In South Carolina's Florence County, school district officials have agreed to stop sending e-mails with religious messages, after complaints were relayed through Americans United.
The messages, sent only to staff members, contained “religious messages and, at times, overt religious proselytization,” Ayesha Kahn, the Legal Director for the Washington, D.C.-based group, wrote in a letter to the board.
District officials didn’t put up a fight. The communications from both administrators contained overt Christian messages.
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Given constitutional law on the matter — it’s been ruled repeatedly that the so-called “establishment clause” of the First Amendment prohibits governmental endorsement of religion — the district quickly drafted a letter to Americans United, stating that [Interim Superintendent Allie] Brooks and [Principal Roy Ann] Jolley, would cease sending the religiously-themed messages immediately. That’s what the board approved Thursday, just a week after it received the original complaint.“It’s simple,” Brooks said. “We are public officials and we have a responsibility to follow the law and we will follow the law. Those e-mails were sent to staff for encouragement. We won’t stop encouraging, we’ll just change the wording. Instead of saying, ‘Have a blessed day,’ I guess I’ll have to start saying, ‘Have a good day.’”
Simple indeed! That didn't, however, stop many on the school board from complaining about the move in the rest of the article (read the whole thing). Why not embrace the simplicity? If you are a government official, representing all the people in your district, then office resources and your time on the job shouldn't be spent proselytizing or otherwise promoting your religion, and certainly not to your subordinates, who probably need the job, don't want to rock the boat or seem disagreeable, and may have far different religious views.
Here's some free advice for those who want to send out religiously uplifting emails: Use your personal account and personal time only! Send it to friends and family, not your work address book! Don't use your position of authority as a tool to force-feed others your religious views!
AU's Rob Boston has more.
