Students at two Roswell high schools are suing the Roswell Independent School District after their rubber fetuses were confiscated and never returned.
Pro-life, and passionate, the students have passed out other items in their schools, including candy canes with Bible verses attached, without incident. Apparently, rubber babies, representing fetuses of about 12-weeks gestation, with Bible verses attached, were too offensive to the school staff.
The students are members of a group called Relentless in Roswell, part of Church on the Move. The group is not affiliated with any public schools. Part of their outreach to schools has included handing out chicken salad lunches, hot cocoa, affirmation rocks, and even candy canes with a detailed, religious statement attached. They were never reprimanded for any of these impromptu activities and never asked to get permission beforehand.
On January 29, 2010, the students went too far. They attempted to hand out cute, rubber fetuses with a Bible verse attached: "For you formed my inward parts; you wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works." Psalm 139, 13-14.
Surprisingly, school staff halted their handout and confiscated their dolls. Hundreds of them. And yet, some of the students attempted to distribute them again on February 11. At that point, both schools made public announcements that nothing could be distributed on school grounds without prior approval.
The Supreme Court has been generally hands off when it comes to free speech for our public school students. The Roswell Independent School District will have to prove that the students were somehow disrupting classroom activities by handing out their little fetuses. That's unlikely.
The fetus itself is not mangled, bloody, or otherwise distasteful. The Bible verse is not a condemnation, nor is it specific to the abortion issue (not that it would matter).
No word on whether or not the rubber fetuses make good erasers.
Comments
Love this story.
Just imagine the uproar if students had been handing out items with quotes from Robert Greene Ingersoll!
As much as I think what the students were attempting to communicate is ridiculous, I am very much for maintaining free speech. As long as these students were not disrupting any instructional time, I suppose there is no harm done, though there were likely more appropriate venues for such distributions.
read psalm 137:9 to find out what to do with this wonderful creation. You will be happy you did.
the school did the right thing.
And now middle schoolers got suspended for passing out free donuts to the teachers with bible verses on the boxes. They are taking God out of everything. How sad :(
I believe in the message, but not the method. This has completely ruined opportunities for ALL churches and organizations to do anything within the Roswell school district now. How can that be a good thing? Was there ever a consideration of the possibility that other religious groups would try to bring in their religious views? Besides, it's their right as well........just a thought.
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