"Disappointed third-graders were told last week that their field trip to a creationist dinosaur fossil museum in Montana had been scrapped — after their school district caved in to threats made by an atheist group.
The Glendive School District has bowed down to threats by the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSCS), which argues that allowing students to take the secular tour at the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum violates the alleged separation of church and state clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The Glendive School District has bowed down to threats by the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSCS), which argues that allowing students to take the secular tour at the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum violates the alleged separation of church and state clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The museum, the second-largest dinosaur museum in Montana, is the only one that teaches the
biblical account of creation. Operated by the Foundation Advancing Creation Truth (FACT), the museum offers public schools a "secular" tour that doesn't promote a biblical account and religious views. This differs from the private sector tours that include teachings on a young Earth, the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans, biblical history and Noah's Ark — all represented through various displays.
However, the Washington, DC-based atheist group argues the secular public school tours are illegal, which resulted in cancelling the only field trip 100 third-graders were eagerly anticipating for this school year. It was mandatory for parents to sign permission slips and to pay for their children's admission cost — so that the tour was not taxpayer-funded — but Americans United still managed to thwart the field trip.
Lincoln Elementary School principal John Larson says the field trip to the museum has been held annually over the past several years with virtually no complaints. According to the Billings Gazette, the school administrator is perfectly comfortable with the tour because students are given the secular tour." OneNewsNow
How shall I pardon thee for this?
Jeremiah 5:7
