~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by F. Baum Osley, Ks. Aug 25 (P.P.) - The Unified School District of Osley has voted 9-1 to require the reading and reciting in class "key scriptures" taken from a variety of religious texts. "The intent of the school board is to reflect the shared values of a diverse community ", said Roger Williams, board president.

Osley is a rapidly developing community, its growth built around Hi-Tech firms that have moved into the area.

Margaret Hamilton, whose company E><W pioneered research and development in tornado prediction, said "The relaxing in immigration policies has allowed us to search for and retain the best engineers from all over the world, further, we must respect the religious beliefs of our employed as we do our own." E><W has, at present, some 77 associates.

The texts offered are some twenty-five in number. A partial listing includes: The Holy Bible, The Koran, The Talmud, The Book of Mormon, The Key to Science and Scriptures, The Upanishads, the Adi Granth, The Tao Te Ching and The Tripitaka.

They reflect the sacred texts of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, The Church of Latter Day Saints, Christian Science, Hindu, Sikh, Taoist, and the Buddhist religions respectively. Key readings in the Church of Scientology were rejected as they would require remuneration [payment].

All students from the 4th grades until graduation from the 12th, will be asked to learn the basic shared tenants of the twenty-five religious texts and recite passages in the classroom. "We will not require scripture that is doctrinal in nature, but rather give to our students the shared value systems of right and wrong. Leading a morally correct life is difficult in these troubled times, we intend to provide comparative examples of all religions"

commented Roger Williams. He added, " As an example, the "Golden Rule" can be found in some fashion in almost every religious text. It is to these examples that we will look to find shared belief."

A local member of the ACLU, Bea Russell, when asked her opinion, said "... while I know of no ACLU position on this particular issue, I am personally concerned that it is an abridgement of Ist amendment rights in church and state separation. That other religious beliefs were excluded by design or fiscal policy demonstrates the violation of that constitutional principle."

Beau Shat, a local lawyer with ties to the American Family Values Institute, as however, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dolly Murphy, the lone dissenting board member, and her estranged husband Pastor Larry Murphy of the Free Evangelics Alliance Church. The Murphys ,speaking through Mr. Shat, declared, " We have raised our children to be respectful of other people and the things they believe even if they are wrong, but we have also taught them that the Bible and God belongs to them. We do not want to share other peoples ideas about morality that might confuse them in our upbringing. Learning other 'scriptures' to us breaks God's first commandment to the born-again believer.

While we have nothing against bringing God into the classroom, we feel it must be the God our children have come to know and love."

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