AdvanceUSA
has obtained an email by the radical liberal group Americans United for the
Separation of Church and State (AU) calling on charter schools to cease
religious activity. Apparently the AU would rather protect the total
“separation of church and state” which cannot be found in the Constitution,
rather than the First Amendment which can be found in the Constitution. Here
is a press release from AU.
Below is
the text of the AU email:
September 19, 2007
Americans United Calls on Washington,
D.C., Charter School
to Cease Religious Activities
School-Sponsored Religion At Washington Latin
School Violates
Constitution, Says Church-State Watchdog Group
A Washington,
D.C., charter school that
conducts graduations and other school gatherings in a church sanctuary and
whose headmaster leads students in prayer is running afoul of the First
Amendment, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Americans United has warned that school-sponsored
religious activities at Washington
Latin School
violate the principle of church-state separation and urged officials to cease
conducting school gatherings in church settings and leading students in prayer.
“Parents, not school officials, are responsible for their
children’s religious upbringing,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn,
executive director of Americans United. “The blatant melding of religion and public education at Washington Latin School
must cease.”
In a letter to Washington Latin officials and the District
of Columbia Public Charter School Board, Americans United cites parents’ complaints over the school’s convocations, graduations and
daily morning meetings that are held in the sanctuary of Christ Church
on Embassy Row. It also notes the headmaster’s leading of students in prayer.