Last night, my wife and I attended a local school board meeting concerning exemption from compulsory school attendance.\u00a0 Our local school board had passed a policy that required children 14 years old or older to submit a statement about their religious beliefs.\u00a0 In accordance with this policy, the board could schedule a meeting with the child “to determine whether the request for exemption is …\u00a0due to bona fide religious training or belief.”\u00a0 During the meeting, one of the board members acknowledged that “the board was not capable of determining whether a child had a bona fide religious training or belief.”\u00a0 So, what’s the point of the policy?\u00a0 My wife and I, together with about 250 other people, packed the local administrative building.\u00a0 The main room where the school board was meeting, the hallway, and as many as three or four overflow rooms were occupied with people in support of a family, who was taking a stance against the school board, protesting the policy.\u00a0 The board was apparently compelling a 14 year old child to submit a statement about the child’s religious training and beliefs, with the prospect of the child having to meet with the board.\u00a0 I cannot imagine what the parents were going through.\u00a0 As parents, we have a responsibility, not just a right,\u00a0to protect our children.\u00a0 I have a child who loves the Lord, he’s well-grounded in his faith, and I wouldn’t want to subject him to an interrogation by\u00a0anyone about his faith.\u00a0 But let me emphasize something, about 250 people showed up to support the parents in challenging this policy, which ended up being repealed by the way.\u00a0 You know this tells me, God’s not dead, at least not in our community!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last night, my wife and I attended a local school board meeting concerning exemption from compulsory school attendance.\u00a0 Our local school board had passed a policy that required children 14 years old or older to submit a statement about their religious beliefs.\u00a0 In accordance with this policy, the board could schedule a meeting with the…
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