SPARTA, Tenn. — A school district in Tennessee has halted the distribution of Bibles to its students, and the Tennessee Pastors Network (TNPN) says the move is ironic, as another local school recently approved a textbook that details the Muslim faith and Islam but merely glosses over Christianity.
According to Yahoo News, “Bledsoe County school system in Tennessee has banned the distribution of all religious materials on its campuses after a recent complaint about a religious group handing out copies of the Bible.”
The complaint stemmed from Gideons International’s provision of free Bibles to fifth-graders.
District leaders said, “(t)he distribution of religious materials in a public school is in violation of constitutional provisions and well established federal and state laws and precedence.”
Tennessee Pastors Network President Dale Walker expressed his disapproval. “In today’s world — especially in light of the godless violence being perpetrated around the world, it’s tragic that young students can’t even voluntarily pick up a free Bible in school. Many Americans grossly misunderstand the entire concept of ‘separation of church and state,’ and our children suffer for it.”
The Gideon chaplain said the taking of the Bibles by students was completely voluntarily, and students could pick one up from a table if they wished. Churches in the area are also extremely dismayed at the school’s recent move.
The development in Bledsoe County is especially ironic, as a fellow school district in White County recently approved a controversial social studies textbook that contains 30-plus pages on Islam and the Muslim faith but with little mention of Christianity.
Walker said the school board’s acceptance of the book has sparked concern among churches and parents about Islamic indoctrination in the state’s schools.
“Fifth-graders now can’t voluntarily take a Bible in their school, but schools are soft-peddling Islam to impressionable students,” Walker said. “While the Word of God is being pushed out of school doors, the sweeping Islamic infiltration is being deeply embedded into the Bible Belt and it has penetrated our public schools in Tennessee. We have fallen so far from what our founding fathers intended for our nation, and they would be ashamed.”
TNPN and the Ameri-can Pastors Network (APN) offer pastors online resources that help clergy choose sermon topics and find info for other church ministries.
TPN encourages pastors to bring together biblical and constitutional principles in their sermons and provides resources to pastors. Visit its Facebook page or its website at tnpastors.net, or call (931) 267-0816.
It is a chapter of the American Pastors Network (APN), the largest national network of pastors “dedicated to equipping pastors to be a voice for truth in the public square.”
Visit the APN’s Facebook page or its website at americanpastorsnetwork.net, or follow APN’s Twitter feed, @AmericanPastors.
