BIBLE BANNED IN N.J. CLASSROOM Teacher Calls It “Inappropriate” for Quiet Time (Alan Reinach is in Pacific Time)
It’s that time of day in Old Bridge, New Jersey, when Madison Park Elementary’s 3rd grade students are to sit quietly and read to themselves. But when Mariah Jordat decided to take out her Bible and read, her teacher ordered her to put it away . . . Not in her desk. In her backpack, to return home for good.
The teacher called the Bible “inappropriate” reading material for school. And so did the school’s principal when Mariah’s mother, Michelle, heard about the incident from her daughter and complained. It wasn’t until Michelle took it to the next level and went to the superintendant that the school backpedaled and apologized to the Jordats.
Nonetheless, the issue of separation of church and state morphing into a mindset of discrimination, censorship and violations of 1st Amendment rights is hardly over. Attorney Alan Reinach, President of the North American Religious Liberty Association–West, can attest to that.
He’s available for interviews to comment on this case in New Jersey, as well as others like it occurring across the country, and offer his perspective on the bigger picture that is a secular takeover of public schools.
Even the Madison Park Superintendant confirmed the school has no policy that would prevent Mariah from reading the Bible during quiet time. And, yet, neither the teacher nor the principal hesitated to order the book off school grounds.
Reinach says, in many cases, the Constitutional and moral injustice happens regardless of school policies when the contempt for religion has become systemic in our public institutions. So, the fight continues . . . even at Madison, where Michelle Jordat intends to consult an attorney herself, in spite of the school’s apology.
For an interesting and timely discussion on this ongoing contention, call Special Guests to arrange an interview with a unique expert, Alan Reinach.
ABOUT YOUR SPEAKER:
ALAN J. REINACH, ESQ.
Alan serves as the Director of the Church State Council and President of the North American Religious Liberty Association–West. He is an attorney and a Seventh-day Adventist minister. A graduate of the State University of New York, in New Paltz, with special honors in history, in 1984, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill School of Law, in 1987.
Reinach represents employees who have suffered religious discrimination, and has filed briefs in religious liberty cases in state and Federal courts, and in the California and United States Supreme Court.
When he’s not in court, Alan maintains an extensive speaking schedule, hosts the weekly radio program, Freedom’s Ring, and appears regularly on radio interviews throughout the nation. He also regularly publishes articles on religious freedom. Alan is a passionate advocate of liberty of conscience.
As a young man coming of age in the 70s, he struggled to know God, examining the religious teachings of various traditions. He saw friends taken captive to religious cults, and was wary of getting into something that he couldn’t get out of. God’s gracious commitment to respecting human freedom made it possible for him to experience Christian conversion without fear of being trapped or conned. He has dedicated his life to serving God, and to championing an understanding of God’s character – i.e., that a loving God gives freedom, and does not coerce the conscience.