THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, February 24, 1995              TAG: 9502240588
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                       LENGTH: Medium:   52 lines

LEGAL FORUM FOCUSES ON RELIGION IN SCHOOLS

Ask a bunch of lawyers to debate the question ``How much God in the schools?'' and you can expect a good fight.

So it went at the College of William and Mary on Thursday in a night of legal discussion that pulled together lawyers and professors from across the political spectrum.

Underlying the program, sponsored by the law school, was a deep division about whether students should be taught moral values in public schools and, if so, whose morality it should be.

Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and the keynote speaker, listed several cases in which students had been punished for bringing religious items to school or talking about religion in classes.

``These examples are not aberrations,'' he said. ``They have become the norm, as ignorant or malevolent public school teachers and administrators put into effect the religious cleansing in the schools that they believe has been mandated by the courts.''

Not so, said Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union, who gave the closing speech. She cited other cases in which students were forced to listen to religious prayers - broadcast over the loudspeaker or recited at meetings - that contradicted their beliefs.

``How should students' religious faith or lack thereof be handled in the public schools?'' she said. ``The important principle is defending and preserving individual freedom of choice and not allowing government to interfere in these precious, sacred realms of individual freedom.''

But who makes the choice? Jay Sekulow, chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, founded by Robertson, cited a Massachusetts court case in which parents objected to a school board's decision to allow condom distribution in middle and high schools.

Sekulow pulled out a sample of the condoms being distributed and waved the orange pamphlet that explained how to use them.

``Whose values are being promulgated here?'' he said. ``These are given out even if the parents object.''

Amid the contention, one panelist talked briefly about the potential for some common ground.

Elliot Mincberg, legal director of People for the American Way, mentioned a project that brings together religious leaders to talk about shared moral values and find ways to teach that morality to children from diverse backgrounds.

``That's what we should be trying to achieve,'' he said. by CNB