CHURCH LEADERS reports that Heather Rooks, a school board member with the Peoria Unified School District in Glendale, Arizona, has filed a federal lawsuit against the district after being instructed to stop quoting from the bible during board meetings. The lawsuit alleged that her rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion have been infringed – in violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
Ms. Rooks is a Christian who attends a large nondenominational church and has served as a board member of the Peoria Unified School District since January of 2023. She is being represented by the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and the First Liberty Institute, a Texas-based conservative legal organization.
The CHURCH LEADERS article may be read HERE.
According to a recent Baptist Standard article, Ms. Rook’s lawsuit claims that quoting brief bible passages at board meetings without further comment does not violate the First Amendment’s prohibition against the establishment of religion, but is instead part of the “longstanding tradition of government officials solemnizing public occasions in this way” for all religious backgrounds, not just Christians quoting the bible.
The Baptist Standard article may be read HERE.
My brothers and sisters, the world continues to attempt to eradicate Christian faith from our society, and specifically from our government and schools.
Ms. Rook’s situation is another example of an all-too-common perception by many that speaking of the Christian faith is tantamount to establishing a mandatory “religion” in our government.
Worse yet, many seem to believe that speaking of the Christian faith is somehow representative and condoning of bigotry, hate and racism. This could not be further from the truth and is a lie of the evil one!
Bigotry, hate and racism are of Satan and the bible is clear that Jesus IS LOVE – not any of those other evil attributes. It is from the hearts of men and women that evil proceeds, not from our holy and loving God, and His word. It is the non-reverential fear of God’s holiness that brings out (manifests) the fear and anger causing some to become angry, and to demand that bible references be banned from public discussion!
1 John 4:7-8 (NKJV)
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love (emphasis mine).”
Matthew 15:18-19 (NKJV)
“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”
Praise Jesus forevermore!
