Parent Seeks to Keep Nationally Known Speaker from Delivering Anti-Drug Message To Students Because He is a Christian

November 14, 2003

Mathew D. Staver

Williamson County, IL – Today, a nationally known public speaker asked a federal court for permission to intervene in a lawsuit that was filed to prevent him from speaking at a school assembly on the dangers of drugs and alcohol and the importance of staying in school, simply because he is an evangelical Christian. Ronnie Hill is represented by Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, a civil liberties public interest law firm in Orlando, Florida, along with attorneys Joel Oster and Rena Lindevaldsen, also of Liberty Counsel.

Dr. Hill, founder of Ronnie Hill Ministries, is scheduled to speak at several area schools in the Marion Community Unit School District next Monday and Tuesday on the perils of drug and alcohol use, and the importance of staying in school. Dr. Hill is a nationally known speaker, having delivered his anti-drug message and his pro-school message to thousands of schools across the United States. Dr. Hill is also a Christian evangelist, and is scheduled to speak at a local church next week. A parent in the District, Robert Marsh, does not want Dr. Hill to address the students because Hill is a Christian evangelist. Marsh fears that by allowing a Christian to deliver a secular anti-drug message, students will then be inclined to attend the church service in which Hill will be preaching. Marsh filed suit in federal court Thursday, but he immediately withdrew the suit once he realized a fair, no-nonsense judge was assigned to the case. Marsh then scurried to state court, filed suit there and set a hearing for 9:00 am this morning. However, the case was removed back to federal court against the wishes of Mr. Marsh. The 9:00 hearing was cancelled and the case is pending in the federal court. Marsh has asked the Court to ban any future speaker at the school, who might have an “ulterior” religious motive.

The text of Dr. Hill’s message is entirely secular. In the Complaint filed in federal court, Marsh even admitted that Hill’s presentation is a secular message “encouraging students not to use drugs or alcohol.” Mr. Marsh admits that the message is secular, but objects to the fact that Dr. Hill is an evangelist by profession.

According to Hill’s attorney, Mathew D. Staver of Liberty Counsel, “Banning a speaker from talking to students about a secular subject solely because he is a Christian is an insult.” Staver noted, “The Constitution does not require Christians to hide their faith. The Constitution prohibits any religious test as a prerequisite to exercising our rights. Christianity is not a disability; faith in God cannot be used to disqualify anyone from the equal protection of the laws. This lawsuit seeks to set up a system whereby a person with no religious tenets can speak but a person with religious tenets may not. In other words, this suit is an attempt to judge a person by who he is, not what he will say. Such a notion is utterly ridiculous.”

“The very idea that a person can be barred from speaking in a public forum because he is a Christian should shock the collective conscious of everyone, ” concluded Staver. A hearing has not yet been set, but Dr. Hill is scheduled to address the students Monday.

Press coverage about the lawsuit:

Marion Man Files Suit vs. School District

Judge Sends Case Challenging Marion School Assemblies To Federal Court

Mathew D. Staver, Esq.
Liberty Counsel
http://www.lc.org.

An Ally of the Alliance Defense Fund