Kerby Anderson
Since the founding of this country, we have had public officials quote Bible verses. But apparently that tradition can no longer exist in some areas of the country. An Arizona school board member is under fire because she recited a verse of Scripture.
Heather Rooks is a member of the Peoria Unified School District and was about to respond to questions and concerns from parents. She decided to quote an inspirational verse from the Bible. Her hope was that it would encourage her and provide strength during the meeting.
A few days later, she received a “cease-and-desist” letter demanding that she stop quoting the Bible. In case you are wondering, the offensive verse was Isaiah 41:10 – “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look around you, for I am your God.”
Andy Gould serves as senior counsel with First Liberty Institute. Previously, he served as a Justice on the Arizona Supreme Court. He is now representing Heather Rooks in a lawsuit against the Peoria Unified School District. He argues that her actions are protected under the free speech and free exercises clauses of the Constitution.
He also argues that many presidents and other political officials have quoted religious texts in their official capacity. He asks, why can a president quote the Bible but not a member of the school board?
In the Kennedy v. Bremerton School District case, Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch said, “Nor does . . .  a proper understanding of the Amendment’s Establishment Clause require the government to single out private religious speech for special disfavor. The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.”
Recent Supreme Court rulings provide more religious freedom than we have had in decades. It is time for each of us to claim our religious liberty.

Kerby Anderson
You have probably heard about the mass baptisms that took place at Auburn University. I heard about it when I was out of the country. While I was baptizing people in the Sea of Galilee, Auburn Coach Hugh Freeze was baptizing some of his players. Who could possibly be opposed to that?
As you might have guessed, the Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter to the university warning that the baptisms in September were a clear violation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. They had a problem with a coach expressing his Christian convictions while on campus.
The first thought in my mind was: Didn’t we just have a Supreme Court case that ruled that a coach does have a right to express his Christian convictions while on campus? Why yes, we did. And Coach Kennedy was doing so while in his capacity as coach when he went to pray at the 50-yard-line after the game. By contrast, Coach Freeze was doing this after hours.
First Liberty Institute Attorney Jeremy Dys has been on numerous programs to talk about this group “upset that Christian people are doing Christian things at a Christian organized event.” He reminded the hosts of these programs that their recent Supreme Court victory shows that coaches do not “shed their constitutional rights when they walk to the schoolhouse gate.”
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey responded to the letter from the atheist group and called their interpretation of the Constitution misleading. “As governor, I can assure you that we will not be intimidated by out-of-state interest groups dedicated to destroying our nation’s religious heritage.”
The many Supreme Court rulings in favor of the cases by First Liberty Institute and Alliance Defending Freedom have given us more religious freedom than we have had in decades.