Paul: I condemn acts of bigotry directed at Jewish students (or at any student regardless of their faith). That is clear and unambiguous.
The question of sharing Christ and His salvation with non-Christians, however, is not an act of anti-Semitism. Indeed, if a person believes that Hell is real and there is only one way to be saved, that person would be guilty of anti-Semitism if he or she refrained from sharing the good news with his or her Jewish classmates. Of course, once your friend says "no, thanks," you should not harass or in any way impose your beliefs on the unwilling listener. But respectful sharing of the Gospel is not anti-Semitic behavior.
As you know, I don't like public schools. I wish we had school choice. But if we are going to effectively force 85% of our children to attend public schools, one of the consequences of that decision is that children will be exposed to ideas that they (or their parents) don't like. Whether it is hip hop music, discussions about the latest sexual exploits of the Desperate Housewives, or the Gospel of Jesus Christ, our kids will be exposed to new ideas that challenge what they are taught at home. And often on this list I am told that that is one of the blessings of public education-- it is good that we learn from and about others with different beliefs and different cultures and different notions of the good life.
If you force Christian kids to attend public schools by means of the monopoly of funding, then you must accept that some of them will share Jesus with their non-Christian friends, not because they hate their friends, but because they love them and care about them. For many Christians, the public schools are a missions field and they (the Christian students) are missionaries following the Great Commission.
Rick Duncan
Paul Finkelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Paul Finkelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The student who had the door slammed in her face told me and others in
our Temple; her family is the only Jewish family in the school (outside
of Tulsa) and her parents did not dare allow the community relations
council in our larger community to intervene for fear their daughter
might be harmed. In other schools there have been concerted efforts by a
few evangelical churches to convert Jewish kids, bothering them
(harassing them?). THe kids doing the converting get special training
from their church. No offence to anyone out there, but I think it is
blatantly Anti-Semitic when someone sets up a plan to convert Jewish
kids in school. Similarly, my daughter was told by a private pre-school
(called the Little Lighthouse) for disabled kids that while she could
volunteer there (she did for three years and won an award from the city
! as volunteer of the year!) they would not hire her because of her
religion. Does that count as blatant anti-Semitism? Six years ago
someone interrupted our Yom Kippur services by standing in the back of
our Temple and shouting out that we should accept Jesus. We declined,
and the local prosecutor unfortunately declined to consider charging him
with any crime.
Scarberry, Mark wrote:
> I would like to know how solid Paul's information is on this occurrence.
> I don't live in Oklahoma (though my father's family left there during
> the Depression), but I'd think such blatant anti-Semitism would be very
> unusual there.
>
>
>
> I'd also be interested in Michael's reaction to the nomination to the
> Supreme Court of another Catholic by our evangelical Protestant
> President. If the Protestant empire is alive and well, why no Protestant
> outcry after the replacement of an evangelical Protestant nominee
> (Harriet Miers) with a Catholic nominee who, if confirmed, would give
> Catholics an absolute majority on the Court?
>
>
>
> Mark S. Scarberry
>
> Pepperdine University School of Law
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Newsom Michael [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 11:53 AM
> To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
> Subject: RE: FYI: An Interesting "See You at the Pole" Case
>
>
>
> Do we know, for a fact, that the "uninformed bigotry" is limited to the
> one student?
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From: Brad M Pardee [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 2:06 PM
> To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
> Subject: Re: FYI! : An Interesting "See You at the Pole" Case
>
>
>
>
> Zealotry? How is a group of kids meeting together to pray qualify as
> zealotry? And how does one child's uninformed bigotry have anything to
> do with whether or not kids meet together to pray? Surely you're not
> suggesting that kids should hide their faith at school, as though it was
> something to be ashamed of.
>
> Brad
>
> Paul Finkelman wrote on 10/31/2005 12:38:45 PM:
>
>> WHere I live (Oklahoma) some teachers in some public schools take
>> attendance at the "See you at the Polls" meetings and some give extra
>> credit for those who attend. Students who do not attend are often
>> shunned by others. In one school a young man was holding the door for
>> students to enter the school but then closed it in the face of a girl,
>> saying, "I do not hold the door for Jews." This ! is not a school
>> sanctioned act -- rather it is the act of a student, but it does
>> illustrate the social climate created by bringing religious zealotry to
>> the school.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
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--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 East 4th Place
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-2499
918! -631-3706 (office)
918-631-2194 (fax)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________________
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Rick Duncan
Welpton Professor of Law
University of Nebraska College of Law
Lincoln, NE 68583-0902
"When the Round Table is broken every man must follow either Galahad or Mordred: middle things are gone." C.S.Lewis, Grand Miracle
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered." --The Prisoner
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