prayer at the beginning of school year
in my small town of Harrison i go to one of the top schools in the state i am one of the very few atheists at this school but at the beginning of each year the principal stands up and calls a prayer to the entire high school in our school cafeteria , and say it is optional, i need to know if it is prohibited by the law in any way
also at least one of the teachers in the school has the biblical poster of the ten commandments on the wall of their class room i'm pretty sure that that is prohibited by the law.
please give me any information if their is laws prohibiting said examples if their are if u can tell me any way to get a hold of people who can help me inform the school of their mistakes because they wont listen to me of the other atheists at all.
Tags: Arkansas, Harrison, atheist, illegal, issues, legal, school
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Logan Jancek on -
I'm thinking the commandments on the wall are probably illegal and there is currently a legal dispute about a prayer at a high school graduation, so you could definitely take legal action, or at least threaten. The prayers will most likely stop and the poster will probably come down. You risk a lot of alienation through this though.
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Permalink Reply by Nelson on -
1. Doesn't matter that the prayer is optional. It's not about being forced by school officials to participate against your will. It's about the perception of a reasonable person that a government funded institution or organization is supporting one religion over others, or religion in general over no religion. As such, it's unconstitutional.
2. The poster is certainly unconstitutional, yes. No question.
You should contact the FFRF and/or Americans United. Seriously. You should. The only way we're going to get our constitutionally mandated rights is if we demand them when they're being curtailed. Let us know what they say.
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on -
What Nelson says. Although, if you decide to stand up for your rights, be aware of how it might affect you personally. It may make your life temporaraily miserable, but it also may end up for the greater good.
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Nelson on
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That's an important point to make, and one I should have. It's true, Christopher may indeed (will?) see some backlash. A decision to stand up shouldn't be taken lightly.
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Permalink Reply by Christopher Leon Bogardus on -
ive already made a point of how flaming i am about being an atheist so its expected of me to do something like this and not many people would mess with a 6 foot 2 inch IQ 170 and bucks 18 wheeler tires at his fathers shop type of guy. thank all of you and Nelson i will get a hold of those groups
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on
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That helps, doesn't it? I'm 6' 3" and opinionated. I never seem to have issues with people trying to make my life miserable for my open atheism.
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Permalink Reply by Christopher Leon Bogardus on
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the FFRF has responded to the violation report and they have said they will respond to the things i have pointed out hopefully they will sort this out sonn i know me and the other atheist are sick of it
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Permalink Reply by Nelson on
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Great news Christopher! Thanks for the update. Hope they're able to help you.
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Permalink Reply by Christopher Leon Bogardus on
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the poster has been taken down and i have a feeling the school wont b praying at the beinning of th eyear anymore the pricipal was walking around angry the day befor the poster came down
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