The Magnus Hirschfeld Centre for Human Rights

Crosswicks House, Post Office Box 1974  Bloomfield, New Jersey USA 07003 Tele/Facsimile: (862) 823-1767   E-Mail: HumanRights@post.com

WAYNE, NEW JERSEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO PERMIT RELIGIOUS PROSELYTIZING TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Wayne Township is an affluent municipality in northern New Jersey's Passaic County with a substantial population of residents belonging to other than Christian religious traditions.  In spite of their Township's religious and cultural diversity, Wayne's educational authorities plan to allow an aggressively proselytizing, right-wing, fundamentalist Christian group access to their elementary schools.  The group, the Child Evangelism Fellowship, has an avowed aim of using young children as an introit to proselytizing families.  In spite of this, in spite of the fact that the group's promotional literature was unlawfully distributed by school personnel on school time, in spite of the protests of parents, in spite of the fact that regular procedures for the approval of such on-site activities were circumvented by the group's representative, and in spite of the admission by Wayne authorities that their initial approval of the group was "a mistake", still it appears that Wayne's schoolchildren will soon be divided into "saved" and "unsaved" camps. Letters to the Wayne Township Public Schools (thus far the program, known as "Good News Clubs" has been initiated in only one school, the Lafayette Elementary School) and to the Wayne Board of Education are urgently needed to avoid having the Constitutional wall of seperation between Church and State being trampled by missionaries with an agenda.

Links to Pertinent Websites:

READ THE LETTER OF DEC. 10th, 2001 FROM THE HIRSCHFELD CENTRE'S DIRECTOR TO THE WAYNE SUPERINTENDANT OF SCHOOLS - CLICK HERE

READ ABOUT THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISION IN THE CASE OF GOOD NEWS CLUB v. MILFORD CENTRAL SCHOOL - CLICK HERE

READ AN ANALYSIS OF GOOD NEWS CLUB v. MILFORD CENTRAL SCHOOL BY AMERICANS UNITED FOR THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH & STATE - CLICK HERE

VISIT THE HOME PAGE OF THE CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP - CLICK HERE

VISIT THE HOME PAGE OF THE CEF'S "GOOD NEWS CLUBS" - CLICK HERE

READ AN INTERESTING ARTICLE - FROM A SECULAR PERSPECTIVE - ON RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS - CLICK HERE

VISIT THE HOME PAGE OF AMERICANS UNITED FOR THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH & STATE - CLICK HERE

VISIT THE HOME PAGE OF THE WAYNE TOWNSHIP PUBLIC SCHOOLS SYSTEM - CLICK HERE

Please write to the Wayne Township school superintendant and Board of Education members to urge them to respect the law of the land and the expressed will of their students' parents.  Urge that they immediately rescind the decison to allow this aggressively proselytizing group access to Wayne's elementary school-children.

VISITORS SINCE NOVEMBER 1, 2001

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