Mississippi school forces students to listen to christian lecture while teachers block exits

[WillParkinson]

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/04/26/mississippi-school-forces-students-to-listen-to-christian-lecture-teachers-block-exits/

Northwest Rankin High School in Flowood, Mississippi is under fire for allegedly forcing its students to attend and listen to Christian lectures during three assemblies held in April alone. Worse yet, students were barred from leaving and teachers blocked the exits to prevent any of them from doing so. One student was able to film one of the assemblies. As a result, a lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the students by the American Humanist Association. The organization filed the suit on Wednesday.

According to Raw Story,

“The assemblies showed a video laced with Christian messages about overcoming personal hardships through Jesus Christ and were allegedly led by local church officials.”

These church officials spoke about Jesus Christ dying “for our sins” and that the only way “to atone” for those sins is to accept Jesus. In other words, Christian officials were trying to indoctrinate students into the Christian religion whether they liked it or not.

Under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, such assemblies are unconstitutional because they violate the religious freedom of those who do not want to be in attendance. And since the school forced all of the students to be there and physically blocked them from leaving, these students were held against their will. That action is known as unlawful restraint and it is a felony. So this high school basically committed a crime in the effort to convert non-Christians to Christianity.

[BethanyQuartz]

1. Only in America

The rest of the world thinks we're crazy because of stuff like this you know. I have to laugh at the sheer fanatical idiocy though. Good for the student who managed to record the evidence.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

38. Wait, what? Have you even thought about that slightly?

There is far *less* religious indoctrination in the USA than in most countries.

Hell, even here in the UK, most state schools have a compulsory "daily act of collective worship of a broadly Christian nature".

[BethanyQuartz]

56. I was not being all that literal

But I'm surprised you bring up the UK. I expected a comment about some deeply fundamental country in the Mideast or other. I'm surprised that happens in the UK. Europe as a whole is much more atheist than America. Much, much more.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

60. The people yes, the nations no.

A lot of European states with much less religion per capita than the USA have state religions.

[BethanyQuartz]

62. Well that's a shame

You have my sympathy along with those kids in our more backwoods states.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

63. It's regrettable, but makes much less difference here than you'd think.

The C of E are about as close to being atheists as you can get while still technically being a church.

[quakerboy]

95. Heh.

Some might argue that being a church has very little to do with being theist or atheist.

[dickthegrouch]

75. (British) Education act of 1944 requires the school to perform daily religious instruction

HOWEVER, the students are not required to attend it.

In fact that religious instruction is the ONLY instruction required by the Act. My high school had a supervised area for students not wishing to attend and there was no problem with anyone not attending.

In respect of the OP, I'd make as much as noise as possible until the staff removed me for being disruptive. I'd cite statute and court cases and tell them the names of the FBI agents I was going to complain to. I'd tell them that a single blemish on my school record as a result of exercising my freedom would cause them to lose a whole lot more. I'd find their buttons and stamp on them.

[reACTIONary]

76. Easier said than done. But still, the right thing to do. (NT)

[quakerboy]

97. Im pretty sure your average HS student in any Country

Doesn't know any FBI agents by name. Nor do they generally know statutes or court cases by heart.

[cui bono]

105. Especially one that goes to THAT school. n/t

[dickthegrouch]

142. What I'm suggesting (too subtlely, apparently)

Is that they go research that stuff and put real fear into those criminally ignorant educators.
An FBI agent's name can be found in the newspaper.

[kiri]

88. 50th anniversary of Bible-reading/prayer stopped

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/11/bypassing-the-bible/

“One of the things that’s so disappointing to me is that 50 years after the Supreme Court decision, we’re still fighting some of the same battles,” Schempp said. “You’d have thought they would’ve abated by now.”

[AlbertCat]

126. Only in America

I dunno .... they might do something similar in, say, Saudi Arabia, just not with Christ involved. And also in China or Korea, just not religion involved....

[lpbk2713]

2. Is our children learning?

Nope.

Not when their time is diverted to all this proselytizing.

[Tx4obama]

3. A lawsuit has been filed

Mississippi High School Lawsuit: Students Allegedly Forced To Attend 'Lectures' On Being 'Open' To Jesus

Students at Mississippi's Northwest Rankin High School who claim that they and their classmates were forced to attend assemblies about Christianity and the power of Jesus Christ are getting help from a top atheist organization to put an end to the meetings.

In a lawsuit filed by the American Humanist Association on behalf of the plaintiffs, students claim that the school sponsored mandatory “Christian Assemblies" organized by a local Evangelical church. Alexis Smith, a senior at the school who says she attended one of the assemblies, says in the lawsuit: "Faculty and parents stood near the exit door, preventing students from leaving," while an administrator "harassed several students who attempted to leave." She claims that a classmate not involved with the suit videotaped the entire event.

-snip-

The complaint goes on to claim that the church representative concluded the assembly with a Christian prayer.

According to an unnamed plaintiff and the plaintiff's friends, at least two separate assemblies for other classes played out similarly, and made other students feel uncomfortable.

-snip-

Full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/26/mississippi-high-school-lawsuit_n_3164796.html

[RainDog]

14. Glad to see that

This is just like the Scopes Trial, in terms of forcing certain religious groups to understand that their views of the separation of church and state are not in line with reality.

Evangelical Christians think it is their duty to force their beliefs on others and they don't care if they violate the Constitution to do so because their religious belief trumps others' Constitutional protections.

These groups need to back off. They won't stop, tho, unless the judiciary forces them to.

I wonder if a jury of their peers will recognize others' rights?

[Sherman A1]

24. As it should be

This event was in my opinion beyond absurd. I hope the school and it's officials have an "interesting" time in court.

[smirkymonkey]

45. Good.

This is twisted.

[leftyohiolib]

4. this is very bad

[frylock]

5. christian shari'aists

[chervilant]

29. oooooh, yummy!

I wonder if you'll get excoriated for that delicious bon mot...

[Donald Ian Rankin]

43. Not even remotely close. N.T

[awoke_in_2003]

129. Yet...

if we keep cutting them slack, they will get there eventually. If you want to go to church go to church.

[idwiyo]

48. +1

[Arugula Latte]

6. I'm waiting for the "Atheists Are Just As Militant" crowd to show up on this thread.

[backscatter712]

80. Oh, don't worry, they'll be here...

[ZRT2209]

7. American Taliban

[RKP5637]

32. Exactly!!! We just use different names in the US, but same sh**. n/t

[Donald Ian Rankin]

41. Different names, and less acid thrown in girls' faces. N.T.

[OriginalGeek]

58. but more abortion doctors shot

and gay kids beat up.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

61. Really?

While I can't offer an authoritative rebuttal, I find it deeply implausible that the Taliban are less prone to violence against gays than American Christians are - or, indeed, that they're not much, much more so.

Are you sure you're not just making that up?

[OriginalGeek]

67. American christians do those things

more than they throw acid.


Either way, it's pretty shitty isn't it?

[MNBrewer]

111. The French Catholics seem to have taken some lessons from the Taliban lately

I should say Catholics allied with other various right wing extremist groups.

http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/04/22/man-nice-beaten-antigay-violence-sweeps-france

[Quantess]

65. It's pathetic to have to defend our own fundies

by pointing out who is worse. I agree that Islamist fundies tend to be worse. It's not an excuse though.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

66. Absolutely not, I agree - "nowhere near as bad as the Taliban" is not a proud boast... nt.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

40. More like American C of E. N.T.

[hootinholler]

44. I call them the Talibornagin n/t

[idwiyo]

49. Agree

[heaven05]

74. yep

exactly what immediately came to mind.

[cui bono]

106. Evangeliban. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. If I had a kid, I would file a lawsuit

[truegrit44]

10. You better believe I would be right in line with you!

[jberryhill]

20. That would be up to the kid

Children are not chattel, and you would not be able to file a suit since it wasn't your rights which were violated.

[Ikonoklast]

27. Wrong. Suit is filed on behalf of minor children all the time by a parent/guardian.

The child doesn't even have to agree at all.

Minors can't file on their own, who do you think files for them when injured or wronged?

I know this, ask me how I know.

[xmas74]

42. I know this because I'm a mom.

I thought this was something that every parent knew.

I've also sued for child support through the courts on behalf of my child.

[jberryhill]

46. If the parent qualifies as guardian ad litem

Which is not always true, and unlikely in the context where the parent is clearly following their own agenda regardless of what the kid may want.

It is by no means automatic.

What we have in the thread are people who don't have them saying "if it was my kid I'd sue". No - only after a determination the kid was on board. It's not the parents' suit.

Read the story again, and notice who is acting on behalf of the kids participating in the suit.

Also, flip it around. Is it your position that if one of the kids wanted to sue, that it would be up to the parents to disallow it? That's simply saying "don't tell my kids what to believe, I'll tell you what they should believe."

(e.g.

http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/333/417/603160/

333 F.3d 417: S.g., As Guardian Ad Litem of A.g. a Minor and Individually, Appellant v. Sayreville Board of Education; Georgia B. Baumann; William L. Bauer)

[Crunchy Frog]

53. If it were my kid, I'd want to sue that school back into the stone age.

Not that it would have very far to go.

Forced religious indoctrination of children in a public school setting should result in prison sentences.

[RKP5637]

33. Same here! Felony charges should be brought ... then, they can

let their god defend and save their asses. US has some bad cases of pathologically delusional minds in some areas.

[Crunchy Frog]

54. Then they can all whine about how they're being "persecuted" for being Christians.

Wish we could give them what they really wanted, and feed them to some lions.

[RKP5637]

69. That is what really PO's me about some christians, they whine all the time about

being persecuted, but yet the ones I see doing the persecuting are some christians. And, that's when they are restricted somehow from persecuting and/or indoctrinating others ... forcing their will on others ... then they scream persecution. I guess this'll get me a few more ignores on DU.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

59. Its a civil matter...

Besides, you can get really big punitive judgements in civil courts

[Crunchy Frog]

77. It seems to me that this was a case of false imprisonment.

I would personally love to see criminal charges. Barring that, a massive settlement would be good.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

81. The school has in loco parentis authority.

Otherwise being truant would not be a problem and having a closed campus would be illegal.

They could have stood up and turned their backs. However, given how ass backwards the place is, they may have gotten in serious trouble for that.

[Sgent]

110. Take a look at

18 USC § 247 - Damage to religious property; obstruction of persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs

Its a criminal matter if the US Attorney wants to go that far (he won't). Given, its a misdemeanor since there was no bodily harm, but there are criminal penalties to this sort of foolishness.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

114. The in loco parentis give them a wide latitude, one respected by the courts

often IMO in violation of student and parents rights.

Again this is a gang buster of a civil suit, but not criminal. Also the plaintiff can get punitive damages well in excess of anything available in a criminal trial.

[HooptieWagon]

132. Well, damn.

I was hoping for some real jail time for the Talibornagain. I guess a large judgement for violating civil rights will have to do.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

134. The problem is that there will be no personal accountability

the district taxpayers will pay any and all fines. Not those who actually caused this to happen.

[HooptieWagon]

138. Maybe after a hit in the pocketbook,

The taxpayer's will elect new schoolboard that doesn't cost them so much money in legal judgements. If not...if they merely regard it as a cost of doing "business"...then it would seem repeated judgements and tax increases are a reasonable redistribution of wealth. Maybe more will join in the lawsuits.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

139. The populace probably supports it

[HooptieWagon]

144. Then they can pay for it.

If peeps taxes go up to pay for the lawsuit settlements, and the money goes to non-talibornagain, then I'd say theres a reasonable redistribution of wealth happening.

[Bandit]

145. I think if you pay property tax or any tax that goes toward school funding

you might have standing in a civil suit...Your taxes should not ever be used to promote religion...NEVER..

[nadinbrzezinski]

146. I will have to modify it

And lived in the cunty. I don't even live in that stae.

[MichelleB]

9. I refuse....

I refuse to enforce religious views onto my children. That's a choice purely up to them and if my children were students there, I would be OUTRAGED!! I think all the parents have a right to be!! Religious diversification is one thing. I think all should know a bit about each religion but to force them on to someone else, child or otherwise is completely intolerable! iMO

[newmember]

11. Every teacher , administer who participated in this should be fired

[kestrel91316]

13. And sued. AND prosecuted for violating students' civil rights under color of law.

Oh, and federal kidnapping charges for holding them against their will.

[newmember]

15. Did you read this? I'm speechless

The lawsuit claims the assembly for seniors included a video featuring a number of subjects: A pornography addict, a gay man, a promiscuous woman, drug addicts and people suffering from depression. The one factor that linked all of them was that they'd found hope in God. When the video concluded, the lawsuit claims the school staff applauded, and a representative from the church came forward to tell the studnets that they, too, could find solutions to their problems by turning to Christianity

[Recursion]

37. No, this is DU. The principal should document this and if they do it two more times

then the principal can work with the union to begin the termination process.

[msanthrope]

64. That was a simply delicious post. nt

[Crunchy Frog]

78. If that's what you think of DU

then why don't you go to a site that's more...friendly towards your views?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

99. You are demanding orthodoxy? Are you saying that no alternative viewpoints should be allowed on DU?

How do you know which viewpoints should be the approved DU viewpoints? How would anyone know? Is there a list someplace? Or do you have a reason for your animosity towards the poster?

Which viewpoints should be avoided?

[Crunchy Frog]

123. I wasn't commenting on a viewpoint.

I was commenting on the apparent expression of total contempt towards this community. Views were being attributed to DUers as a group that I've seen no evidence that they actually hold. If I felt that way towards DU, I would be looking for someplace else that was a better fit.

Of course, everybody has a right to despise this community and still take part in it, at least until they get themselves kicked off. And it's not up to me, as I have no power to demand or enforce anything.

Are you saying that my viewpoints shouldn't be allowed?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

125. If you intended to respond to #37,

the only thing that I saw at #37 was:

37. No, this is DU. The principal should document this and if they do it two more times then the principal can work with the union to begin the termination process.

I neither saw any contempt displayed by the author of #37 toward the author of #11 to whom he was responding nor DUers as a group. Unless, I'm mistaken, he was rejecting a one-size-fits-all approach and expressing his view that those involved with this should be given notice that their wrongful activities are wrongful and be given an opportunity to not repeat them.

Although I tend to think that all those involved should be fired, I also appreciate the concept of listening to and respecting different viewpoints. IMO, I think the poster was saying that different viewpoints should be considered and rehaibilitatoln should be offered to the pricipal and teachers when he said at #37, "No, this is DU."

If somehow the full expression at #37 is an "apparent expression of total contempt towards this community," I don't get it.

If you are seeing something that I have not, what is it?

[Nevernose]

115. I'm a teacher who was forced to attend one of these things

Should I have been fired?

[Crunchy Frog]

124. No. The people who forced you to should have been.

[JimDandy]

130. Did you then force your students to go?

If so, then yes you should be fired.

[Nevernose]

141. I think maybe you missed the point

Which is that teachers have very little say, if any at all. They are the absolute lowest rung on the ladder, almost certianly had no idea what the assembly was about, and would have been fired anyway for not following orders. Teachers are forced into this bullshit just like students are.

Blaming teachers for this is like blaming bank tellers for the Wall Street collapse.

For the record, I say through the assembly and then threatened to sue. The principal swore he had no idea that it was going to become religious at all. It was supposed to be -- and started off as -- some patriotic thing about working hard to rise above humble circumstances, and then quickly turned into a Jesus thing. Also, it was free.

Over the course of a week, the principal walked to every classroom and apologized in person to every teacher and every student, and then the teachers had a wonderful discussion with students about the first amendment. So we let that one go.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

12. And people ask why my Mother home schooled us.

One of the cases in point ?.

[Captain Stern]

16. Much ado about nothing

Of course they blocked the exits..they had to! How else could all those kids be saved?!?

It only sounds crazy if you're not crazy.

[alp227]

17. Reminds me of the Bangladesh factory collapse where the exits were blocked.

These teachers wish those kids grew up to work in "right to work" facilities forced to work for hours and hours with locked exits.

[freshwest]

22. My first thought, too. All treated like prisoners. WTF!!!

It's a freaking school, people, not a church. How dare they?

Where I grew up in the South, public schools were SECULAR. This would have never, ever have happened.

What the hell is wrong with these nuts? No, wait, I know. This is your public school on Teahadism.

Between this and the insanely religious comments I found tonight on youtube about Obama's PP speech, this is scaring me half to death.

Take a note of how crazy it is, we now live in a country that is turning into something like the Taliban, look at the fanaticism and dogma:

http://www.youtube.com

/watch?v=laYQ2DDFmCg

Split to show the page without the video popping up. Erase the space.

[SunSeeker]

18. Unfuckingbelievable. I think it is getting worse in the South.

Back when I went to a public elementary school in the deep South, the only mention of God was in the pledge of allegience. This shit is crazy even for the South. It's unconstitutional and it's child abuse.

[freshwest]

23. Same here. I can't believe this is happening.

[Sgent]

112. eh... maybe

where I grew up we did line up and say a prayer to Jesus every day before lunch which was led by our teacher -- that was elementary school in the early 80's. I remember they handed out bibles (NT only) through 7th or 8th grade every year.

At HS in the 90's we still had a preacher to lead us in prayer at our graduation, football games, etc.

It wasn't as overt as this particular event, but it was still pretty bad. The other problem is that if your bring a lawsuit or complain to much you will have to leave the community.

[LostOne4Ever]

113. baccalaureate ceremony

They had a mandatory baccalaureate ceremony where they had the Catholic preacher come in and preach at us at my high school. I complained to the school councilor saying it was unconstitutional and she responded:

"Don't worry, its non-denominational."

>.>

I dropped the subject. Apparently everyone in my part of Texas is Christian.

/sigh

When my brother graduated I found out they had made it optional. I came across her at the grocery store and asked her about it and she said the state made them do it that way

[defacto7]

19. A lot of laws were broken

A lot of crimes committed. There should be a lot of law suits and jail time served on ALL planners and participants. This really is big. If this kind of thing is let to slide, America is dead.

[ReRe]

21. Evangelism in the school auditorium...

... if it's a private church school, then this happens. If it's a public school, this is not supposed to happen. I hope the school administration gets the constitution thrown at them.
The ACLU will be on their doorstep on Monday morning.

[HockeyMom]

36. Even if it was a private religious school,

they still cannot lock the doors so the students cannot get out. Unlawful imprisonment, besides being a fire hazzard.

[ReRe]

108. Absolutely!

[shenmue]

25. A public school is not a church

It has no obligation to hold services.

If they want something else, they need to build a private school. There is no state church and it's against the law to have the state compel a religious function.

[ck4829]

26. But yet they can't put that much effort into math or science? Weird.

[Ikonoklast]

28. Jeebus does the math for them, all they have to do is believe.

That is why these idiots believe working for less money and giving billionaires tax breaks is the right thing to do, Jeebus told them so.

[IDemo]

39. Genesis has all the science y'all need

It's as plain as the Earth is flat.

[RKP5637]

30. If religion is so fucken great, how come they are always

forcing, coercing, bamboozling people into their indoctrination camps! These people are no different than those many castigate, they just go by different names in the US.

[Phillip McCleod]

73. because there is not *one* religion on earth that would exist today..

..if it wasn't for indoctrination. they *all* exist by this means.

believers calling it 'raising our children as christians'..

..but i don't care if you're UU, if you tell your kids 'these myths are true and those myths are false' then that's child abuse.

[RKP5637]

84. Well, god works in mysterious ways you know ... n/t

[malaise]

31. The American Taliban strikes again n/t

[on point]

34. Can't wait for the return of inquisition by these dark ages loving fools.

If she sinks and drowns she loves god
If she floats she is a witch!!

[temporary311]

119. But does she weigh the same as a duck?

[Lucky Luciano]

35. Just gotta tell these officials that Jesus sucks cock in hell.

They would probably let you leave the assembly shortly after that.

[think]

47. It's sadly ironic how un-Christian Christians can be

but there is that passage in the Bible where Jesus holds his apostles at gun point and waterboards them into believing so I understand where they are coming from...

[MineralMan]

50. Flowood, pop. 4000+, is a small suburb

of Jackson, MS. Demographically, it's 80% white. As a small town, objections to this nonsense will lead to ostracism for those who object. That's how these small towns get away with unconstitutional religious stuff in their schools. Only a small number of the people who live there object to it, and objections lead to ugly behavior by some other residents, so people tend to keep their mouths shut.

Only action by organizations like the ACLU can work in small towns like that one. Fear of retribution keeps residents who object from voicing those objections. It's a very sad situation, repeated in towns all over the country.

[MountainLaurel]

79. A speaker I heard recently

Is writing a book on the violence that often faces litigants in church-state cases from their communities, from the "educators" involved, and sometimes from their own families.

[Phillip McCleod]

83. i'll be very interested to read that book..

..hailing from just that sort of town, myself i can say it was exactly that stifling atmosphere that sent my family fleeing to 'the city' when it started to negatively impact my older sister, who was getting bullied bad. sadly, once we got to the city, it was i who was bullied and there were just *too many* students for teachers and admins to do anything about it, or they just didn't care. i was once shouted down in a civics class for blithely referencing the theory of evolution. red faced tweens screaming 'maybe *you* came from a monkey, but *i* came from GOD!!' the teacher just smirked.

out of the frying pan.. into the fire.

[MountainLaurel]

94. This is the author

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches

A friend of mine whose father was a county school superintendent in Jerry Falwell Land spent part of her childhood under state police protection when her dad tried to get rid of the practice of children being let out of school several hours a week to attend bible instruction at a local church. They got death threats, most of her friends were no longer allowed to associate with her, and her father was attacked by a local pastor in a Burger King parking lot.

[Coyotl]

51. The first country to adopt Christianity was the worst slave empire in history

This shit is just an old tradition, forming the minds of the slaves early in life.

How befitting a world-view created to control slaves is used in this manner.

[Arugula Latte]

116. There, there, you silly slaves. Don't worry your little heads about the here-and-now.

Just wait until after you're dead and everything will be rainbows and lollipops. Okay, back to work. *cRaCk!*

[Coyotl]

118. You could do the equal-time, other viewpoint YouTube for Miss. schools!

Seriously, wouldn't that be a fun project?

[Brimley]

52. Poorest State

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[ellie]

55. I hope the school district is sued within an inch of its life

The only way these wackos learn is to hit them in the pocketbook.

[obama2terms]

57. This is bizarre

Holding kids against their will, are you effing kidding me?! One of the main reasons why I distanced myself from religion years ago, is because of crap like this. Now if they gave the kids an option that would be another story, but this is just plain wrong, way to be a good influence on kids, not.....

[backscatter712]

68. And this is why Mississippi has the lowest average IQ of all states in the nation. n/t

[n2doc]

70. I guess they didn't need to study for their standardized tests?

I thought schools spent all their time on test prep. Mississippi must have decided they weren't going to do well on those anyway, so why not god-ify them heathens.

[Bette Noir]

71. Could be worse.

St. Olaf cut off the hands of pagans who refused to convert.

[jwirr]

72. I will say I am sorry before I start this post to the Mississippi people who are hurt by this BUT I

find it hard to understand why I should not use a little rethug thinking regarding the states that act so much like a rethug - why should they not be subjected to a little practice called disaster capitalism which requires the state to be reduced to totally helpless before anyone helps them? They think God is going to just materialize out ot the blue to fix things for the "good" people so let them wait to be helped by their god.

[Rex]

82. Fire them all.

From the superintendent and work your way down. Won't happen, if that was here in Texas it would be an instant dismissal in court. Our governor goes to churches and gives political speeches and nobody seems to care.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

85. I always wonder if they believe a kid will burst into flames.

[firenewt]

86. Interesting...... When I was in grade school - late 50's early 60's - we had weekly religious

education. Class was held in a building next door to the school - owned by the fire department. We were not forced to attend - could opt out. There never was a problem with attending or not. Nobody was thought less of if they didn't attend. Back then, most everybody went to church yet saw no need to force their views on others.

[RebelOne]

89. I was in school during the same time period,

but there were never any religious classes held at all in any school I attended. This was in Miami, FL.

[firenewt]

92. This happened in Indiana - no big surprise there.

[jeff47]

90. IMO, the loss of followers is resulting in desperation (nt)

[MountainLaurel]

96. That's still going on today in some areas

Virginia has had several lawsuits filed relevant to that practice.

[Initech]

87. How are our religious fundamentalists any better than the ones we're fighting?

[Zoeisright]

91. Apparently they're the dumbasses who think the Constitution

is "just a piece of paper". Not surprised this happened in the south.

[MattBaggins]

93. No they love THEIR version of the Constitution.. Goes like this

Preamble: Gawd Gawd Gawd Jeebus

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

States Rights and stuff

Nuff said. The End.

[Moostache]

98. Being the insufferable smart ass that I am,

I would immediately start bowing to Mecca in the middle of their love me some Jeebus rally...

[AnotherMcIntosh]

101. Well, that's one approach.

Another might be to ask whether a person can pray outloud.

E.g., "Please Lord, please make them stop doing this to me."

[Apophis]

100. I would sue the school.

[cali]

102. ACLU, please pick up the courtesy phone

[nakocal]

103. Most republicans are not/nor ever were Christion

It is really sad that almost all republicans who claim to be Christian do Not follow the teachings of Christ. If there minister said that poor people should be allowed to suffer and die, they would be appalled. But they have no problem voting for politicians that support policies that allow the poor to die.

Being a Christian to them is just saying how much they love Jesus and forcing others to do the same. But just saying you are a Christian without actions does not make you a Christian anymore than my saying Danny DiVito is a five times NBA MVP makes it so.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

104. They used James Robison to indoctrinate us in about 1970.

Yes, that guy that is still evangelizing on TV.
This was in a public high school. Assembly in the gym.
They got away with it by never saying "Jesus" or "God".

He kept talking about "The best friend you'll ever have".

He whined about how his mother wanted to abort him........this was before Roe v. Wade was decided....I'll just leave it at that.

[Scurrilous]

107. K & R

[grantcart]

109. I was certain that this had to be some kind of private school. Its not, its a public school

http://www.wafb.com/story/22080524/northwest-rankin-high-sued-for-religious-assembly

media seems to confirm the facts saying others had complained as well.


Unbelievable

[NealK]

117. It's sick.

[another_liberal]

120. Voltaire warned us about the promotion of religions based on magic and superstition.

"Those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

[Dawson Leery]

128. +1

[Rozlee]

133. He also said: "Religion began when the first scoundrel met the first fool."

He wasn't too fond of religion. Smart man.

[Raine]

121. When you have to practically hold people hostage I wouldn't count on

them being that receptive to your message.

[avebury]

122. If they did that to my child I would be

making a phone call to the police department and insisting on pressing charges against the school and the employees. What they did constituted a clear violation of the 1st Amendment and prohibiting students from leaving the room could constitute detaining someone against their will. I would make sure that my child did have a cell phone and knew that he / she was to call me the instant such an incident began because I would get in my car and drive over and be having a conversation with the school.

[SummerSnow]

127. What are people so afraid of that they have to do this?

[Iggo]

131. Is it child abuse yet?

[HiPointDem]

135. thank the education deformers

[ProgressiveProfessor]

136. This has been going on long before the education deformers started

[HiPointDem]

137. gotten worse and more open because of ed deform, and specifically because

of legal changes brought in by/with ed deform.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

140. I think it has become more rare, which is why it gets reported

Man bites dog kind of thing.

Education deform would not want religion taking time from test prep

[HiPointDem]

143. when education monies can be funneled to religious organizations it becomes more common, &

that's what's happening.

[mick063]

147. For those that moan about South bashing...........

Last edited Wed May 1, 2013, 12:50 AM - Edit history (1)

Exhibit #57,632

[Lydia Leftcoast]

148. I'm a Christian, and if I had a kid in that school, I'd sic the ACLU on the school

Religious sermons do not belong in the public schools, not even in a town where most people are some brand of evangelical. If the parents want that, they should send their kids to a school run by their favorite flavor of Christian.

[jakefrep]

149. I would have tried to go to the bathroom....

...then taken a piss on any teacher that tried to stop me from leaving.

[muntrv]

151. The talibnornagain at work. This is what the "religious freedom" advocates really want.

[kestrel91316]

152. It's a good thing I don't run things. I'd frogmarch the people

responsible for this, and there's no telling what I'd do once I got them behind closed doors.

[greymattermom]

153. this will backfire for sure

my kids had to attend the DARE (aka Drugs are Really Excellent) program at school

[Blue Owl]

154. Gotta get thru Chancellor Knuckles and Dean Rocko if you're gonna blow this taco stand

Sounds like material for a new Simpsons episode!