RWNJs Are Misleading Public Schools To Preach Christian Message To Students (VIDEO)

The Todd Becker Foundation (TBF)  gave a lecture about drinking and driving to a public school last spring. They charged the school $1,500 for it.

Here’s the kicker: the topic may have been secular, but the organization is Christian. They made the secular speech during the school assembly, then they invited students to a second assembly outside of school hours. They used this assembly to preach to the students who came.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a statement that the students were told that homosexuality is a sin and they were invited to:

“kneel at the front of the room and welcome Christianity into their lives.”

According to the TBF site:

“That same evening, another separate assembly is put on where the touring band ‘Chye’ puts on a concert and an entirely different story and message is presented. This evening event is largely a faith-based, Christian message.”

Not only were they preaching Christianity, they told Mormon children that they are practicing the wrong type of Christianity. One parent got upset when a TBF member handed a child a book telling him why Mormons are wrong.

The Iowa chapter of the ACLU sent a letter to the school district warning against these scams.

Rita Bettis, legal director for the ACLU of Iowa, said:

“The way this school assembly was conducted reasonably led some parents and students to feel hurt, discriminated against, and that their religious freedom rights under the First Amendment had been violated. While there is no indication that school officials intentionally exposed students to the religious and discriminatory messages at school, students and parents who did not adhere to the same religious beliefs as the presenters felt ostracized on account of their own religious views. What’s more, the message conveyed to some children at school was one of unacceptable discrimination against them on account of their sexual orientation.”

These types of groups need to keep their preaching out of public schools.

Here is a video about one of their “testimonials:”

Featured image by David Goehring via Flickr, available under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Hi, I'm from Huntsville, AL. I'm a Liberal living in the Bible Belt, which can be quite challenging at times. I'm passionate about many issues including mental health, women's rights, gay rights, and many others. Check out my blog weneedtotalkaboutmentalhealth.com