| Christian Persecution 2 | |
The trial for the Herdahl's lawsuit took place in March 1996. Testimony revealed that the standard Bible course was not *about the Bible, but was instead instruction in how the interpret the Bible. The instructor taught the Bible as being literally true and without any error whatsoever. Children were encouraged to be saved and give themselves to Jesus Christ.
One seventeen-year-old senior who was called by the school to testify that she had never seen the Herdahl children experience embarrassment or harassment because of their refusal to participate in the religious exercises. Upon examination, however, she admitted to having written a letter to the local paper which read, in part, "I hope Lisa Herdahl knows what she's done. She'll pay for it in the long run."
On June 3, Judge Biggers issued his ruling, deciding for the Herdahl family on almost all the issues. He entered a permanent injunction against the loudspeaker and classroom prayers, once again rejecting the school board's defenses. He also ruled that the Bible classes and the use of religious video tapes in American history classes unconstitutionally promoted religion.
This entire case was both disturbing and sickening. Christians, who claim to be practicing a religion of "love" which provides a superior basis for morality, engaged in or actively supported the harassment and persecution of other Christians. They claimed that organizations like the ACLU are controlled by communists and push an anti-Christian agenda, but it is these organizations which provided legal and emotional aid to the persecuted Christians.
And what of the Christian organizations themselves? Well, there is Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice - a sort of religious version of the ACLU which claims to defend Christians who are persecuted because of their faith. Did the ACLJ come to the defense of the Herdahls? Certainly not - the ACLJ is busy defending children who are allegedly persecuted for bringing their Bible to school and other, similar problems
But are there children who are harassed because of their Bibles? Are their children who have their lives threatened because they pray? Are there children whose parents receive regular death threats because they want their children to attend a church? No - such events don't happen in America.
When children have a problem because of their Bible, it is usually because of an overzealous administrator who thinks they are doing the right thing. With a phone call and legal advice, the problem can be solved. But the persecution at issue in this and the previous article are not the work of over-zealous administrators or simple misunderstandings. They are, instead, the orchestrated work of an entire community.
One last thing from Lisa Herdahl, which should give Christians pause:
Once, one of my chldren asked me if the people at the school and in town who were making things so hard for us were Christians. I said that they were. He replied that in that case, he didn't want to be Christian because he didn't want to be like them. I did my best to explain, but as a parent and a Christian, that disturbed me very much.
Next page > Introduction > Page 1, 2, 3, 4
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