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The American Humanist Association (AHA) is threatening to sue the School of
Engineering and Arts (SEA), an elementary school in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, to
halt students from participating in a program to feed hungry children in Haiti.SEA first-, second- and third-graders joined hundreds of others from the community last month at Calvary Lutheran Church to pack food boxes to feed hungry children in Haiti. The community service project was part of a hunger relief effort that resulted in sending 750,000 meals to the Caribbean nation. The food program is run by Feed My Starving Children (FMSC), a Christian nonprofit. In the Robbinsdale area, Calvary Church served as a center to pack the organization's food boxes.
The school had selected the project as a community service opportunity for its students, who went to the church last month on a field trip to help pack boxes.
In the past, the school has sent students to other service and charity events, which were not affiliated with religious groups. In a letter to parents about the FMSC event, the school principal wrote, "The purpose of this service learning activity was to teach our students civic responsibility and provide opportunities for our students to become active, positive contributors to society."
Although both FMSC and the church operate on a Christian philosophy, both groups had taken steps to enable the involvement of public school children without exposing them to religious views. FMSC normally invites participants to pray at the end of its events, but purposely did not do that while the public school children were there. And Calvary church staged the packing in a room from which all religious symbols had been removed.
After a parent of one of the students notified the Humanist group of the school's program, Monica Miller, an attorney for the group, contacted the school, saying that having the kids participate in the feeding program during school hours facilitated the goals of a religious organization, and thus, the school itself was sponsoring a religious message.
"Sending public school children under your authority to a religious environment -- to work with a religious organization that is on a religious mission -- is a violation of the First Amendment principle of church-state separation," Miller said in a letter addressed to school officials. "Your school has quite clearly violated the Establishment Clause by directing students to attend a pervasively Christian proselytizing environment." Miller went on to write that the message of Calvary Church and FMSC "is contrary to the view of many of the students and their families."
A spokesperson for the school pointed out that students are not required to participate in the FMSC program, and that the school offers alternatives for students who can't or won't go on the field trips.
Nonetheless, the Humanist group says that if the school's involvement with the feeding program continues, they will consider suing the school to stop it.
In a phone interview with a reporter, Miller insisted that the Humanist Association does not object to the charitable cause of FMSC and Calvary church. But they do object to a public school encouraging its students to participate in a program run by a religious organization.
"We are not opposed to educating children about poverty around the world, nor do we object to their participating in a nonreligious program to provide assistance," Miller said in her letter to the school.
Should the AHA file a suit against the school, Alliance Defending Freedom, a law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases, has offered to defend the school free of charge. Matt Sharp, an attorney for the firm, said, "The Constitution does not prohibit students from cooperating with a religious organization to help starving families, which is not any sort of government endorsement of religion. Neutrality toward religion does not permit schools to discriminate against beneficial programs simply because they are run by Christians. That is not neutrality but the very hostility toward religion that the First Amendment forbids."
More on this story can be found at these links:
Humanist Association May Sue District 281 After Church Trips. Sun Post
American Humanist Association Demands Students Stop Feeding Starving Kids. Fox News
Robbinsdale School of Engineering and Arts
American Humanist Association
The Big Questions
1. If you are the parent of starving children and someone gives you food for them, do you care what the motivation of the giver is? Is the food equally a blessing whether it comes from a Christian who is working to love his neighbor as he loves himself, from a humanist who feels sorry for you, from a non-believer who wants to be praised for her charitableness, or from a politician who wants your vote at the next election?
2. Is God pleased when a person helps someone in dire need even if the person's motives are not totally altruistic? (For example, suppose the giver gives food to a starving child not because he particularly cares about that child, but because he'd feel guilty if he didn't.) Is God pleased with the person who does the helping? How, if at all, are these different?
3. What might kids learn about citizenship and being positive contributors to society by witnessing cooperation between groups of different understandings and practices for the sake of doing good in the world?
4. The motto of the American Humanist Association is "Good Without a God." Do you think in this action of asking the public school to stop sending its students to help in the FMSC program the AHA is being faithful to the "good" part of its motto? Why or why not?
5. How do you react when you hear about a story like this? Are you at all sympathetic to the viewpoint of the AHA? Take a moment to role play, defending their point of view. If you were mediating this discussion, what compromise would you suggest? How would you feel if your child or grandchild's school sent the class to an Islamic mosque to help pack food for hungry children in Haiti?
6. What is your reaction to this statement from Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Matt Sharp: "Neutrality toward religion does not permit schools to discriminate against beneficial programs simply because they are run by Christians"?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Matthew 6:2-4
So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (For context, read 6:1-6, 16-18.)
Here, from the Sermon on the Mount, is one of Jesus' clearest statements about the motives behind our religious practices. In the quoted verses, he is talking about alms-giving, saying, in effect, "Don't work at getting credit for your charity work. Don't toot your own horn. Instead, give in secret; God will reward you." In the other verses in the context, he says similar things about prayer (in effect, "Don't make a big production about your prayers so people will comment on how pious you are. Shut the door and pray privately to God. He will reward you"). And he says something similar about fasting (in effect, "Don't show it outwardly. Don't walk around with a hangdog expression on your face so that people will ask you what's wrong and you can tell them you are fasting. No. Instead, go about your business as usual. God will know that you are fasting and will reward you").
But notice this: Even Jesus' own instructions here imply doing these religious practices in expectation of reward. Do your charity work quietly. Pray privately. Fast in secret. But do it all so that God will reward you. (Or, as we might phrase it, "so that you will get a really big mansion in heaven," though we suspect that is not the kind of reward Jesus had in mind.)
Jesus, however, was not telling people to do good deeds for less-than-worthy reasons. He was simply saying that since everything we do is done out of some motive, let's go for the highest motive: pleasing God.
Questions: Does charitable work in the name of your church ennoble your witness? Is it important to make a statement about your beliefs, either overtly or implied (through logos on your hat or t-shirt or on the side of your vehicle)? What is your primary motivation for charitable work?
Matthew 21:28-31
[Jesus said,] "A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' He answered, 'I will not'; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, 'I go, sir'; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" (For context, read 21:28-32.)
Motivation may be a subtext in this parable from Jesus. After telling this story of the two sons, Jesus asked, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" Jesus' original audience -- the chief priests and elders (v. 23) -- answered that the one who actually went to work in the vineyard did. And Jesus' further comments indicated that he agreed. The other son apparently had good intentions, but he never got around to doing what he'd promised to do.
We don't know what motivated the son who had said "no" to change his mind. It may be that he went only grudgingly. Or maybe he felt guilty about refusing his father and went only to assuage his conscience. He may have even gone to show up his brother. Maybe his other plans fell through and he was bored. But in the end, he went, and in so doing, "did the will of his father."
Questions: Does this parable suggest that doing the right action or the right deed is sufficient even if our motivations are not godly? Or does it mean that the right deed is a place to start, but we should still work on getting our intentions in line with our actions? Explain your answer.
Is it more important to be serving humanity in the name of Jesus because your heart is in it, or because you are being obedient? Though usually there is a combination of both involved, do you lean more toward heart or obedience when it comes to service?
Mark 2:14
As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. (For context, read 2:13-15.)
Levi is another name for the disciple Matthew. Note that when Jesus called him to be a disciple, he did not say, "First be sure your motives selfless and not mixed and then follow me." No, he simply said, "Follow me." And that must have meant that Matthew was to follow Jesus despite whatever lack of clarity Matthew had about his reasons for doing so.
Questions: What first motivated you to follow or commit to Jesus? Would you describe that today as an unmixed motive? Why or why not?
Matthew 28:16-19
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ..." (For context, read 28:16-20.)
Note that when Jesus met the eleven apostles on the mountain following his resurrection, the text says, "but some doubted." Jesus gave the great commission to all of them, regardless of doubt or faith.
Questions: When you go out on a service project or work with other church members to raise funds, does your church require everyone to sign a faith statement to show that everyone is on the same page? Does your church work on service projects with other faith groups that may not share core beliefs?
Philippians 1:15-18
Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. These proclaim Christ out of love, ... the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely ... What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice. (For context, read 1:12-18.)
Nothing here about feeding starving children: the apostle Paul is writing about preaching the gospel of salvation from sin through Jesus Christ. Not food for a day, but life for eternity.
Questions: Does the nature of the action (e.g., preaching the gospel vs. feeding children) provide a different rule concerning the necessity of motivation? How or how not, and why or why not? Implicit in all the "does it matter" is the referent object: does it matter to whom? Discuss variations, if they exist.
1 Peter 1:13
Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. (For context, read 1:13-23.)
Here the apostle Peter states the goal of matching intentions with deeds. Christians are to "prepare [their] minds for action" by setting their "hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring ... when he is revealed." Thus, the grace of Christ given to us is the ultimate reason for our doing good works.
In the next verse, Peter adds that we should be holy because God is holy. Holiness involves not merely good intentions, but also good actions. The essence of holiness is loving your neighbor as yourself, and it is impossible to do that with intentions alone. Most of the time, loving your neighbor means concrete, beneficial actions toward him or her. But Peter also wants our intentions to match our actions, for further on in this passage he says, "... love one another deeply from the heart" (v. 22).
Questions: How often are you aware of mixed motives when doing a good deed? Does serving with mixed motives strengthen your faith and remove doubts, or leave you in the same condition as before?
For Further Discussion
1. Respond to this, from T.S. Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral: The main character, Archbishop Thomas Becket loosely based on the actual Archbishop Becket) is tempted to do what the playwright implies is "the right thing" and to seek martyrdom, but to do so out of pride in his own position, rather than obedience to God (an obedience which would also lead to martyrdom). Becket then declares:
The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.
2. Can or should we shelter our children from everything that represents beliefs different from our own? If you were the parent in Robbinsdale who contacted the AHA, would you also cover your child's eyes whenever you drive past a church for fear of him or her seeing the steeple or cross? How much is too much "protection"?
3. Team member Frank Ramirez comments, "For the past several years I have been driving a van from a church from a small-town area to a major urban area in order to bring folks to work in a soup kitchen. School-aged individuals often came with us, including some who were not members of the church. They were allowed to take a day off from school and use the experience as required service credits toward graduation." Do you live in an area where school districts and churches work together on programs like this or where school districts are more cautious about working with churches? For instance, does your school district cooperate with an official baccalaureate service? If you have other examples that apply to these questions, share with the group.
4. Discuss this: There is an old Jewish story about a rabbi who slept late one morning and missed his usual hour of prayer. Then Satan, dressed in a disguise, awakened him and urged him to get up and get praying. "Who are you?" asked the rabbi. Satan replied, "What difference does it make as long as I am urging you to do what is right?" At that, the rabbi suddenly said, "Aha, I know who you are. You're Satan come to tempt me!" Satan protested, "But if I really am the tempter, why would I urge you to pray?" "You're the clever one," said the rabbi. "If I had overslept and forgotten my prayers, I would have been penitent, and I would have prayed the more diligently. But if I never missed a prayer in 10 years, I would have become more complacent. God loves my faults mixed with penitence more than my virtue seasoned with pride!"
5. Comment on this: Martin Luther insisted that even the good works of the saints are sinful. Who, he said, would be so bold as to stand before God and say, "Lord, this work that I have done is so perfect that I have no need of any grace or forgiveness for it"?
Responding to the News
This is a good time to remind ourselves that we are "Christians under construction." Not all of our motives are as holy as God is holy, but we need to press on with our good deeds, seeking God's help to be holy.
Closing Prayer
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