New York, NY, May 20, 1998…In testimony submitted to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said today that religious coercion in our public schools threatens to undermine the values of American democracy. ADL had been asked to testify to the Commission’s public fact-finding hearing on "Schools and Religion."

Speaking before the Commission, Meyer Eisenberg, an ADL National Vice Chairman, noted that "contrary to the sometimes hysterical claims of those opposed to the separation of church and state, public school students already enjoy very broad rights to act in accordance with their religious values and to practice their religious beliefs while at school." He pointed out, however, that despite the religious liberty that prevails in our nation’s public schools, "many administrators, teachers, parents and students have attempted to exploit the public school setting to promote their own religious agenda and to impose their views on others."

Mr. Eisenberg said that the Equal Access Act, a focus of the Commission’s hearing, has opened the door to numerous opportunities for religious coercion in the public schools. The EAA, which defines how student religious groups may use school facilities, has led to the "promotion of religion and religious activity with the apparent endorsement of public school authorities," Eisenberg said. He added that schools must do a better job of preventing teacher participation in sectarian activities allowed under the act.

In his testimony, Mr. Eisenberg condemned the cleverly named "Religious Freedom Amendment," currently before Congress. He said the initiative, also known as the Istook Amendment, "would radically alter the protections that the First Amendment affords to religion both in the schools and elsewhere" and "would allow religious coercion in a way unseen in our public schools for decades."

Mr. Eisenberg said, "If there is one lesson our schools should be teaching, it is respect for each individual to think, believe, feel, speak, and worship as he or she chooses."

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.