People in the US who advocate a "return" to school prayer are usually unaware that one of the first court challenges to religious instruction was brought by Christians who were upset about the version of the bible that was being used in public schools. This was State ex rel Weiss v. District Board 76 Wis. 177 (1890), more commonly known as the Edgerton (Wisconsin) Bible Case, which was cited as a precedent in the case that ultimately banned state-sponsored bible instruction, [i][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abington_School_District_v._Sche...

People in the US who advocate a "return" to school prayer are usually unaware that one of the first court challenges to religious instruction was brought by Christians who were upset about the version of the bible that was being used in public schools. This was State ex rel Weiss v. District Board 76 Wis. 177 (1890), more commonly known as the Edgerton (Wisconsin) Bible Case, which was cited as a precedent in the case that ultimately banned state-sponsored bible instruction, Abington School District v. Schempp (1963). In fact, with the notable exception of Murray vs. Curlett (which had almost no effect on the issue of prayer and religious instruction in public schools), the vast majority of the lawsuits on this have come, not from atheists, but from from within the Judaeo-Christian tradition, i.e., Christians squabbling about whose version of the bible and the deity was correct or Jews who were being compelled to convert.

The suit was brought by the atheist mother of two public school students, an Italian national who was born in Finland.

Well, well. I too thought this the case.
But....
then I read this:
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/08/muslims-score-a-major-victory/


In 2003, the Union of the Muslims of Italy
(UOMII), led by a radical convert to Islam named Adel Smith, brought a
court action to have the crucifix removed from all public schools in
that predominantly Catholic country. Calling the crucifix a “small body
on two wooden sticks,” and “a miniature cadaver,” Smith and UOMII
lobbied hard for their removal. Also on their agenda was the removal of
an “offensive” 15th century ...

The suit was brought by the atheist mother of two public school students, an Italian national who was born in Finland.

Well, well. I too thought this the case.
But....
then I read this:
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/08/muslims-score-a-major-victory/


In 2003, the Union of the Muslims of Italy
(UOMII), led by a radical convert to Islam named Adel Smith, brought a
court action to have the crucifix removed from all public schools in
that predominantly Catholic country. Calling the crucifix a “small body
on two wooden sticks,” and “a miniature cadaver,” Smith and UOMII
lobbied hard for their removal. Also on their agenda was the removal of
an “offensive” 15th century Giovanni di Modena fresco in the Bologna
cathedral and the deletion of Dante’s Divine Comedy from the school
syllabus. Smith said both showed the prophet Mohammed cast into hell
and were blasphemous against Islam.
The local Italian Court ruled in favor of the Smith and the Muslims. The schools appealed.
The matter was taken up by the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg, France (along with a similar action by a different
plaintiff), and in a stunning decision, which has gone almost entirely
unreported by most major news outlets and cable programs (with the
exception of a small, peripheral mention on Fox News) in this country,
that Court also ruled last week that displaying crucifixes in the
Italian schools violated Europe’s principle of “secular education,” and
“might be intimidating for children from other faiths.”
The presence of the crucifix could be … disturbing for
pupils who practiced other religions or were atheists, particularly if
they belonged to religious minorities. The compulsory display of a
symbol of a given confession in premises used by the public
authorities… restricted the right of parents to educate their children
in conformity with their convictions.

The ruling has provoked outrage from all levels of Italian society,
being nearly unanimously c

ondemned by Christians, greens, conservatives, and even communists, who called the ruling “absurd.”

Mariastella Gelmini, a member of the government of conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, argued that:

No one, and certainly not an ideological European court, will succeed in erasing our identity.

The head of the main opposition leftist Democratic Party, Pierluigi Bersani, commented that the ruling lacked common sense.

I think a longstanding tradition like the crucifix can’t be offensive to anyone.

Foreign minister Franco Frattini, speaking during a visit to Morocco, said it was an attack on Italy’s Christian identity and that the government would appeal the decision.

...

ondemned by Christians, greens, conservatives, and even communists, who called the ruling “absurd.”

Mariastella Gelmini, a member of the government of conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, argued that:

No one, and certainly not an ideological European court, will succeed in erasing our identity.

The head of the main opposition leftist Democratic Party, Pierluigi Bersani, commented that the ruling lacked common sense.

I think a longstanding tradition like the crucifix can’t be offensive to anyone.

Foreign minister Franco Frattini, speaking during a visit to Morocco, said it was an attack on Italy’s Christian identity and that the government would appeal the decision.

At a time when we’re trying to bring religions closer together, this is a blow to Christianity.

Those sentiments aside, it may already be too late for Italy.

Although generations of Italian children have grown up studying in classrooms displaying a crucifix, Italy has been transformed of late with the arrival of some 4.5 million refugees and asylum seekers (about 8% of the entire population), a huge percentage of which are Muslims. The influx has led to deep-seated tensions with Muslim immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East (who tend to resist assimilation and are becoming more vocal and radicalized as their numbers grow) despite efforts by the Italian government to accommodate them (as evidenced by the building the Grand Mosque in Rome, the largest Mosque in Europe).

To add insult to injury, the European Court has also fined the Italian government the sum of five thousand Euros, for their role in:

Psychologically damaging students who were forced to learn in the midst of a crucifix.

The Islamization of Europe continues unabated.