ACLU Nebraska cautioned state school districts on Wednesday against inviting speakers who proselytize to students under the guise of messages against drugs and alcohol.
In letters sent to school superintendents, ACLU Nebraska legal director Amy Miller said there have been complaints from parents across the state about Christian messages delivered during student assemblies.
"Some complaints have described the revival-show atmosphere that happens in the school gym, complete with music and the speaker asking all students who now will accept Jesus Christ's narrow path to come down front with him," Miller said in a statement.
Miller's letter singled out two speakers: Keith Becker of the Kearney-based Todd Becker Foundation and Ron Brown, an assistant football coach at Nebraska who helped found Mission Nebraska.
"Both men have made it perfectly clear: They intend to convert children to their own religious beliefs while the students are in a school away from their parents' guidance," the letter states.
Messages left Wednesday for Becker and Brown were not immediately returned.
Becker speaks about the death of his teenage brother in a drunken-driving crash. His group's website notes the talk incorporates Scripture and has been given at more than 70 schools in Nebraska, as well as in Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming. Some Nebraska school officials provide testimonials on the website.
Brown's group is a nonprofit that spreads a Christian message.
Omaha Public Schools spokeswoman Luanne Nelson said Wednesday that she wasn't aware of either speaker giving a presentation during the school day.
"We are constantly reminding schools of the nature of presentations given to students," she said.
Miller said if more complaints are filed the ACLU could file lawsuits against districts.
- AP
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