Teacher Suing School Because There’s Too Much Prayer And ‘Jesus Pizza’ Going On

Sometimes, eating pizza can be a religious experience, especially when the dough’s just right, the sauce is properly seasoned and the cheese is melted to perfection. It can change you.

But if a church buys it and offers the “Jesus pizza” to high school students, that’s obviously violating the whole “separation of church thing” that’s NOT EVEN in the U.S. Constitution.

Yeah. I went there.

Colorado teacher Robert Basevitz is suing Fremont School District after he said he was discriminated against religiously. According to the sourcelink, the Jewish teacher expressed his concerns to Florence High School officials after he felt the school was getting a little too pro-Christian. Personalized Bibles have been handed out to students, and morning prayer circles are a regular thing. Cowboy Church at Crossroads is frequently involved with campus activities, and he has a problem with that too. 

After he spoke with school officials, he was transferred to a different school, although Florence High School said it was for different reasons.

Basevitz’s attorney says it's all totally unconstitutional. 

“Government and public schools need to remain neutral on questions of religion so that you and I are not forced to (be exposed to) someone else’s personal religious beliefs,” Paul Maxon said.

I kind of have a problem with the way he said that. You’re protected from being exposed to someone else’s beliefs? Whaaaa?

District Superintendent Rhonda Roberts released a formal statement addressing the allegations in the lawsuit.

“I also, want to reassure our community that Florence High School has been, and continues to be, an educational institution that does not promote religion, as contended in the complaint. The majority of the information in the complaint is inaccurate, or at best, taken out of context. Any concerns raised by Mr. Basevitz were immediately addressed.”

 

 

“Fremont RE-2 School District is in compliance with the guidance in law regarding the separation of church and state. The district is committed to following the letter of the law, while still allowing students the right to have student led clubs that reflect their interests.”

But that’s not good enough for Basevitz or his attorney.

“This country was founded on the idea of separation of church and state — that’s the very first sentence in the Bill or Rights before any other freedom is discussed,” Maxon said.

I think he’s a little screwy on the “separation of church and state” thing. First of all, that phrase was never in the Constitution. The phrase comes from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists.

As the Heritage Foundation points out–

Although today Jefferson's Danbury letter is thought of as a principled statement on the prudential and constitutional relationship between church and state, it was in fact a political statement written to reassure pious Baptist constituents that Jefferson was indeed a friend of religion and to strike back at the Federalist-Congregationalist establishment in Connecticut for shamelessly vilifying him as an infidel and atheist in the recent campaign. 

Never once was it intended to shame people from talking about God in the public square.

So what do you think? Is the school wrong? Does Basevitz have a case?

Discuss.