In a mostly Muslim community in the US, it's been revealed that a public schoolteacher has been leading her first grade students in Muslim prayers, including having them face towards Mecca and bow as they pray to Allah. When some non-Muslim parents found out about it, rather than immediately run to a lawyer or the media, they instead went to the principal and hoped that he just wasn't aware of what had been going on and would put an end to it. What happened was very different.
Instead, the teacher continued the prayers and had the children of the parents who complained go outside and sit in the hallway while the rest of the class prayed to Allah. Of course the students picked up on what was going on and started making fun of and harassing the non-praying kids. The teacher started holding the two kids back from recess and tried to pressure them to convert to Islam. Eventually the parents pulled their kids from the school and have now filed a lawsuit. The Freedom from Religion Foundation has taken up their case.
"It should not be necessary for FFRF to sue over such an obvious violation of specific Supreme Court decisions barring devotions from our public schools," noted Dan Barker, FFRF co-president. "No child in our secular school system or their parents should be subjected to prayer, or stigmatized when their parents speak up to defend the Establishment Clause. But unfortunately, it appears a lawsuit will be the only way to protect the freedom of conscience of these young children."
"If anyone needs a picture drawn on how destructive religion is in our public schools, this situation is a perfect example," added Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president. "The fact that such abusive practices are continuing in our public schools 63 years after the first Supreme Court decision against school prayer shows just how much FFRF's legal work is still needed.""
Crazy stuff, isn't it? :blink:
Oh wait.....I got one little detail wrong.....the teacher was a Christian, not a Muslim, and the prayers were Christian ones, not Muslim. But the same concepts apply, don't they?
Instead, the teacher continued the prayers and had the children of the parents who complained go outside and sit in the hallway while the rest of the class prayed to Allah. Of course the students picked up on what was going on and started making fun of and harassing the non-praying kids. The teacher started holding the two kids back from recess and tried to pressure them to convert to Islam. Eventually the parents pulled their kids from the school and have now filed a lawsuit. The Freedom from Religion Foundation has taken up their case.
"It should not be necessary for FFRF to sue over such an obvious violation of specific Supreme Court decisions barring devotions from our public schools," noted Dan Barker, FFRF co-president. "No child in our secular school system or their parents should be subjected to prayer, or stigmatized when their parents speak up to defend the Establishment Clause. But unfortunately, it appears a lawsuit will be the only way to protect the freedom of conscience of these young children."
"If anyone needs a picture drawn on how destructive religion is in our public schools, this situation is a perfect example," added Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president. "The fact that such abusive practices are continuing in our public schools 63 years after the first Supreme Court decision against school prayer shows just how much FFRF's legal work is still needed.""
Crazy stuff, isn't it? :blink:
Oh wait.....I got one little detail wrong.....the teacher was a Christian, not a Muslim, and the prayers were Christian ones, not Muslim. But the same concepts apply, don't they?
