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JCRC, ADL swing into action to close church-state gap

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Message: If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/19051/full/19051/jcrc-adl-swing-into-action-to-close-church-state-gap/ JCRC, ADL swing into action to close church-state gap Friday, January 3, 2003 | by dan pine The wall separating church and state was momentarily breached last week, and leaders from San Francisco's Jewish community are not happy about it. After a school district administrator forwarded an e-mail inviting people to attend church services, Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Jonathan Bernstein outlined his concerns in a letter to Arlene Ackerman, superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District. "Compliance with the separation of church and state must be vigorously enforced in the nation's public schools," Bernstein wrote. "School sponsorship of a religious message is impermissible because it sends the ancillary message to...non adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community." Bernstein promised his organization "will follow up on this to ensure that everyone understands clearly what is appropriate and what isn't." Jackie Berman, an education specialist with the Jewish Community Relations Council, said, "I was surprised that the person responsible didn't realize this was a clear violation. But the superintendent did, and quickly apologized." The flap occurred after Jackie Wright, a high-level administrator in the district's public relations office, sent out a forwarded e-mail under the aegis of the San Francisco Unified School District. In essence, the message invited readers to attend Christian City Church of San Francisco, which holds services at Enola Maxwell Middle School in Potrero Hill. Originally composed by the church pastors, the e-mail read in part, "Our vision is to build a life-giving church that connects people like you to a loving and life-changing God." "This was serious," said Berman. "Usually these things happen at the school site level, but to come from the district level is unusual." On Dec. 26, the San Francisco Chronicle reported the story, describing the immediate response from Ackerman, who promised to circulate a memo to school personnel reminding them that the "district does not allow use of its resources to endorse religion. The transmission of the e-mail was the well-intentioned mistake of an individual employee." Watchdog groups like the ADL and the JCRC generally keep their antennae up for any such blurring of the lines in the Constitutional separation of church and state. "We're always on the lookout for fairness," said Berman. "We are concerned that Judaism is taught about accurately, that it is not denigrated as it might be if some material from the gospels is admitted into the classroom. We also try to ensure that it's an educational experience, not a religious experience." Berman cited several examples of classroom transgressions she has personally encountered: teachers betraying overt traces of anti-Semitism, reading potentially offensive passages from the Gospels, improperly teaching about the Holocaust and employing history texts that stress early Jewish persecution of Christians "as if that's a big part of the story." "Sometimes there are problems in that Jewish subject matter is not taught in a constructive way," said Berman. "We try to improve the texts." Added Bernstein in an interview, "The Jewish community has always felt that a strong separation of church and state enables us to have equal rights and to prosper in society. The basic question to ask is: 'Does this give the impression that the school is endorsing this activity or religion?' In this case, it did look that way. I'm assuming this person didn't think this through." Federal law permits both religious and secular groups to use public school facilities for certain activities, as is the case with the Christian City Church at Enola Maxwell Middle School. In the incident last week, Wright forwarded the e-mail from the church's pastors to some of her contacts, including a reporter from the Chronicle. Wright is a member of the church. According to the Chronicle, the e-mail also described the Australia-based church and its "satellite churches in major cities across the United States, Asia and Europe" while offering the church's phone number and Web site. In a statement printed in the Chronicle, Wright said, "It was not my intent to promote religion. It was an invitation. This is my personal error in sending this out. I take full responsibility." "Jackie is very savvy," said the Rev. Mark Slocombe of Christian City Church. "If she had wanted to, she could have sent the e-mail to thousands of contacts at all the schools. Rather, she sent it out to her private personal list of about 100 names. She has expressed regret that that there was any possibility of offending anyone who received the e-mail, but she doesn't apologize for her faith." Slocombe added, "We're a solid mainline church, and not a fringe group. I maintain good relations with all the major churches of the city, and I routinely meet with all the pastors here." As far as Berman is concerned, the issue is resolved. "In a case like this, the apology would suffice." Yet, she adds, "It's fortuitous that this story was picked up. Who knows how long it might have taken to realize how long this was going on, if she hadn't sent the e-mail to the Chronicle?"

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