I don't see a problem with allowing people to pass out religious texts in or near public schools as long as the people passing them out aren't school administrators or teachers.
Yeah, those people shouldn't have the same rights as the rest of us.
Would you agree with them handing out abortion pamphlets?
I'm not trying to draw a correlation between religion and abortion, I'm just saying that in "controversial" matters, people of authority shouldn't be getting themselves into those situations.
It can easily be seen as an abuse of position. It's nothing less then a Squadron/Battalion Commander handing out Vote for Obama buttons to their troops. It's not something your supposed to do.
Abortion pamphlets in a middle school? Poor analogy.
So do you have anything to say against the message, or are you just going to attack it's format?
If you think it's ok for a Public Official to take a stance in a controversial topic like this (and I don't care what your belief is, in today's world it is a controversial topic), then you have no right to ever complain when some other public official does something that you do not like.
Um, there was no attack. Like I said, poor analogy.
You think public officials should not be allowed to take a stand/have an opinion? Does having an opinion automatically make them unethical? Does permitting religion equal endorsement?
Not at all. They have the rights to those opinions just like the rest of us. They just shouldn't be voicing those opinions to the public, because their position gives them the ability to influence others.
It's a price one has to pay to hold the authority that they do, IMO.
Ok, is there such a thing as a public official who does not voice their opinions and influence others?
Sure there is. You just don't hear about them because they
are keeping their mouths shut.
When we join the military, we all voluntarily give up some of the rights garaunteed to use by the Bill of Rights (most namely, the 1st Amendment). It is because when we wear this uniform we gain a stance of power in the public eye. It would be an abuse of that power if we where to do things like campaign while in uniform and such.
The same holds true for a School Superintendant or Principal to be handing out Bibles, or partisan political literature, or other items like that, while on school grounds.
If they wanted to do it from home, or from a church, where these people are private citizens, then that is absolutely fine. But in the place where they have authority and power, it would be an unjust use of tha power to push their opinions onto others.