By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence.

Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian.

"It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful," said Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson.

"Williams wants to teach his students the true history of our country," he said. "There is nothing in the Establishment Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) that prohibits a teacher from showing students the Declaration of Independence."

Vidmar could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in San Jose and claims violations of Williams rights to free speech under the First Amendment.

Phyllis Vogel, assistant superintendent for Cupertino Unified School District, said the lawsuit had been forwarded to a staff attorney. She declined to comment further.

Williams asserts in the lawsuit that since May he has been required to submit all of his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to Vidmar for approval, and that the principal will not permit him to use any that contain references to God or Christianity.

Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the Colonists" and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."

"He hands out a lot of material and perhaps 5 to 10 percent refers to God and Christianity because that's what the founders wrote," said Thompson, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which advocates for religious freedom. "The principal seems to be systematically censoring material that refers to Christianity and it is pure discrimination."

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a California atheist who wanted the words "under God" struck from the Pledge of Allegiance as recited by school children. The appeals court in California had found that the phrase amounted to a violation of church and state separation.

Article and discussion of this criminal act here.

and a little extra info if you want to get involved. (hint: why not send them a copy of the Declaration of Independence, which I provide for you)

Patricia Vidmar - Principal
Kathleen Garfield - School Secretary
Leann Block - School Secretary

Telephone Numbers:
Office - (408) 245-3312

Fax:
(408) 245-7484

Stevens Creek School
http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/Stcreek.www/
10300 Ainsworth Drive
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 245-3312

Patricia Vidmar, Principal
(408) 245-3312 x 110
Fax (408) 245-7484

Part of the Cupertino Union School District:
http://cupertino.ca.campusgrid.net/home
10301 Vista Drive
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 252-3000

William E. Bragg, Superintendent
bragg_bill@cupertino.k12.ca.us

Board:
board@cupertino.k12.ca.us

1 of the discussion posts:

If they want to take God out of their world, why don't they start with the name of San Francisco, named after St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226 A. D.); who was cannonized a saint by Pope Gregory IX in 1228. It was Francis of Assisi who founded the Franciscan Order and it was his mission to inspire in all men rich or poor the love of God and reanimate the life of the spirit. He is called the patron saint of pets and the animal rights activists would not hesitate to hold St. Francis of Assisi up as one of their own.

In fact, here is my suggestion for a name change for San Francisco: call it Enmity. Enmity is what is left in ones heart when God is taken out. When Tony Bennet sings "I left my heart in Enmity", he will sing about a heart filled with hostility for God. I think I would leave such a heart too--for eternal damnation!