NYC mayor Bloomberg tries to ban churches from using schools after hours

From the NY Post. (H/T Joy) There’s a petition to sign at the bottom of this post.

Excerpt:

Come Feb. 12, Mayor Bloomberg and the city Department of Education are set to ban religious groups from off-hour use of public schools for worship services. This contradicts New York City’s commitment to diversity, freedom of expression and accommodation of diverse religious beliefs — and there’s still time to reverse course.

[…]The US Supreme Court last month opted not to review a lower-court decision upholding the city’s “unequal access” policy. But even that ruling (by the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit) did notmandatethe city’s policy, but merely said the Constitution permits it.

In fact, no other major school district in the nation has a ban anything like New York’s extreme anti-worship policy. That’s why regular rallies across the city are urging the mayor to repeal this senseless targeting of religious groups.

By state law, the city opens its 1,200 schools on weeknights and weekends to community groups for any use “pertaining to the welfare of the community.” The public schools allow thousands of organizations — scout troops, labor unions, arts groups, etc. — to hold meetings, concerts and recitals. They’ve even allowed “Law and Order” to film in the schools.

Why single out religious groups and churches, by prohibiting them from conducting worship services in vacant schools when students are gone?

Bronx Household of Faith, a small evangelical church formed in 1971, triggered the current controversy in 1995 when it filed a lawsuit challenging the policy after being denied its request to meet in a public school. The federal district court in Manhattan issued an injunction in 2002 that stopped the city from enforcing the policy.

So for nine years, religious groups have met in public schools — and helped their communities by painting school buildings, offering academic help to all students and providing services to disabled children, people learning English and those seeking counseling and spiritual comfort. The “faith communities” have been good neighbors, bettering the quality of life in the city by helping those in need.

You can sign a petition here to stop the mayor from carrying out his plan. The petition is hosted by Truth in Action / Coral Ridge Ministries.

In other news, Bloomberg is pushing for more gun control as well.