TRI In The News

Bible Ban Case May Go to Supreme Court

From the OneNewsNow
Original article available here.

The Rutherford Institute is asking the Supreme Court to hear a case in which a Bible reading was banned from school.

The Institute is representing Donna Busch who was invited to read the Bible to her son's class in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. John Whitehead, founder of The Rutherford Institute, summarizes the case, which began in October 2004.

"They had a week where the child in the kindergarten class could read their favorite book -- and his favorite book was the Bible, and she wanted to read a few passages from the Psalms," Whitehead explains. "It wasn't anything about Jesus or whatever. It was one of those Psalms that talks about God, but it's not overtly religious."

Busch went to the school on the scheduled day, but ran into a problem upon arriving. "The principal actually met her at the school door, knew she was coming, and said she couldn't bring the Bible in the school," he says. "But [the principal] said they could go ahead and read from another book, a Halloween book -- which many people consider Halloween a religious holiday because it deals with spirits and ghosts -- but you couldn't read from the Bible."

Whitehead adds that kind of hostility toward religion should never be found in an American public school. The case was lost in lower courts, so The Rutherford Institute is asking the Supreme Court to take the case.