Trouble in Dodge

Editorial

So who can argue with the wisdom of our state legislators, who passed a bill last week that gives legal protection to preteen Bible clubs on public school campuses? Or with the sagacity of Arizona Gov. Jane Dee Hull, who signed the measure into law on Friday night?

We can - but we didn't.

At least not enough of us - those who profess profound distress with the slow and steady encroachment of religion into public life and the widening breach in the wall separating church and state - were moved to pick up the phone, jot a letter, send an e-mail.

The fast-as-lightning strike by proponents of the measure to legitimize after-school Bible clubs met with little public debate and even less public protest. The crafty law sidesteps church-state bounds, placing the clubs under the rubric of "non-curricular" activities.

Opponents of the bill reportedly were outmanned 40 to 2 at legislative hearings and outgunned by organized efforts to assure the bill's passage. To their credit, local Jewish civil rights groups sprang into action when alerted of the pending legislation, but their efforts could do little to derail it.

As sure as the day is long, the new law will undo protections at middle schools despite a pending U.S. Supreme Court challenge to Bible clubs on public school campuses.

So where's the sheriff and posse when we need 'em? It's time to deputize community watchdogs, encouraging their full attention and vigilant action. Given the new law, Bible clubs likely will proliferate at local schools across the state. Parents must monitor the programs and assure they comply with legal guidelines. Greater citizen involvement on all levels of local government, from school boards to the state legislature, would provide a needed counterpoint to the steady advance of those who seek to insert religion wrongly in the public arena.

Yep, there's trouble in Dodge. The question is whether or not we are going to hunker down and defend our rights or let the desperados run roughshod over them.

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