Melissa Stewart

mstewart@communitypress.com

When the final bell rang for the school year Tuesday, Boone County high school students had their choice of belief or disbelief.

Representatives from Gideons International were expected to distribute New Testaments while the Tri-State Freethinkers distributed "A Young Atheists Survival Guide" Tuesday after school at Boone, Conner, Cooper and Ryle high schools.

The Boone County School Board voted last month to allow both groups to distribute their literature. The groups were off school property on the public right of way. They were permitted to hand out their literature only to students expressing interest in receiving it, community relations coordinator Barbara Brady said.

"We cannot allow any groups like this within the schools because the federal court has ruled that unconstitutional," Brady said. "We also can't deny them access to the public right of way."

Gideons International, according to its website gideons.org, is an association of Christian business and "professional men and their wives dedicated to telling people about Jesus through sharing personally and by providing Bibles and New Testaments."

The Gideons did not show up at any of the high schools.

Tri-State Freethinkers, according to their website, http://bit.ly/S3yfGH, are "freethinkers from Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky who plan to make a difference by being active in the community and standing against church-state violations."

Lynn Arnold of the Tri-State Freethinkers traveled from Brown County to hand out literature. "We were notified that the Gideons were given permission to hand out Bibles. Some concerned parents contacted the American Civil Liberties Union and they contacted our organization. We're here so we have equal access. Students are very impressionable at this age. It's important to our group that students see both sides. We teach our children how to think, not what to think."

Arnold helped distribute books to several students outside of Boone County High School.

The group partnered with Hemant Mehta, a blogger at patheos.com, and The Secular Student Alliance for the distribution.

Boone County High School junior Nathan Sudenga accepted a copy of "A Young Atheists Survival Guide."

"I want to hear what they have to say," he said. "I'm open-minded."

Boone County senior Justin Fuller said he made it a point to take a book.

"I've been an atheist for a while," he said. "I feel that people sometimes make fun of that. This shows atheists that you don't have to be afraid. I think people should be able to do what they want; believe what they believe. Be who you are."

Parent Katina Brown Morrison said she had received an email from her children's school informing them of the distribution. She spoke to her children about the distribution this morning.

"We told them someone may approach you and you make the decision of what you want to do," she said. "We put our trust in God. This (distribution) is nothing new. This was done on a public right of way. We're not disappointed with how it was handled."

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