Anti-Gay Christian Group Speaks at Iowa Public School Assemblies
Last spring, the Todd Becker Foundation (TBF) gave a presentation during the school day to Logan-Magnolia Junior/Senior High School in Logan about the dangers of drinking and driving. That lecture cost the school $1,500, money that school Superintendent Tom Ridder felt was well spent.
It was a “really, really good message,” Ridder told The Des Moines Register.
That seems fine, right? It would be, if this weren’t a form of bait and switch. And it’s a pretty simple (but effective) con: TBF makes a secular presentation on a topic relevant to students. Then they invite those students to another gathering that takes place after school hours. When the students come to that second assembly, TBF uses it as an opportunity to proselytize.
It’s unacceptable for any group to proselytize during a public school assembly.
This sort of thing happens all the time, and TBF has been doing it for years. We know because Americans United has tangled with the group in the past.
In this case, TBF actually passed out religious literature, including DVDs and books, right after its drinking and driving talk, which lead some students to think the after-school gathering was formally endorsed by the school.
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