GIDEONS GIVING OUT BIBLES IRKS MOTHER

CHAFFEE -- A school visit by the Gideons International has raised some legal questions among residents here.

Members of the Gideons International gave small New Testament Bibles to fifth-grade students at Chaffee Elementary School.

At least one parent complained about the visit.

The school's principal, Jay Moore, said he tried reduce peer pressure by allowing students to pick up the Bibles from a trophy case in the hallway.

But Vincenza Haney wasn't worried about peer pressure. She was concerned about the legality of the visit.

"It's not that I don't approve, but it's just not right," she said. "If I wanted my son to have religion, I would have sent him to a Catholic school."

Earlier this month, the Gideons also visited classes at Oran and Kelly elementary schools.

Despite the controversy surrounding the school visits, no recent opinions on the subject were found, said Scott Holste, a spokesman for the Missouri Attorney General's Office.

Haney, a native of New Jersey, said she was surprised the Gideons only visited the fifth-grade classes and not the entire school.

Before giving the students a Bible, a Gideons representative explained what the organization does.

"He told the students to do two things if they took a Bible -- write their name in it and read it," Moore said, adding that allowing the Gideons into the school could mean that radical groups also might want to visit.

Gideons are not allowed to preach, said Gene Loftis, president of the Cape Girardeau Gideons International camp.

"There's no indoctrination," he said. "It's like any other piece of literature that's handed out. If a parent didn't want their child to have a copy, then certainly they shouldn't take one."

All Gideons representatives are volunteers and don't solicit money, Loftis said.

Gideons International is a nondenominational group founded in 1899 that provides Bibles to people in 172 countries.