School district removes religious quote after Freedom From Religion Foundation complaint

TROUP, TX (KLTV) - An East Texas school district has removed a bible quote from its website following a complaint to the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Troup Independent School District pulled the quote from its homepage after the FFRF contacted disctrict officials.

The FFRF released a statement on the quote Monday, saying that in January, FFRF Attorney Sam Grover reached out to Troup ISD Superintendent Stuart Bird.

"It is well settled that public schools may not advance or promote religion," Grover said in a letter. "No public school may urge religious viewpoints on students by granting special status to a religious text like the bible."

According to the FFRF, the district's website featured a quote from 1 Samuel 14:48 - "As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him."

The FFRF says the story of David and Goliath is a story about an underdog triumphing over great odds, but also a story about a Judeo-Christian god.

"Quoting a bible story about the power of the Judeo-Christian god on the school district's website shows its preference for Judaism and Christianity over all other religions and over nonreligion. By doing this, the district unconstitutionally lent its power and prestige to Christianity, thereby excluding the nearly 30 percent of adult Americans who are non-Christian and the more than 43 percent of millennials who practice a minority religion or no religion at all," the statement reads.

The district modified the statement to read:

"As the giant moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. In Troup ISD we work to engender the spirit of attacking the problems that present themselves day in and day out. Teaching the students to run to meet the giants in their lives is a goal we fully embrace. Welcome to the Troup ISD web site. We trust that you will be able to find everything you are looking for and remember, you are always welcome at Troup ISD."

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said the organization was satisfied with the change.

"We're satisfied that Troup ... Independent School District has seen the light," Gaylor said. "Imposing biblical morality on public school students is not the way to go."

KLTV 7 has reached out to the school district for comment. Officials were unavailable at the time this article was published.

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