Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal defense organization from Orlando, is defending the right of a Christian student to distribute anti-Catholic literature on his high school campus. After a series of incidents involving harassment of Catholic students at Niceville High School in Niceville, Florida, one of the offending students was suspended by the school. Catholic students at Niceville have been told that they are damned to eternal hell and have been subject to “laying on of hands” by some faculty and students.
Officials from the Okaloosa County School District have thus far acted responsibly by treating the matter with utmost seriousness. School Superintendent Walter Gordon has labeled the anti-Catholic literature as “hate” material and has commenced an investigation. One of the school board members has said that “This is not about prayer around a flag pole.” Instead, he added, “This is about unsolicited proselytizing and harassment.”
William Donohue of the Catholic League commented as follows:
“Liberty Counsel has done some very good work in the past, but that means nothing if anti-Catholicism also colors its work. To defend hate literature as religious expression, and to defend subjecting Catholic students to a climate of intimidation, is to defend the indefensible. This incident shows once again that Protestant militants stand in the way of true Christian dialogue and cooperation.”The Catholic League expects that school officials will prevail and we stand ready to support them in any way we can.”
