initially separatist but with a final goal of taking complete control.'
The beheading - by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee - in October of a teacher outside his school gave new urgency to ensuring French values. Social network users helped inform the attacker of the teacher´s location and other vital information.
The draft law creates a new crime for endangering others by disseminating information about people's private or professional life with the intention of identifying, locating and exposing the person or their family to an immediate danger.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said the measure was inspired by the teacher's killing.
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