Genesis Of Controversy: Report On Gideons’ Bible Distribution Is A Revelation
When was the last time you read about a Muslim group passing out copies of the Quran to fifth graders?
When I was in college, we could always tell when the relentless western Pennsylvania winter was finally losing its grip by two key events: A roving evangelist would appear on campus and scream at women he thought were immodestly attired, and the Gideons would stand outside the cafeteria and pass out copies of the New Testament.
I didn’t mind taking one. After all, I was an adult and it was my choice. But in looking it over, I noticed one thing: The first few pages emphasized the passage John 3:16. Many fundamentalists see this verse as the key to becoming “born again.”
John 3:16 is so important to the Gideons that in their Bibles, they list it in several languages. I was impressed because I had never heard of Sinhalese before, let alone seen an example. Alongside this was information about what the Bible says about sin, family life, Heaven and Jesus Christ – all reflecting a fundamentalist perspective.
My point is that the Gideon Bible isn’t just a Bible. It’s a certain type of Bible, one that reflects a fundamentalist interpretation of that book.
It’s one thing to get a version of the Bible intended to persuade you to change your religion at a public college. It’s quite another to get one in fifth-grade at a public school.
Yet that’s what happens in many parts of the country every year. Despite court rulings striking down the school-sanctioned distribution of Bibles in public schools, the practice goes on – much to the detriment of parents’ rights and students’ religious liberty.
Recently, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas issued an investigative report on Gideons activity in the Lone Star State. The findings are illuminating.
ACLU staff attorney Fleming Terrell sent open-records requests to 10 Texas school districts. He reported that the distribution of Gideon Bibles in public schools not only raised constitutional concerns but also disrupted the educational activities of the schools.
The report, “Distribution of Gideon Bibles in Texas Public Schools: Impact on Students’ Religious Liberty,” lists some of the problems these school districts experienced. They include:
* Students at Vines High School in Texas were inundated with Bibles – so many that some students threw them at one another, ripped out pages and, in one case, used a page to roll a joint.
* In Frisco and Plano intermediate schools, Jewish students reported being harassed because they did not take Bibles. At Frankford Middle School, students asked a Jewish classmate if he would die if he touched a Bible and threw copies at him.
* Also at Frisco, Gideons worked behind the scenes with the system’s director of communications to distribute Bibles in 13 schools without the principals’ knowledge. Not surprisingly, an uproar promptly erupted.
The report highlights other problems, such as school officials pressuring students to take Bibles even if they don’t want them and schools giving Gideons preferential access. (When was the last time you read about a Muslim group passing out copies of the Quran to fifth graders?)
The report includes a series of recommendations. It notes that many of the school districts have policies in place curbing the distribution of material by outside groups. These rules were apparently bent to accommodate the Gideons.
The ACLU report states, “These incidents underscore the danger of school districts creating the appearance that they favor the Gideons’ brand of religion over others when they permit Gideon Bible distribution. They also expose districts to potential legal liability for violating the Establishment Clause or turning a blind eye to harassment against religious minorities.”
Bingo.
I’d like to add one other thought: When schools allow the Gideons access to young students to distribute Bibles, they are usurping parental rights.
As a college student, I was old enough to make decisions about religion on my own. A fifth grader lacks that level of maturity, and that’s why most parents see instruction about religion as such an important part of their duties. Naturally, parents want to pass along the religious or philosophical views they hold.
School-sanctioned distribution of Bibles interferes in that relationship. Public schools simply have no right to do that.
There are plenty of ways for the Gideons to disseminate their Bibles, such as using street-corner stands, booths at community events or even door-to-door visits.
The public schoolhouse door should remain firmly closed to them.