Hi folks, this is the Roanoke Citizens Brigade - finally live and on the air after too long.
And what a place to start with, as one of our members received a "hang-tag" on their mailbox the other morning from a "new church."
Because - we obviously do not have enough as it is.
Well, upon further inspection of this litter, it states that the "preview worship service" will be held at Stonewall Jackson Middle, over in SE.
Pardon? Sunday service in a school? A City owned school?
Church - State? Never heard of it before, have ya?
Kudos to the school board for being ignorant as all "h-e-double hockeysticks" when it comes to basic standards of acceptability.
I do hope they are being charged obnoxious amounts of rent so the schools at least see some profit from something "technically" not supposed to happen on the grounds.
Not that I am one of these card-carrying ACLU members, but it is exactly this kind of thing that they look for - and that makes the area a laughing stock, embroils the schools in courtroom battles, and costs the taxpayers hundreds of thousands in legal fees/time wasted/billable hours.
Obviously I expect each child in Stonewall Jackson to have only the newest textbooks and equipment after renting the place out like that. If not - then what was the point?
Be back later..
2 comments:
I am the first person to scream for separation of church and state, but I would have no problem with a church, or any other organization using a school after hours or on weekends as a space to achieve their goals as long as 1) they rent it and pay for any upkeep necessary and 2) no residuals are left behind for the kids come monday morning. Really, if they do that, what's the big deal? Heck, it could even be a revenue stream for VA's Education Budget.
I agree with wearescott. If the schools can generate income from a building that would otherwise sit empty on the weekends, where is the harm? It's not as if they are forcing the students to attend the church service. It's a pretty big leap from renting the building to creationism in the classroom. This is pretty much a non-issue.
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