The only thing more distasteful than mystery meat in a school cafeteria is a bunch of atheist gadflies. And unfortunately, the High Point Elementary School cafeteria in Virginia has a significant infestation of the latter.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based gang of atheists and agnostics, is calling for school leaders to remove a prayer that had been posted on a wall of the cafeteria.
The prayer reads: “Lord, We thank you for this food. Bless it to the nourishment of our bodies and us to your service. Amen.”
The out-of-town atheists were alerted by a nosy parent who reportedly got triggered by the prayer. The parent also said there were Bible verses on display in the main office of the school.
“Courts have continually held that public school districts may not display religious messages or iconography in public schools,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line wrote in a letter to the superintendent. “We ask that the District remove this prayer display immediately in order to protect students’ First Amendment rights. The District should also ensure that there are no other religious displays in the school.”
The atheists said “religion is a divisive force in public schools.” They also said it is illegal.
“This display directly breaches the First Amendment by creating the appearance that the district prefers religion over nonreligion and Christianity over all other faiths,” the FFRF wrote.
FFRF said the district must respect the constitutional rights of all members of the district and remove the prayer immediately.
“School districts exist to educate, not indoctrinate into religion,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Displaying a prayer poster in a grade school cafeteria aimed at the youngest and most impressionable children is not only intrusive, it is unconstitutional. It must come down immediately.”