Christian Quote by David Barton
“In 1967, in DeKalb v. DeSpain, a court (255 F.Supp. 655. N.D.Ill. 1966.) took a 4-line nursery rhyme used by a K-5 kindergarten class and declared the nursery rhyme unconstitutional. The court explained that although the word 'God' was not contained in this nursery rhyme, if someone were to hear the rhyme, he might think that it was talking about God - and that would be unconstitutional!”
About This Quote
Source Court Case: DeKalb v. DeSpain, 1966, N.D. Ill.
A nursery rhyme was deemed unconstitutional because it could be interpreted as referencing God, despite lacking the word.
In simple terms: Rhyme potentially seen as religious.
Key Takeaway
Consider context in legal judgments.
Themes
law
religion
interpretation
free speech
Mood
analytical
critical
Type
legal
philosophical
When to use this quote
- education
- policy making
- court rulings
- public discourse
Key Concepts
constitutional law
judicial reasoning
Questions to Reflect On
- How should courts assess implied meanings?
- What balance between free speech and religious neutrality?
A Different Perspective
Interpretation can be subjective and controversial.
![“There’s a passage that I love in Romans 1. … [I]t talks about homosexuality and it says that they will receive in their bodies the penalties of their behavior. … The Bible [is] right every time … and that’s why AIDS has been something they haven’t discovered a cure for or a vaccine for. … And that…” quote by David Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2a6/david-barton-18163_aids_there-s-a-passage-that-i-love-in-romans_890071.jpg)
![“It’s interesting that many of the best instructors in early America were Scottish Presbyterians. As historian George Marsden affirmed, “[I]t is not much of an exaggeration to say that outside of New England, the Scots were the educators of eighteenth-century America.”7 These Scottish instructors…” quote by David Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0ef/david-barton-18163_philosophy_it-s-interesting-that-many-of-the-best-i_1015003.jpg)
