Focus on the Family Makes Thursday 'Bring Your Bible To School' Day

A bible sits open in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, April 1, 2005. (Photo: Reuters/Brian Snyder)

The Focus on the Family organization started its "Bring Your Bible To School" initiative this week by encouraging students across the country to bring their Holy Book to school on Thursday and discuss the Bible during non-class times.

A website promoting Thursday's event on the Focus on the Family website reads: "Here at Focus on the Family, we believe the Bible is a powerful message of hope and love for humanity—something to be celebrated, not banned. We also believe in the cherished religious freedoms our Founding Fathers fought to protect."

"Do you share our desire to reverse this trend and equip the next generation to boldly exercise their religious freedoms—and be unashamed of their biblical beliefs? Then you'll love Focus on the Family's new event for students: Bring Your Bible to School Day on October 16! Students all across the country can stand up and celebrate their religious freedoms together."

The conservative family group is reportedly referencing incidences in which public school teachers told students they could not read their Bibles at school.

The Alliance Defending Freedom group also stood behind Thursday's event, with Jeremy Tedesco, an attorney for the group, saying in a statement: "Christian students don't abandon their constitutionally protected freedoms at the schoolhouse gate."

"Their freedom to express their beliefs includes the right to bring their Bible to school, to read it during their free time, and to engage in other activities as part of 'Bring Your Bible to School Day.'"