Arkansas Family Coalition B o b b y L. H e s t e r PO BOX 9076 Phone: (870)-932-5065 S t a t e D i r e c t o r JONESBORO, AR 72403 FAX: (870)-910-0464 E-mail: blhester@m34u.net Cell: 870-243-5612 Ps. 108:13 Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemy. January/February/March, 2012 Dear AFC Friend, Before we get into the real information, I want to once again very quickly share some personal information. I mentioned in the last newsletter about my brother passing away and that my sister had dementia. Since that time my sister has also gone on to be with the Lord. She passed away about six weeks after my oldest brother died. These two deaths, plus having to spend over a year trying to protect and care for my sister, as well as finding my neighbors murdered body just before the beginning of 2011, has made it possibly the most eventful and difficult year in my life. As I mentioned in our last newsletter, I am hopefully to the point where I can rededicate my time to the work of Arkansas Family Coalition. With the overwhelmingly stressful year of 2011 behind me, I look forward to serving you, and all the people of Arkansas, through the forum of Arkansas Family Coalition. Please pray for us as we make plans to move forward to fight the good fight. ANNUAL RENEWAL I hope and pray that you will join with us this year, even if you haven t subscribed in previous years. Our rate is still $15.00 a year. We have never raised the rate in over 20 years of work. So please consider helping us this year. Thanks for your generous financial support and prayer support in the past. Please make checks payable to Arkansas Family Coalition and return your donation in the self addressed envelope enclosed for your convenience, or to the address on this letterhead. Donations are tax deductible. Some of you have contributed recently by giving an additional end of the year gift, and we deeply appreciate those. In Christ, Bobby L. Hester Note: The following story regarding the nativity scene at Greene County Tech near Paragould involves our good friend Kay Williams. We have worked with Kay on other issues in the past. Kay is a very bold and dedicated Christian; and we need to give her, and the school, as much support as possible. Even if you live in other parts of the state, please give your support and encouragement. I know Kay will be deeply appreciative. Paragould Elementary School Teacher Ordered to Take Down Nativity Scene and then Allowed To Put It Back Up After Community Pressure The administration at Greene County School District made the counselor, Kay Williams, take down a bulletin board nativity scene the first week in December of this year. The scene showed two adoring children 1
at the manger with the words, "Happy Birthday Jesus." The newspaper story in the Paragould Daily Press reported: School counselor Kay Williams said she has decorated the board with a nativity scene every year for more than 20 years and was told to take it down last week after the school received a complaint from a citizen... Mr. Oxford told me it was a very brief conversation," Williams said. "He [the caller] just kind of said 'I don"t like that bulletin board in the hall. I want it down now,' and just hung up." So, with just one complaint from one citizen, and the bulletin board with the nativity scene had to come down when, according to a Fox poll, 95% of Americans celebrate Christmas. The story continues: "It was just breaking my heart to take this down," Williams said. "I thought I would wait until after school to take it down." Williams said she was summoned to the office by the school s principal Sherry Vance before the end of the school day. She said she met with Vance and Oxford in Vance's office, and Vance asked why the display had not been removed. Williams said Vance ordered her to leave the school "and not come back" until Vance or Noble contacted her. "She [Vance] was very angry with me," Williams said. "She was saying 'get your stuff and get out of here right now.'" Williams said she was under the impression she had been fired or suspended. [Later she was called and told to come back to work] GCT superintendent Jerry Noble said he ordered the decoration's removal after the school district's attorney, Donn Mixon, advised him the district would likely lose a court battle if the complainant pursued the matter in court. "My responsibility is to protect the school district from getting into a legal entanglement that would cost the taxpayers money," Noble said. "Even though I believe this is a Christian nation. The majority [of Americans] are Christians, and we should be able to recognize that. But, my beliefs don't matter when it comes to the law." Jerry Halsell with the Trumpet for Heritage Ministry said the nativity scene could be on display without violating any laws. Halsell, when learning of the controversy surrounding the nativity scene, volunteered to assist Williams. He provided the Daily Press with several memos from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) stating that a nativity scene displayed in a public school does not violate the "establishment clause" of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. According to the ADF web site, the ADF is America"s largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding and litigation. [Halsell also volunteered to give this information to the Superintendent.] To read the entire story with numerous comments, 95% in favor of the nativity scene, see this link: http://www.paragoulddailypress.com/articles/2011/12/09/top_story/doc4ee154237d44e926489831.txt#blogcomments 2
On December 13, 2011, the Paragould Daily Press published an article that began with these two paragraphs: "After receiving several phone calls regarding a bulletin board at Greene County Tech Primary School that had been decorated with a nativity scene, school district superintendent Jerry Noble decided to allow the board to once again be decorated with the nativity scene. School counselor Kay Williams had originally displayed the nativity scene on Nov. 29 but was ordered to remove the decoration after the school received a complaint from a citizen. However, Noble said after receiving numerous phone calls supporting the nativity scene, he decided to allow Williams to return it to the bulletin board." I think it s due to the fact that most of us are Christians and this is a Christian community, Noble said We just decided if we are going to offend someone, we would rather not offend those who have Christian beliefs. The majority of people wanted us to take a stand and that s what we re doing. The article noted that the superintendent had no contact information for those complaining about the bulletin board. In other words, they were anonymous. Information in the article also says the newspaper, the Daily Press, was provided "with several memos from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a legal alliance that defends religious liberty, that cited several legal precedents where courts had ruled the display of nativity scenes in public schools did not violate the Establishment Clause." The superintendent had originally acted on the school attorney's advice. I seriously doubt that this issue is over. With all the publicity, ACLU may still file a lawsuit. If you have not already done so, please contact the superintendent, the principal and Kay Williams to help in this controversy. As far as I know, the superintendent was courteous to Kay. For those who don't like to send negative messages, this is your chance to send a Thank you message to the superintendent for allowing Kay to put the nativity scene back up - and still serve the same purpose - that the community wants the school to be able to put up a nativity scene. Superintendent Jerry Noble, 5413 West Kingshighway, Paragould, AR 72450. Phone 870-236-2762 Email: Jerry.Noble@gctsd.k12.ar.us; Principal Sherry Vance, 1300 South Rocking Chair, Paragould, Arkansas. Phone: 870-236-6439. Email: Sherry.Vance@gctsd.k12.ar.us. Kay Williams phone number - 870-565-7165. Do You Have The Courage To Put Up An Outdoor Nativity Scene An article sent out by Debbie Pelley on this Nativity Scene Issue I believe many people who are critical of this superintendent would also cave under the circumstances. It is hard to take a stand when the ACLU is sending out information (some of it false) implying they will file suit against the superintendents if they don't follow the so called "separation of church and state." The superintendent does have to weigh community support and costs to the community. If the superintendent knew he had as much Christian support as the ACLU has secular support, it would not be so hard to make that decision. I believe that if we appreciate the courage this teacher, Kay Williams, has had in displaying this bulletin 3
board for 20 years now and want other teachers to have the same courage, and if we want superintendents to stand on the side of religious freedom, we as citizens must also have courage and commitment in order to keep our Christmas religious freedom. I have some suggestions and questions to ask of you concerning this? Have you done anything this Christmas to help the public keep Christ in Christmas? Did you go make a comment on the link above to support this courageous teacher? Did you call or send an email to the superintendent and principal given in the last email expressing your support of religious freedom in our schools in some way? Would you be willing to give money to a school or an individual or an organization to fight a lawsuit to keep religious freedom in our public schools? The ACLU has all kinds of money to bring these cases to court and wield their influence. Every time a superintendent makes a decision to stand for freedom of religion in our schools, he knows he faces a powerful organization, the ACLU, as an opponent, but he also knows that he has few supporters that will do anything to help him in his battle for religious freedom. He has a lot of silent supporters, but the ACLU is not silent. Teachers who take a stand know just like Kay Williams, that their job could be on the line. They too know of the power of the ACLU, but they can't count on any teacher organizations helping them in their battle because the teacher unions are on ACLU's side. We need to pull together enough support to fight on the side of religious freedom so the superintendents are just as afraid to remove religious symbols as they are afraid of ACLU. Then their decision to remove the religious symbols won't be so easy to make on the side of the ACLU. Several years ago I became concerned about the issue of taking Christ out of Christmas and bought an inexpensive nativity scene and put in my yard as a way of saying I am going to use my private property to make a statement since they are taking religious symbols out of public places. About five years ago I became even more concerned as other ladies and I talked about the situation so I bought a lighted nativity scene and spent some time making it attractive. It is my favorite Christmas decoration. It is the first thing I put up at Christmas and the last thing I take down. If I could put up only one decoration, it would be the nativity scene. It has special meaning to me because it is my stand for the Lord against the opposition to take Christ out of Christmas. The same year some ladies and I ordered a stamp with Merry Christmas (rather than happy holidays) to stamp on all cards and letters during the season, plus we ordered a stamp with In God We Trust on it and use it during the year. I will admit I have been lax in using the stamps but with the grace of God I plan to begin it again. Wouldn't it be wonderful if just a majority of Christians who put up Christmas trees would put up an outdoor nativity scene or a lighted cross at Christmas. This would be a way of showing the power of Christians and resisting the secular world's attempts to remove Christ from Christmas. Wonder why we haven't done that in past years? Is it because it is not fashionable to do so? Does it take a little courage to do it? Some people would probably think were were self-righteous, or even fanatics, even people in our own church.. If you really want to support Kay Williams, buy an outdoor nativity scene or lighted cross and put it in your yard next Christmas. You will have to do it early before they sell out at Christmas time. 4
5