"...who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated- the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground." Hebrews 11:33-37
"The world was not worthy of them"; let that sink in for a moment. How great is our faith today? |
"The nonprofit
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| Jim Shelton |
This matter all started when the board received a letter from an anonymous person. The letter was basically a threat that stated if we don't do some things that they think we should do then they might sue us. It was a legal opinion (their opinion) from a thousand miles away.
Majority of the board panicked when the letter came in. They saw this as almost a personal threat to them because somewhere along the line they got the notion in their head if they vote to keep it then there could be some personal liability, and they could lose their house and their car, etc. Jim stated, "This is not true because if this was true, you would see law suits across the country in every level of government".
The student lead prayer policy has been in place since 1971, the board has 10 meetings per year and a student comes on a volunteer basis. The board picks a school and ask if there is a student that would like to lead the prayer. That student comes as a volunteer with the permission of their parents and they compose and recite a prayer they pray themselves. The board has no control over it other than they allow the opportunity for the student to come. Jim said that he doesn't think that they are in a violation of the federal law or the establishment clause part of the 14th amendment because they are not telling the student what to pray or how to pray. They are not putting any restrictions or limitations on the prayer what so ever. If the child wanted to come there and read a poem, they are free to do that. They haven't placed one religion over another religion. The school board sits there and listens to a student say a prayer.
The only gray area is where do you place the school board as a government body?
The Freedom From Religion Foundation tries to threaten other school boards as well. The same thing happened at Beaufort County. The FFRF went down there with a similar situation and the school board ignored the threat and the FFRF went away. Jim said that is what he thinks the Pickens County School Board should have done also. Jim stated, "We shouldn't have done nothing, if they wanted to sue us then sue us."
I asked Jim what was the involvement of the taxpayers in this decision. He said that the Treasurer of the Taxpayer Association stood in front of the school board in January and said, "Fight it, we will get the money." One month later, he retracts his statement. Other people from the Taxpayer Association apparently said this is not the stance we want to take. The FFRF have gone to court with other situations and they have lost. It might have cost the taxpayers if it went to court but only if we had lost. Are the odds on our side, probably not but at least we had a fighting chance. Jim said it's one thing to go down swinging, it's another thing to go down covering your head and we tucked our tails and ran.
It was proof that the majority of the people of Pickens County wanted us to "fight" when hundreds of them came out to support the student lead prayer. Jim said, "This is one more little piece of our civic pride and our freedoms that is going away because of small little groups of people that want to cause trouble." Jim wants you to know that he is fighting and he is going to continue to fight till the end. When the school board meets in two weeks to have the 2nd reading of the policy he's not backing down, he's not giving in, he's going to fight. Jim wants you to fight with him by praying, writing letters, making phone calls, sending e-mails, showing up at the meetings and being as loud as you can.
Why are we letting this group from Wisconsin come and dictate our lives? Where is our Fight?
Mr. Jim Shelton District 6 Map
Term Expires 2014
1510 Hunts Bridge Road, Easley, SC 29640
630-0726 jimshelton@pickens.k12.sc.us Mr. Shelton has represented the Dacusville area (District 6) since November 2006. He is graduate of Pickens High School and Clemson University. Mr. Shelton and his wife Ginger have two children: John, a PHS graduate who is enrolled at Southern Wesleyan University, and Caroline, a student at Pickens High School. Mr. Shelton is the past president of both the Dacusville Recreation Department and the Dacusville Business Association and currently serves on the board of directors for the Pickens County chapter of the American Red Cross. Establishing the School District of Pickens County as the academic benchmark by which other state school districts are measured is Mr. Shelton's goal. Mr. Shelton also serves as region 16 director of the South Carolina School Boards Association (SCSBA).
Jim Shelton is right. We should have ignored their threat. By complying with their wishes, we have given them power over us. They can now use us as an example of how they can force School Boards to their will.
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