Acceptable targets

Education | School hostage drill casts Christians in the role of child-killing terrorists | Lynn Vincent

On March 22, two police officers masquerading as terrorists stormed New Jersey's Burlington Township High School, pretending to shoot students and take hostages in a law enforcement emergency drill. But it was the backstory rather than the drill itself that upset some local citizens.

Here's why: The "gunmen," according to the scenario script, were "members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called 'The New Crusaders' who don't believe in separation of church and state." They were taking extreme action "because the daughter of one had been expelled for praying before class."

When details of the script leaked out, local and national Christian leaders demanded a formal apology from both the police department and the school district. The American Center for Law and Justice considered legal action, stating that "blaming hostage-taking on conservative Christians is not only inappropriate but outrageous, and raises serious constitutional questions as well."