Threats over bible ban in public schools

The Canadian Press:

An Ontario public school board's decision to ban distribution of Gideon Bibles to its young students has unleashed a torrent of threatening calls and hateful e-mails directed at trustees.

Some messages to the Bluewater District School Board express racist sentiment and question trustees' patriotism.

The invective has unnerved some trustees as they prepare to formalize the ban on distribution of all non-instructional religious materials prompted by a parent's complaint about the decades-old tradition of offering free Gideon Bibles to Grade 5 students.

Trustee Fran Morgan called the “onslaught” of messages “really disturbing,” and said it has made her uneasy about driving the 30 kilometres to board meetings at night by herself.

The Bluewater board, with more than 18,000 students in 53 schools across a broad swath of southern Ontario territory, is expected to formalize the ban at its meeting April 17, following in the footsteps of several other boards across Canada.

Ban proponents argue distribution of the Bibles has no place in a secular school system, and that it potentially violates human-rights legislation.

The board nixed the idea of allowing any religion to hand out materials on the basis it would suck up scarce resources and could be legally risky.

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