Opinion ID: 485697
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: plaintiffs' religious beliefs

Text: 10 An understanding of plaintiffs' religious beliefs and practices is essential to the proper evaluation of plaintiffs' claims. The evidence presented by plaintiffs to the district court unquestionably revealed that their religious beliefs stem from the Bible. They view Christ as the Head of their church and all of its ministries, and adhere to the doctrine of separation of church and state. Their schools were created in response to these beliefs. Neither church has a doctrine which requires members to send their children to the church school, however, and parents are not subject to discipline for removing their children from the church schools. Enrollment in the schools is not limited to those who belong to the church, and both schools have enrolled pupils whose parents are not members of the church. Moreover, several members send some of their children to the church school, while others attend the public schools. 11 Although the churches' tenets of faith are similar, each school has a slightly different approach to teaching. The Central Iowa Christian Academy, associated with the Fellowship Baptist Church, uses the principle approach. The Calvary Baptist Christian Academy, associated with the Calvary Baptist Church, uses the Accelerated Christian Education, Inc. or ACE program. Each school offers the basic curriculum specified in Iowa statutes with a few minor exceptions, as well as other courses, including a course in computers. Plaintiffs' witnesses admitted that there is nothing in either curriculum which forbids teaching by a certified teacher, and in fact, each school employs a teacher who is certified. 12 Plaintiffs believe themselves to be in the world but not of the world, but they do not segregate themselves from modern communities. They live in ordinary residential neighborhoods and they interact with their neighbors and others not of their faith. They believe they are called by God to perform certain occupations in life, but these include ordinary occupations such as nurse, lawyer, engineer and accountant, and there is no evidence that they object to the licensing of these occupations. They own and use radios, televisions, motor vehicles and other modern conveniences and advancements. Their dress and lifestyle, while conservative, is not distinctive. 13 Plaintiffs do, however, object to certain state regulation of their churches' ministries, including the reporting, teacher certification and equivalent instruction requirements of Iowa's compulsory school laws. Neither principal has ever filed an annual report as required by Iowa Code Sec. 299.3, although both stated at trial that they had been aware for several years that the law placed this obligation on them. Officials of Calvary Baptist Christian Academy initially had requested information on becoming an approved school, 2 and had assured the Keokuk School District Superintendent that certified teachers would be employed, 3 but the majority of teachers in both schools currently are not certified. In addition to the reporting and certification requirements, plaintiffs object to the term equivalent instruction as unconstitutionally vague and assert that any review of their curriculum by the state would necessarily be far-reaching and anti-religious. 14 With this background, we turn to the specific provisions of Iowa law to which plaintiffs object.