ICC Note: On February 10th, 2015 the Orange County School Board in Florida voted to ban the distribution of Bibles and all other religious materials. The decision was made in response to The Satanic Temple trying to distribute Satanic-themed coloring books to students after a different organization, World Changers of Florida, offered Bibles. The Liberty Counsel has found the decision unconstitutional is currently considering a lawsuit.

By Stoyan Zaimov

02/11/2015 United States (The Christian Post) – The school board of Orange County, Florida voted on Tuesday to ban the distribution of Bibles and all other religious materials at its public schools in order to prevent The Satanic Temple organization from handing out Satanic coloring books to students.

WFTV reported that board members voted 7-1 to amend school policy and ban all religious materials. The move is in response to The Satanic Temple attempting to offer coloring books and fact sheets to students in the Fall of 2014, after another group, World Changers of Florida, had offered Bibles.

The Liberty Counsel, which is representing the Christian group, argued that the school blocking the distribution of religious material is unconstitutional, and it may decide to sue.

“If my client is turned away because my client is a religious organization, then I think we’ll have grounds to sue the school board based on an unconstitutional policy,” said Roger Gannam of the Liberty Counsel.

Orange County School Board Chairman Bill Sublette said, however, that the school is ready to deal with any legal cases.

“This board has been fully briefed on the legal issues,” Sublette said.

The local Satanic Temple chapter argued that the message it is promoting is one of “tolerance and personal liberty,” and accused the school board of not wanting anyone but Christian groups to distribute religious material.

Satanic Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves said in a message back in September on the group’s website: “We would never seek to establish a precedent of disseminating our religious materials in public schools because we believe our constitutional values are better served by respecting a strong separation of Church and State.”

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