The Tri-County Journal
& Chattahoochee Chronicle
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     Thirteen-year-old Amber Mangum lives with her grandmother Maryann, who adopted Amber and her sister Ashley.  The family attends a small church where, according to Maryann, “everyone knows everyone else and a helping hand is always there when you need it.”
     Approximately a year and a half ago, Amber went up to the pastor of her small church and asked to be baptized.  Since then, she has been eager to learn all she can about her faith, attending church Bible studies, doing  nightly devotionals with her family and reading the Bible.
     Maryann, who has been a Christian for six years, has noticed the positive difference that Christianity has  made in Amber’s life. Pleased that Amber wants to learn more about her faith, Maryann is encouraged that  Amber finds comfort in her Christian beliefs. “She understands what it means to be a Christian,”  said Maryann. “She’s come to understand that even if someone’s mean to you, a Christian  doesn’t hold a grudge.”
     Amber is an honor roll student and is an avid reader. So it was not unusual that on September 14, 2006, as the  seventh-grader finished eating and had five or ten minutes before her next class, Amber pulled out a book to  read.
     Amber has read an assortment of books during her lunch hour, ranging from the Quidditch adventures of Harry  Potter and the Guinness Book of World Records to Goosebumps and Anamorphs. On this particular day,  Amber’s chosen reading material was the Bible. She was reading the passage in Matthew that is commonly  referred to as the Beatitudes.
     That’s when her troubles began. Amber was approached by a school official at Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle  School in Prince George’s County, Md., while silently reading her Bible in the school cafeteria.
     Posters hanging in the classrooms proclaim “Read to lead,” which is in keeping with school policy  that allows students to read books or engage in interpersonal communications during non-instructional time at  school, including lunch periods. No one ever told Amber not to read Harry Potter or Goosebumps. No one ever suggested that her previous choice of reading material might be inappropriate or out of place in a school  setting. In fact, other students have been observed reading books containing questionable language, but Amber  doesn’t recall them ever having been told to stop reading.
     However, perhaps this particular school official wasn’t quite up-to-speed on school policy or the  Constitution. That’s because when the school official noticed that Amber was reading the Bible, she  informed Amber that reading a Bible was a violation of the school’s policy and warned her that she would  be subject to more severe disciplinary action if she were ever found reading a Bible at school again.
     To Amber, who that same day had learned about the First Amendment and its provision to protect freedom of  religion and speech in her history class, the school’s actions made no sense. “I thought you could  read whatever you wanted as long as you’re not disturbing anyone with it,” said Amber. “I  felt like I was doing something bad. I felt that they were taking away my rights.”
     Amber’s mother felt exactly the same way. And that’s why the Mangum family decided to stand and  fight. With the help of The Rutherford Institute, they’ve filed a lawsuit in federal court, asking the  court to declare that prohibiting students from reading Bibles or other religious texts during their free time  is unconstitutional. As Maryann said, “If you believe something is right, you have to stand up for  it.”

By
John
Whitehead
Guest
Columnist