GIDEON

     I saw on a news broadcast that the Anti-Defamation
League objected to the New Testaments being distributed by
the Gideons, an interdenominational businessmen's
organization, to students near a Gwinett County [GA]
elementary school.

     I'd like to point out, first, that the Gideons were not
in the school, but nearby on the sidewalk, passing out the
little Testaments only to the children who came up to take
them voluntarily.

     Second, there was no denominational or sectarian
comment in the little books, only the text of the King James
(Authorized) Version of the New Testament.

     Third, the presence of the Gideons outside the school
and away from school property does not imply any support or
approval by the school board.

     Fourth, while some would consider the school had some
responsibility to protect children from drug-dealers and
kidnappers on or near campus, I ask, is it necessary to
protect children from businessmen who used to be welcomed
into schools with presentation assemblies?

     Fifth, the English Bible, especially in the King James
Version, is recognized as a literary masterpiece that has
shaped our language and our allusions since its first
publication to the present.  Isn't it historically and
literarily significant to know the source of so much of our
linguistic heritage?

     Sixth, although the Supreme Court may have overlooked
this, the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the
FREEDOM of religion, and that the federal government is
prohibited from interfering with its free exercise.  The
Federal Government, but not the states, was prohibited from
establishing any religion or denomination as the official
one for the country.  The states were free to have
established churches and to require membership in good
standing in order to be an elected official.

     "Separation between Church and State" is a provision of
the Soviet constitution, but that phrase does not occur in
the constitution of the United States of America.  Whose
constitution are we going by, anyway?

     Seventh, why is the Anti-Defamation League upset?  If
Doctor Luke was a Hellenistic Jew, the entire New Testament
was written by Jews who had come to believe that Jesus was
the Messiah of Israel.  Certainly the ADL disagrees with
this, but there is NOTHING in the text of the New Testament
that defames or denigrates or dishonors Jews or in any way
suggests or justifies anti-Semitism.

     I freely confess that I am a believer in Jesus as
Messiah and King, and I accept the entire Bible, a
thoroughly Jewish book, as God's inspired message to
mankind.  I am VERY proud of the fact that my father,
C.Cotton Price, is an active Gideon.

     In an age when sexual perverts are coming out of the
closet and clamoring for preferential treatment under
affirmative action laws, I refuse to go into the closet
because I am a Bible-lover.  The Bible is at least a very
important part of our culture, and should be read by every
person who claims to be educated.

     I don't think that responsible and upstanding Christian
businessmen should be treated like neighborhood drug
pushers.
    Clyde C. Price, Jr.
    Red Oak, Georgia