Thread: Church vs State
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Old Sat Feb 09, 2008, 04:42pm
Matt Matt is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Upper Midwest
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SAump
I ask that you remain calm and reasonable and hear my question before you slam "the door" back in my face. I bring this question up before a group of umpires for discussion. I apologize if this encroachment upon your civil liberties causes any personal discomfort.

A wealthy televangelist owns a very large privately funded school. He doesn't believe it is fair that his students compete in the same "league" with much smaller private schools in the local area. They win their division in every sport every year. Sometimes, even the JV squad manages to take 2nd place. There are other large private schools much further away but travel restrictions prevent those schools from competing outside of state competition.

This wealthy minister is suing the state of Texas for equal protection under the law. The state of Texas has always practiced a sort of seperation between church and state {eg. abolish school prayer}. In high school, there has always been a distinct seperation between private and public school systems with two distinct governing bodies set up for high school athletics.

The question is simple. Why shouldn't his school be allowed to play in the "UIL" which controls high school athletics for public school systems? After all, those parents who choose to send their children to private school are also paying taxes to support the same public school system which denies them equal access.

How should the high court decide?
I could probably give you an answer but I need a bit further info; I'm not familiar with Texas interscholastic activities--I assume that UIL is the governing body in the state. Does it have two subordinate groups, with non-religious schools playing in one, and religious schools in the other, or does it simply deny certain schools membership?

FWIW, Minnesota has one league, and almost all schools participate in it. Schools have the option of not being in MSHSL, but since just about every school participates in it, there is little benefit to not being a member.
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