A Buddhist family sued Sabine Parish School Board for violating their right to religious

freedom. The lawsuit contains a shocking list of religious indoctrination.

Congratulations, you are the parent of a public school student! And welcome to Sabine
Parish, Louisiana. We are so happy to have your child learning with us and we are so grateful
that your tax dollars have permitted us to establish the educational programs and academic
atmosphere weve developed over the years here. Let us provide you with a brief guide about
what your childs life will be like while he or she is at school with us each day.*
Lets start with what your child will see when she enters or departs our school. Paintings of
Jesus Christ, Bible verses, and Christian devotional phrases adorn the walls of many
classrooms and hallways, including the main hallway leading out to the bus pick-up area. A
lighted, electronic marquee placed just outside the building scrolls Bible verses every day.
In the main foyer of the school, one display informs students that ACTIONS SPEAK
LOUDER THAN WORDS. It includes several posters urging students to Pray,
Worship, and Believe, while a poster displayed near the waiting area of the main office
announces that [i]ts okay to pray.
Those sparkling electronic bible verses help students follow along as staff members
routinely lead students in Christian prayer and also distribute religious literature to
students. Recently, for example, one teacher gave students copies of a book from the
Truth for Youth program Truth for Youth Bibles consist of the entire New Testament
and with cartoon tracts that denounce evolution, spread scientifically inaccurate information
about birth control and sex, and warn students about the evils of rock music, drunkenness,
pornography, premarital sex, homosexuality, sorcery, witchcraft and other subjects. These
kids these dayswith their evolution and sorcery!
But if you arent religious, or if you arent a Christian, dont worry. The schools overt
emphasis on religionand on one religion in particularis all perfectly legitimate and
lawful under the Constitution and the First Amendment. Just ask the superintendent of
schools in the parish, Sara Ebarb, who has said, [t]his is the Bible Belt and who asked the
parents of a Buddhist student recently if he has to be raised Buddhist or if he could
change his faith and suggested to them that he should transfer to a school where there are
more Asians. Religious objectors, Ebarb has said, should simply accept the pervasive of
official Christianity in Sabine Parish public schools. Easy-peasy, folks, just convert!
If your child is in sixth grade and interested in science, good news the school has the
perfect teacher for her! Rita Roark regularly asks her sixth-grade students for professions of
Christian faith in science class and teaches the Bible as scientific fact, claiming that the Big
Bang never happened and that evolution is a stupid theory that stupid people made up
because they dont want to believe in God.
Instead of the theory of evolution, your child instead will learn about Roarks beliefs about
Young Earth creationism, informing students that the Big Bang never happened and that the
Universe was created by God approximately 6,000 years ago. She also teaches here students
that evolution does not exist and has stated that, if evolution were real, it would still be
happening. Apes would be turning into humans today. We are indeed so blessed to have this
woman of science teaching our children.

A lighted, electronic marquee placed just

outside the building scrolls Bible verses every
day.
The science class is rigorous, you should know. Roark also routinely requires students to
prove written professions of faith on science exams and other tests and assignments On one
occasion, the final question on an exam presented students with the following fill-in-theblank question: ISNT IT AMAZING WHAT THE _______ HAS
MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. (The correct answer, of course is the Lord but dont
worry if your child is not a Christian or otherwise doesnt know the answer. The teacher will
correct him, in front of the class, even if he writes Lord Boda because he is Buddhist and in
sixth grade).
Here are a few tips. You can get extra credit in that class if you include verse or religious
affirmation in your responses but be careful if you cast doubt upon Bible stories! For
example, on a handout asking What mountain did Moses supposedly get the Ten
Commandments from? Roark crossed out the word supposedly. She also has told students
that the Bible is 100% true and that scientists are slowly finding out that everything in the
Bible is accurate. This is convenient, of course, since, as Roark told her class recently,
Buddhism is stupid. Speaking about the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha, she proclaimed
that no one could stay alive that long without food and water.
Does your student like math? Last year, he might have been lucky enough to get teacher
Stacy Bray, who asked her students to bow their heads and pray aloud before lunch every
day. Bray selected a different student each time to lead the class in prayer and participated in
the prayers herself. Another teacher, Angela Knight, leads her class in daily prayers before
lunch. Nothing like a good prayer in public school to whet your public school students
appetite!
If your child still isnt satisfied with the level of prayer in individual classrooms dont fret.
There is an awful lot more prayer in our school. You should know that nearly all school
assemblies begin with prayerat the Drug Abuse Resistance Education assembly, at the
schools annual Class Ring Ceremony, you name it. And on Veterans Day, including the
most recent, school officials invite a local Christian preacher to hold a group prayer at a
mandatory faculty/student assembly honoring the Nations veterans.
Ill tell you a funny story. A family objected to all this prayer in public school recently and
had a meeting with Superintendent Ebarb to voice their concerns. She defended Roark
specifically, declaring that [t]eachers have religious freedom. She further stated if they
were in a different country, Plaintiffs would see that countrys religion everywhere and
that, therefore, they shouldnt be offended to see God here. Just another reason to be
thankful for Louisianas good graces!
And then do you know what Superintendent Ebarb did? That rascalshe wrote a letter to the
schools principle, Gene Wright, stating that she approved of Wrights practices in general
and that she approved of the fact that the teachers at the school acted consistent with their
religious beliefs. Wright then read the letter to the whole school over the public-address

system. I guess thats what the Bible teaches us when it says, in 2 Samuel 22:31: As for
God, his way is perfect. He shields all who take refuge in him. Incidentally, you can see that
verse in a poster on the walls of our school!
In closing, we want again to welcome you and your child to our school district. As it also
says on the walls of our school, from Phillipians 4:6-7: Dont worry about anything; instead,
pray about everything.
All of the information and quotes contained above come directly from the claims and
allegations made in the Verified Complaint and/or Memorandum in Support of Preliminary
Injunction that were filed Wednesday in federal court in the Western District of Louisiana by
the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Lane family. Here is the link to the
complaint. Here is the link to the Injunction Memo Brief. Here is a link to the powerful
statement offered by Scott Lane, C.C.s father, titled If You Want to Fit in At This Public
School Just Become a Christian. And it is Lane, an aggrieved father, who gets the last word.
He writes:
We dont begrudge others their right to their Christian faith. But thats why the separation of
church and state is so important: It gives us all the breathing room and freedom to believe
what we want to believe and to practice those beliefs without undue influence or interference
by the government. Forcing your beliefs on another is not freedom; it is oppression.
And when official religious practices are this rampant and pervasive, like they are in Sabine
Parish public schools, it is tantamount to religious discrimination. It excludes children and
families of minority faiths and beliefs and creates a hostile environment for them. It
undermines everyones religious freedom. I see that now.

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