An open letter to the president of the Academy District 20 Board of Education from a concerned parent: Dear Ms. Van Matre, My name is Eric Zolner, and I am an Anglican priest in Colorado Springs as well as the father of two D-20 students (Challenger Middle School and Pine Creek High School). Let me start by saying that my wife and I are very happy with the education our daughters are receiving. Pine Creek and Challenger are both fantastic schools, the students are well behaved, and the teachers are outstanding. Our girls are being challenged and they are thriving academically. I was disappointed a few weeks ago when my 15-year-old daughter came home from Pine Creek and told us that the prayer group she had been meeting with was told they were no longer allowed to pray because it “violated the separation of church and state.” I asked for more information and was told that a parent had complained about the group. According to my daughter, the group had been meeting in a choir room to talk, sing, and pray with other Christians during seminar time. I asked her if other groups met during that time, and she told me they did. According to the statement released by the district, this decision was made because the prayer group was a “non-curricular” activity. However, it seems that many students use this time for “non-curricular” activities such as playing board games and solving Rubik’s Cubes. So why were the Christians singled out? I could understand this action if they were being disruptive (e.g. if they were meeting in an open space and being loud) or if they were aggressively proselytizing other students, but my daughter assures me that this was not at all the case. Thus, we are back to the claim that the prayer group’s actions violate the “separation of church and state.” I am curious as to how this could possibly be the case. The 1st Amendment to the US Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (emphasis mine) This amendment, which was clearly very important to our founding fathers, was a reaction to what had been experienced in places like England where the church was (and still is) state controlled. Even today in England, church leaders are selected not by the church, but by Parliament. Thus, the purpose of the First Amendment is to allow Americans to worship freely without the government interfering by telling them what they can and cannot do. By telling teens at Pine Creek that they are not allowed to pray or talk about Jesus at school seems to me to be a direct violation of the First Amendment. By allowing the group to meet (as it has for a number of years), the school is in no way endorsing or establishing Christianity as the official religion of Pine Creek High School or District 20, just as having a Rubik’s Cube club in no way establishes the Rubik’s Cube as the official past time of the school. One of the hallmarks of a totalitarian state such as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union is suppression of religion and free thought. One of the greatest gifts of the United States is that we are free to have our own ideas and opinions. With that freedom comes the responsibility to learn how to discuss those ideas civilly in an open forum. My family and I tend to be very conservative both politically and theologically. At Pine Creek, my daughter has encountered many people, both students and faculty, who do not share those same beliefs. As a parent, I am happy for my daughter to experience these new ideas. They force her to think critically about her own beliefs and world view. They allow her to take ownership of he own ideas. I would hate to think that this opportunity is being stifled by a small minority of people who are intolerant of beliefs that differ from their own. My fear is that the District will react to the lawsuit which has been filed by simply enforcing the stated policy which prohibits non-curricular activities during the seminar period. Doing this would simply send the message to students that free thought and expression of individual beliefs will not be tolerated in District 20. It will teach them that one person’s complaint is justification for suppressing the rights of the people. District 20 has a reputation for being one of the best school districts in Colorado, and that is not an accident. Many, many people work hard to make D-20 truly exceptional. I would hate to see the district’s reputation tarnished simply to appease the intolerance of a few people. My hope is that the board would agree to continue allowing groups to meet during seminar time (as long as these groups are not disruptive, of course) and that these groups would not be restricted based on race, religion, political affiliation, etc. Thank you for your time and your dedicated service to our children. Sincerely, The Rev. Eric W. Zolner
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 21:58:50 +0000
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