Prayer is under attack in Louisiana and Oklahoma as emboldened atheists score big hits against freedom of religion in the schoolhouse.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a notorious gang of atheists based in Wisconsin, is leading the charge in both states. Their aggrieved clients are always anonymous. None have the courage to come forward.
They were especially triggered by a prayer delivered over the public address system at Prague Elementary School in the Sooner state.
Children volunteered to pray and their photos were then posted on the school’s Facebook page. There is no evidence that any child was forced to deliver a prayer or participate in a prayer.
Not good enough, said the angry atheists.
“The First Amendment prohibits a public school from hosting or sponsoring prayer, even if it is ‘student-led,’” FFRF attorney Chris Line wrote to Prague Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Engle. “The Supreme Court has continually struck down formal and school-led prayer in public schools.”
The Dept. of Education’s own guidelines reaffirm that teachers, students and staff are not required to surrender their religious beliefs on school property.
“Even if students were allegedly ‘asking’ to deliver the official daily prayers, they were only doing so because the school had established the practice and was actively promoting this in-school religious worship,” FFRF argued. “In any case, the school cannot allow prayer to be broadcast via the school-controlled loudspeaker to a captive audience of students.”
The school district immediately dropped the prayers.
“The district agrees that the posts and prayer are inappropriate for a public school district,” the school system’s legal counsel recently wrote back. “It will ensure neither occurs in the future and will delete any district social media posts referencing the same.”
And in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the FFRF complained about a teacher who had her class recite “The Lord’s Prayer” before eating lunch.
A concerned parent reported that their child’s kindergarten teacher at Bell City High School in Lake Charles, La., had been leading the class in reciting the Lord’s Prayer every school day before lunch.
“[The teacher] has violated the trust that our complainant and all other parents place in Calcasieu Parish School District teachers to follow the Constitution and refrain from imposing their own religious beliefs on the children they teach,” FFRF’s Sammi Lawrence wrote to Superintendent Shannon LaFargue.
The school district ordered the teacher to cease and desist.
Whether it’s in Oklahoma or the swamps of Louisiana, there are plenty of atheist snakes slithering about. Watch out for their bite, America.