The
Magnus Hirschfeld Center for Human Rights
Crosswicks House – Post Office Box 1974
Bloomfield, New Jersey U.S.A. 07003-1974
Telephone:
(973) 776-3901, Ext. 8684
Facsimile:
(973) 783-7404
E-mail: crosswix@hotmail.com
Internet: www.come.to/humanrights
Urgent Via Facsimile: (973)
628-8058
December 10, 2001
Dr. Richard M. Linkh
Superintendent of Schools
Wayne Township Public Schools
50 Nellis Drive
Wayne, New Jersey 07470
Dear Dr. Linkh:
The Magnus Hirschfeld
Center for Human Rights, founded in 1986, is an
internationally-based non-governmental organization engaged in legal
advocacy on behalf of human and civil rights, and in promoting the
observance of human rights standards internationally by governments and
governmentally-supported public agencies.
It has been brought to the Center’s
attention that there is or shortly will
be put in place at the Lafayette Elementary
School in your school system a
program of after-school religious instruction known as the “Good News Club”
and sponsored by the Child Evangelism
Fellowship. It is our understanding
that although students’ participation in this organization is voluntary and
subject to parental consent, there had nonetheless been a distribution of
recruitment materials to the school’s student population, during school
hours and by classroom teachers and other school staff. This, as I presume
you are aware, is a violation of several sections of title 2A of the New
Jersey Statutes, specifically the New Jersey Law Against
Discrimination (as
amended 1992).
In addition while the promotional
literature distributed for the Good News
Club at Lafayette Elementary School stresses the “non-denomination”
character of instruction and club activities, both the Good News Clubs and
their sponsoring organization, the Child Evangelism Fellowship, are
pointedly and exclusively reflective of a narrowly-held theological position
(known as “Evangelicalism”) within the broader Christian community, with
club participants being aggressively proselytized via the club's
instructional program.
The use of public facilities for
such an undertaking is not only unlawful,
it is morally reprehensible to both non-Christians and Christians of other
than the Evangelical tradition, a serious misuse of public educational
facilities and a grave disservice to all of the students in the Wayne school
system.
In
1992, the Supreme Court of the United States, on an appeal taken from the
New York State Court of Appeals upheld the decision of a local school board
in that state to refuse the foregoing organizations the use of public
educational facilities. In that case (Good News Club vs. Milford Central
School) the Court upheld the decision of the New York Second Circuit
District Court and quoted in extenso from literature published by the
plaintiffs, which in the Court’s view provided more than ample
substantiation of and justification for the local school’s decision to
refuse the groups’ access.
Milford, a rural farm community of
2,800 about 60 miles west of Albany, New
York, is one of numerous places around the country with a Good News Club.
These clubs usually meet for an hour once a week, with club leaders dividing
children into two camps: "saved" and "unsaved." Activities
include things
like reading Bible stories, singing Christian songs, playing Bible-themed
games and watching fundamentalist media presentations.
The Second District Court initially
upheld the school's refusal to allow the
club to meet owing to (inter alia) the fact that the Good News Club's sole
argument was that the First Amendment dictated that the Club could not
constitutionally be excluded from use of the Milford Central School
facilities. That Court, however, correctly found in both law and precedence
that restrictions on speech in a limited public forum will withstand First
Amendment challenges if they are reasonable and viewpoint neutral.
According to the Club, it was
unreasonable for the school to argue that
anyone might be confused to think that their presence and mission were
endorsed by the school itself, but the Court rejected this argument,
stating:
"it is a proper state
function to decide the extent to which church and
school should be separated in the context of the use of school premises. ...
The activities of the Club clearly and intentionally communicate Christian
beliefs by teaching and by prayer, and we think it eminently reasonable that
the Milford school would not want to communicate to students of other faiths
that they were less welcome than students who adhere to the Club's
teachings. This is especially so in view of the fact that those who attend
the school are young and impressionable."
As to the question of
"viewpoint neutrality," the Court rejected the
argument that the Club was simply presenting moral instruction from a
Christian viewpoint and that it should therefore be treated like others
clubs which present moral instruction from other viewpoints. The Club
offered examples of such organizations which are allowed to meet: Boy
Scouts, Girl Scouts, and 4-H, but the Court did not agree that the groups
were sufficiently similar.
According to the Court's judgment,
the activities of the Good News Club did
not involve merely a religious perspective on the secular subject of
morality. Instead, the Club meetings offered children an opportunity to
pray with adults, to recite biblical verse, and to declare themselves
"saved." The Club argued that these practices were necessary because
its
viewpoint is that a relationship with God is necessary to make moral values
meaningful. But, even if this were accepted, it was clear from the conduct
of the meetings that the Good News Club went far beyond merely stating its
viewpoint. On the contrary, the Club focused on teaching children how to
cultivate their relationship with God through Jesus Christ, the Supreme
Court holding that "Under even the most restrictive and archaic
definitions
of religion, such subject matter is quintessentially religious."
Of particular interest also are the
contents of the Child Evangelism
Fellowship's and Good News Club's "Statement of Beliefs,"
which follows:
"We believe:
1. That "All Scripture is
given by inspiration of God," by which we
understand the whole book called THE BIBLE; that it is inerrant in the
original writing and that its teaching and authority is absolute, supreme
and final. That the Holy Spirit guided the holy men of old in all that they
wrote. 2 Timothy 3:16; Deuteronomy 4:2; 2 Peter 1:21.
2. The Godhead eternally exists
in three persons -- the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, having the same nature, attributes
and perfection. Romans 1:20; Matthew 28:19; Deuteronomy 4:35; John 17:5.
3. The Personality and Deity of
the Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Holy
Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, truly God and truly man. John 1:1, 14;
10:30; Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:30, 31; Philippians 2:5-7; 1 Timothy 3:16;
Colossians 1:19.
4. The Personality and Deity of
the Holy Spirit, the source and power of all
acceptable worship and service, the infallible interpreter of the infallible
Word, who indwells every true believer and is ever present to testify of
Christ, seeking to occupy us with Him and not with ourselves or our
experiences. John 15:26; Acts 5:3, 4; 1:8; Romans 8:26, 27; 1 Corinthians
2:12, 14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 12:13; John 16:13, 14.
5. Man was created in the image
of God, after His likeness, as stated in the
Word of God, but the whole human race fell in the fall of the first Adam.
Not only was his moral nature grievously injured by the fall but he totally
lost all spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and subject
to the power of the devil. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it
is
not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are
in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:7, 8). Therefore, he cannot see
nor enter the kingdom of God until he is born again by the Holy Spirit. That
no degree of reformation however great, no attainment in morality however
high, no culture however attractive, no humanitarian and philanthropic
schemes and societies however useful, no baptism or other ordinance however
administered, can help the sinner to take even one step toward Heaven; but a
new nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit
through the Word is absolutely essential to salvation. Genesis 1:26, 27;
Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3; John 3:3; Titus 3:5.
6. That Jesus Christ became the
sinner's substitute before God and died as a
propitiatory sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. That He was made a
curse for the sinner, dying for his sins according to the Scriptures; that
no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no sincere
efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church can add in
the very least to the value of the precious blood or to the merit of that
finished work wrought for us by Him, who tasted death for every man.
7. In the resurrection of the
crucified body of Jesus Christ; that His body
was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures and the He ascended
into Heaven and sits on the right hand of God as the believer's high priest
and advocate. Luke 24:39; Acts 1:10-11; Ephesians 4:10; Hebrew 1:3; 1 John
2:1.
8. That Christ in the fullness
of the blessings He has secured by His death
and resurrection is received by faith alone and that the moment we trust Him
as our Saviour we pass out of death into everlasting life, justified from
all things, accepted before the Father according to the measure of His
acceptance, loved as He is loved and made one with Him. At the time of
acceptance of Christ as Saviour, He comes to dwell within the believer and
to live out His life of holiness and power through him. Hebrews 9:15; John
5:24; Romans 3:28; 4:3, 23-25; Ephesians 1:3; John 17:23; Galatians 2:20;
4:6-7; 5:16; Acts 1:8.
9. That the Church is composed
of all those who truly believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ as Saviour. It is the Body and bride of Christ. That every
believer, whether Jew or Gentile, is baptized into the Body of Christ by the
Holy Spirit and having thus become members of one another we are responsible
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above all
sectarian prejudices and denominational bigotry and loving one another with
a pure heart fervently. Ephesians 1:22, 23; 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 12:22-27;
1:10-13; Romans 12:4; Ephesians 4:3-6; 5:32; Philippians 2:1-5; Galatians
5:13-15.
10. That all believers in our
Lord Jesus Christ are called into a life of
separation from worldly and sinful practices and should abstain from such
amusements and habits as will cause others to stumble or bring reproach upon
the cross of Christ. Believers are created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially
unto them who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10). 1 John
2:15,
16; Romans 13:14; 14:13; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 2:10.
11. In the evangelization of the
world; that the supreme mission of the
people of God in this age is to preach the Gospel to every creature. That
special emphasis should be placed upon the evangelization of children. Mark
16:15; 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19; Matthew 18:14.
12. In the personal return of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; that the
coming again of Jesus Christ is the "blessed hope" set before us, for
which
we should be constantly looking. "Our citizenship is in heaven from whence
we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20). Acts
1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; John 14:1-3; Titus 2:13; Philippians 3:20,
21.
13. That the souls of those who
have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for
salvation do at death immediately pass into His presence, and there remain
in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming, when
soul and body reunited shall be with Him forever in glory. Luke 23:43; 2
Corinthians 5:8; Luke 16:22, 25; Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.
14. That the souls of the lost
remain after death in misery until the final
judgment of the great white throne, when soul and body reunited at the
resurrection shall be cast "into the lake of fire" which is "the
second
death," to be "punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of
the Lord, and from the glory of his power" (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9). Luke
16:22-23, 27-28; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:5, 11-15; 2 Thessalonians
1:7-9.
15. In the reality and
personality of Satan, "that old serpent, called the
devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world" (Revelation 12:9).
Ephesians 6:11, 12; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 20:10.
It should be pointed out that such
views as elaborated in the foregoing
"Statement of Beliefs" are not unusual in this group. CEF members (as
set
out in the group's own publications) are convinced that children as young as
the first grade and even kindergarten have the maturity to make 'faith
professions' in favor of fundamentalist Christianity. They stress that
their ultimate goal is to convince children to become "born again"
and make
declarations of having accepted Jesus as a personal savior.
At CEF events and in its Good News
Clubs, children are asked every day if
they want to make such a 'faith profession.'
They have even gone so far as to
create a "wordless book" of different
colored pages, aimed at converting children too young to read. Gold pages
represent gold in Heaven, black pages represent sin, red pages represent the
blood of Jesus, white pages represent a clean heart given to Jesus'
followers and green pages represent spiritual development.
CEF also aggressively promotes the
idea that a child can often provide the
opportunity for evangelizing the rest of the family.
According to one CEF statement:
"Many times the child's own
witness results in the salvation of parents. By
this contact with the child, the church can find the opportunity for
approaching the parents regarding their spiritual need."
If you or your staff are unfamiliar
with this case or with the specific
characters of the organizations involved, I would be more than happy to
provide you with pertinent materials for your examination.
The purpose of this letter is
twofold: firstly, to request that you
carefully reexamine
the decision to allow the Child Evangelism Fellowship
and the Good News Club access to the premises and facilities of the
Lafayette Elementary School, and secondly to inquire into the official
views
on this matter of the Wayne Township educational authorities before bringing
it before third parties in a public forum.
Given the timeliness of this matter
(amplified by the fact that a number of
parents of Lafayette students are meeting with yourself and other Township
of Wayne officials tomorrow), the favor of your promptest possible written
response to the foregoing is respectfully requested.
Very truly yours,
Wiliam A. Courson, FLLA
Executive Director
THE MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
cc:
Dr. Bernard Josefsberg
Ms. Cynthia Randino
Mr. Len Goduto
Mr. Christopher Vergano
Ms. Catherine Herman
Ms. Jo Ann Durr
Ms. Phyllis Gigantes
Ms. Ann Mary O'Rourke
Ms. Marlene Polinik
Ms. Cindy Simon
Mr. Charles Tucker
Mr. Lawrence Wilbur
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