New Jersey Portrays Christians as Terrorists
N.J. School Portrays Christians as Terrorists[:(!]
A New Jersey high school has sparked outrage by staging a mock school shooting and hostage drama - with right-wing religious fundamentalists as the gunmen.
In late March, the Burlington Township High School - in an effort to prepare students for a real-life crisis - staged the mock attack,with two police detectives portraying angry Christian men armed with handguns[V]. They entered the school with force, pretended to gun down students in the hallways, then took 10 students hostage and barricaded themselves in the school's media center.
The fake gunmen were described as "members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the `New Crusaders' who don't believe in the separation of church and state."
The men were purportedly seeking revenge because the daughter of one of them had been expelled for praying before class.[It would have been ok if they were facing east](elv)
Before the exercise, Superintendent Chris Manno said that students and teachers needed "to practice under conditions as real as possible . . . in order to evaluate our procedures and plans so that they're as effective as possible," according to the American Center for Law & Justice.
The ACLJ is a public interest law firm that seeks to protect the constitutional rights of citizens, particularly in regard to religion.
Bob Pawson, National Coordinator of the Scriptures in Schools Project and a public school teacher in Trenton, called the exercise a "grotesque scenario saturated with Christian-bashing prejudice and bigotry, a scenario which could never possibly occur.
"Because, as all Burlington school officials know full well, it is perfectly legal for any student or staff member to pray in a public school," Pawson wrote for WDC Media News. "They know that no student can ever be expelled for praying before class."
In a letter to Superintendent Manno, the ACLJ declared: "Many Christian students, parents, and members of the community were stunned and appalled by the school's mockery of their religious beliefs . . .
"It is both inappropriate and unconstitutional for a public school to single out one religious group for negative, disparaging treatment. We demand an official apology by the Burlington Township School District."
WHERE IS THE aclu or do they only protect "sandspooks"?[:0](elv)
A New Jersey high school has sparked outrage by staging a mock school shooting and hostage drama - with right-wing religious fundamentalists as the gunmen.
In late March, the Burlington Township High School - in an effort to prepare students for a real-life crisis - staged the mock attack,with two police detectives portraying angry Christian men armed with handguns[V]. They entered the school with force, pretended to gun down students in the hallways, then took 10 students hostage and barricaded themselves in the school's media center.
The fake gunmen were described as "members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the `New Crusaders' who don't believe in the separation of church and state."
The men were purportedly seeking revenge because the daughter of one of them had been expelled for praying before class.[It would have been ok if they were facing east](elv)
Before the exercise, Superintendent Chris Manno said that students and teachers needed "to practice under conditions as real as possible . . . in order to evaluate our procedures and plans so that they're as effective as possible," according to the American Center for Law & Justice.
The ACLJ is a public interest law firm that seeks to protect the constitutional rights of citizens, particularly in regard to religion.
Bob Pawson, National Coordinator of the Scriptures in Schools Project and a public school teacher in Trenton, called the exercise a "grotesque scenario saturated with Christian-bashing prejudice and bigotry, a scenario which could never possibly occur.
"Because, as all Burlington school officials know full well, it is perfectly legal for any student or staff member to pray in a public school," Pawson wrote for WDC Media News. "They know that no student can ever be expelled for praying before class."
In a letter to Superintendent Manno, the ACLJ declared: "Many Christian students, parents, and members of the community were stunned and appalled by the school's mockery of their religious beliefs . . .
"It is both inappropriate and unconstitutional for a public school to single out one religious group for negative, disparaging treatment. We demand an official apology by the Burlington Township School District."
WHERE IS THE aclu or do they only protect "sandspooks"?[:0](elv)
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Singling out any religious group to stand in as your fake terrorist is going to bring you grief because you're going to upset anybody even closely allied with whatever group you choose.
But I fail to see how any civil liberties were breached.
It was a really, really dumb move. It was also really, really, not PC, and that's the real issue that's getting people riled up as far as I can tell. If it makes you mad and it wasn't a breach of civil liberties, then how can it be anything other than not PC enough?
If anybody can explain to me where a civil liberty was breached, I'll appreciate it.
All I see is a simulation of an action by a group that does not exist. But by choosing a religion for that group, the NJ school stepped on a lot of toes, and they will, no doubt, pay for it.
Maybe for their 'terrorists' they should have chosen the cult of the Flying Spaghetti Monster instead.0 -
"Bob Pawson, National Coordinator of the Scriptures in Schools Project and a public school teacher in Trenton, called the exercise a "grotesque scenario saturated with Christian-bashing prejudice and bigotry, a scenario which could never possibly occur".
Neither could blowing up abortion doctors or the Atlanta Olympics, but it did. What about the guy who killed the little Amish girls at that PA school?
The senario probably should have left religion completely out in hindsight.0 -
I think this is supposed to be where a bunch of us have a "peaceful" riot and jump around like a bunch of monkeys, all the while chanting that the superintendent should be killed. We should burn effigies of the school board, and the mayor too for good measure. 0
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