Sorry, I borrowed most of the title from William F. Buckley Jr's. 1951 book, " God and Man at Yale." I read it back in the 1970s. In typical Buckley fashion, wordy and a bit about himself.
I appreciate it when I am sent information about the Buna Schools and this one, while on the surface appears like it might be alright, well, I wonder.
Allegedly, there are 3 churches that are meeting with the Buna ISD Supt. of Schools every week and the story is, they are according to my source, " Meeting to discuss prayer needs."
Now, as many of you know, I get up and pray every morning at 4AM. I have a prayer list and if you ask, or if I pray for you, I am letting you know.
Often, more than you know, I am asked not to pray for them, and most if not all, are not even on the list. And of course, I honor their wishes.
This however, is a government entity, meeting supposedly during school/business hours, with church leaders, allegedly, at a taxpayers school building, to discuss matters of faith.
Again, as most of you know, I am a theological school alumni, I am ordained in a form of Presbyterianism/Reform denomination, and while I had to let my future employer know I had been educated at a theological school( You have to let schools know what schools you have attended.) I never let you know I was ordained, nor had I served on church staffs.....
Let me remind you......
School districts in the State of Texas are government entities.....
They have elected officials.
They normally have the highest taxes of any local government entity in every county in the State if Texas...
And I know some of you have a poor history background, and I need to discuss this fact later, but this is why, in many cases, our ancestors left " The Old Country" "across the pond." To get away from the state( the government) from having influence on the church, and vice versa.....
It is why there are so many Baptists of every type of flavor in America. Most left England to worship without state interference. ( Not including " Independent" Baptists, there are 27 different denominations of Baptists in America alone.)
In America we have the Separation of Church and State- The legal and philosophical clause that keep government and religion district.
In the U.S., the concept is rooted in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which features two key clauses:
The Establishment Clause-Prohibits the government from establishing an official state religion, favoring one religion over another, or excessively entangling itself with religious bodies.
The Free Exercise Clause- Protects citizens' rights to practice their religion freely without government interference.
I do not think you understand, if this is true, my question is this, do the parents know this is occurring?
There are more people than you know, who have no religious affiliation in Buna than you know. And, they do not want to be associated with any religion.
When I was told about the denominations represented, I did not hear the names Pentecostal, Assembly of God, Church of Christ, Roman Catholic, LDS, or other churches, including smaller Baptist Churches....
I got questions-
If these meeting are true, has the school board been made aware?
Do parents know? And while most would be okay with it, there are many who are not, and they don't want unknown clergy praying for them, their family, as I had a parent years ago tell me, " Do we really know what that minister is asking Jesus? For them to convert from their own beliefs to another form of faith?" One more favorable, in the eyes of the minister.
It is typical Buna, just doing whatever they want....
You know, a Jane/John Doe lawsuit against the school district in Federal Court might answer some questions.
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