The FFRF complaint said that during the month of December an assembly held by “Bible Man” included a display with baby Jesus on it and that a talk was given regarding “Jesus’s birthday,” and that “Jesus died on the the cross for our sins.”

On Monday night, the Jackson County Board of Education discussed the FFRF letter. In the audience were over 100 churchgoers — and one state senator! — who didn’t even pretend to buy into church/state separation:

Pastor Brad Bridges [said], “We’re here today to make a show, say ‘hey Christianity is in and we love it. And our nation was founded on it.’”

…

While the complaint before the board cited violations of the constitution, State Senator Shadrack McGill says he doesn’t believe in separation of church and state.

“I don’t believe you keep God out of state. Church represents the body of Christ, Christ being the head of that body. No, I don’t believe in that separation,” said Sen. McGill.

Even the Superintendent joined in, admitting that Bible Man activities took place during the school day:

“The ‘Bible Man’ was part of my school time and my children’s school time,” said [Superintendent Ken] Harding.

So what did the school board do?

They look like a fair-minded, Constitution-savvy group...

They caved in to the will of the mob:

Once the board returned from executive session and announced that “Bible Man” would not be taken out of the schools, crowd members stood up and cheered.

Members of the church and school board say the assemblies are a choice, but when an assembly takes place during the school day — at an elementary schools, no less — kids are hardly aware of any other options they have. The school board made the wrong decision and they fully deserve any lawsuit coming their way.

(Thanks to Brian for the link)

Take a wild guess at the first (and very deserving) recipient:

The Foundation announced today its first recipient will be Jessica Ahlquist, the besieged 16 year old running the gauntlet in Rhode Island for successfully suing her high school over an illegal prayer banner. FFRF today is sending a start-up scholarship check via its Atheists in Foxholes Support Fund for $10,000. FFRF already announced it is designating her for the 2012 Thomas Jefferson Youth Activist Award with a $2,000 scholarship.

As far as I can tell, this is not an annual award or even a set amount of money. It’ll be given to whomever the FFRF deems worthy of receiving it, based on financial need or because FFRF just felt like giving someone a nice reward.

Anyone is welcome to earmark money specifically for the fund.

Even the New York Times covered the incident and called it part of a trend in which Christians are illegally proselytizing in public schools.

Anyway, last month, Jonathan Anderson (an atheist) sued the district (PDF) on behalf of his son. With the ACLU’s help, there’s finally a resolution to this case. And it’s a good one.

The board of the Chesterfield County School District voted tonight to adopt a proposed settlement agreement that would put an end to the district’s pervasive practice of school-sponsored prayer, preaching and religious activities aimed at students.

…

… Under the agreement, the district would be subject to a court order, or consent decree, requiring officials to comply with the law in this area…

In other words, the district will make sure there is no more proselytization in the schools.

“The district has done the right thing by acknowledging that school officials cannot use their positions of influence to persuade students to devote themselves to one particular religion,” said Victoria Middleton, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina. “We’re glad that the school has agreed to a reasonable settlement.”

…

“Every family has the right to instill their own values and beliefs in their children, but in the classroom, every child should be welcomed with the same degree of respect, no matter what he or she believes,” said Heather L. Weaver, staff attorney with the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “Public schools should be focused on providing children with a quality education, not indoctrinating them through religious coercion.”

The school district ultimately gave up on defending themselves for two reasons:

1) It would cost them thousands of dollars in legal fees.

2) They knew they would lose. They know damn well that what they were doing was illegal.

This is their exact statement:

Following legal advice that various practices and events in the schools related to religion needed to stop occurring, based on court decisions interpreting the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the Board majority approved the consent decree and order. The consent decree and order recognizes that students and teachers do have rights under the Free Exercise and Free Speech provisions of the First Amendment to pray at school under certain conditions and to participate in other religious activities.

The Board was advised that defending the lawsuit would result in a court-imposed order after many thousands of dollars had been spent on legal costs. The Board wishes to make it clear that it intends to abide by the constitutional principle of separation of church and state, while also recognizing and allowing the permissible exercise of religion by its staff and students and all citizens.

This is why we have to keep the pressure on these districts.

This is why we have to support groups like the ACLU and FFRF.

Because we’re right and they’re wrong. Because we respect the law and they choose to break it. Because we believe public education ought to remain secular and they believe schools ought to function as churches.

Even in South Carolina, they’ve caved in. Students in that district won’t have to put up with teachers and administrators who would rather give a sermon than educate the children.

We have the ACLU and Jonathan Anderson to thank for that.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer

FFRF claims that the Day of Prayer proclamation violates Article II, Section 12 in the Arizona Constitution…

No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise, or instruction, or to the support of any religious establishment.

… and Article XX, Section 1:

Perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured to every inhabitant of this state, and noinhabitant of this state shall ever be molested inperson or property on account of his or her mode ofreligious worship, or lack of the same.

The complaint alleges breach of these sections but cites no relevant state case law, so I did a little looking of my own. (It also cites the Treaty of Tripoli and Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation” letter, but those are not likely to be very persuasive.)

You might think the fact that the FFRF goes after the Arizona Constitution should make this a more open-and-shut case, but it’s not as airtight as you might think. In spite of the fact that states are free to expand rights beyond the federal guarantees, many (if not most) states simply apply federal decisions to state issues and call it a day.

Arizona is no exception, based on my research. What that means for this most recent FFRF lawsuit is that the state court will probably not depart from the federal court’s decision on the last FFRF challenge to a Day of Prayer.

The Arizona District Court ruled then that FFRF didn’t have standing to challenge the proclamation, and so they turned to the state Constitution. However, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (which encompasses Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin) overturned a district court there that ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional.

So, even though it appears to be a clear establishment of religion (remember that advancement of religion prong of the Lemon test?), it seems unlikely that FFRF will prevail on this issue.

Not to say that they shouldn’t. Most defenders of the Day of Prayer contend that it’s a “request” to pray, not a command, and that lack of penalty for non-compliance negates any claim of injury. Judge Barbara Crabb of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin disagrees.

She aptly pointed out back in 2010:

However, recognizing the importance of prayer to many people does not mean that the government may enact a statute in support of it, any more than the government may encourage citizens to fast during the month of Ramadan, attend a synagogue, purify themselves in a sweat lodge or practice rune magic.

(I particularly enjoy her comparison between praying and magic…)

At any rate, Governor Brewer exhibits a very poor understanding of the function of the courts in a democratic society. She says that lawsuit is “frivolous” and unfounded because “of course, it’s something that a majority of Americans, a majority of Arizonans, all support…”

Theocrats so frequently fail to grasp the meaning of the phrase “majority rule, minority rights” and the integral role it plays in our constitutional representative democracy.

Speaking of theocrats, an Alliance Defense Fund representative commented on the last challenge, dismissed in December of 2011, saying: “There is no right not to be offended in America.”

In sprite of ADF’s efforts, we do have a right to a secular government, and I’m glad that the FFRF is fighting the good fight.

Annie Laurie Gaylor, Foundation co-president, said it’s fitting that the campaign has expanded to Rhode Island, which was founded by Roger Williams, a strong advocate of keeping religion out of government and vice versa.

“Although Williams was a religious man, he believed deeply that civil and sectarian authorities should not intrude on each other, for the good of both,” Gaylor said.

She noted Williams’ famous statement that “forced worship stinks in the nostrils of God.”

Interesting sidenotes: This is the 695^th billboard FFRF has put up and it’s the 34^th state in which they’ve put up a billboard.

One anecdote regarding rapper B-SHOC was covered on this blog before:

At a school assembly here in South Carolina on Sept. 1, a preacher described how Christ saved him from drugs, telling his rapt audience that “a relationship with Jesus is what you need more than anything else.” A rapper shouted the Lord’s praise to a light show and most of the audience stepped forward to pledge themselves to Christ while a few remained, uncomfortable, in their seats.

Such overt evangelizing would not be unusual at a prayer rally, but this was a daytime celebration in a public school gymnasium, arranged by the principal for sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

…

“We continue to see, on a regular basis across the country, public school officials who include prayer in school events, try to convert students and engage in other promotion of religion,” said Heather Weaver, a lawyer with the A.C.L.U.’s program on religious freedom.

“In recent years, public school officials have engaged in these activities even more aggressively,” Ms. Weaver added.

The FFRF and ACLU have gone after these cases, but one of the difficulties they have is that parents don’t always want to speak out. They don’t want to be seen as the “bad guys” when everyone around them supports the preaching — even though anonymity is an option. That leaves the watchdog organizations without plaintiffs — which takes away the opportunity to sue the districts. (If no one is complaining, on whose behalf are you suing?) Instead, they resort to sending warning letters.

This was up in a public school math classroom in California

That leads to a very important question: Are events like these happening more frequently? Or have the number of events remained the same but more people are now coming forth and reporting them?

Reporter Erik Eckholm doesn’t offer an answer but my hunch would be that both things are occurring. As Christians feel more persecuted (for no good reason), they push back. So you see more Christians trying to push their faith into the classroom — via History lessons, Creationism, mandatory moments of silence, etc. Meanwhile, as more parents (not always atheists and sometimes even Christian ones) become aware of what’s happening in their children’s schools, a handful of them who know that it’s wrong contact the authorities and try to put a stop to it.

Our job is to raise the consciousness of more people so they know what’s allowed and what’s not. A lot of the incidents taking place — preaching during assemblies, proselytizing in the classroom — aren’t “grey areas” of the law. They’re very clearly illegal.

When you hear soundbytes like the following one, it’s apparent that these cases aren’t isolated incidents. These aren’t accidents or honest mistakes. They are part of a larger plan to turn public schools into conversion houses for Christianity:

“I definitely think that we should try to get our relationship with Christ back into the schools,” said Mr. [Christian] Chapman, 43. “Jesus represents everything we want our students to live by.”

For non-Christians to hear this message, he said, is no worse than Bible believers being forced to hear about evolution every day.

Yeah, why should kids hear about (arguably) the most supported, brilliant, and important scientific theory of all time… when we can rot their minds with religion instead?

Unfortunately, millions of Americans — including many who run public schools — agree with Chapman. It’s our job to persuade them of how wrong they are.

(Thanks to Masada for the link)

Neither is acceptable to the locals — as if that matters — and last weekend, they staged a rally in support of Jesus:

Nathan Lorick, the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Malakoff and one of the organizers of Saturday’s rally in Athens, said: “We are humbled at the turnout of the crowd.”

“We believe that God led us to do this and so we knew he was up to something great,” he told Fox News & Commentary.

“This message is resonating in the hearts of people all over the country. This was a real statement to the nation that Christians are tired of the persecution and suppression.”

…

The overwhelmingly Christian community seems to share the pastor’s sentiment.

“So now they’re trying to take Baby Jesus,” said resident Tracie Lynda. “What is so offensive about a baby in a manger? If it does not mean anything to you, why does it offend you?”

It’s hard to take seriously the cries of persecution when damn near every elected official in this country — and damn near every single president we’ve ever had — have said they worship Jesus.

Anyway. the FFRF has already responded to the Attorney General in Texas (who has pledged his support for the Christians), but for now, the nativity scene in Athens is still up.

Meanwhile, with far less publicity and no complaints so far, the Van Zandt County Courthouse in Canton, Texas is doing exactly the same thing:

The FFRF has been notified of that display, too.

This is why it’s so important for atheists to speak up and speak out. We may not have the numbers to stage a 5,000 person rally for a local church/state violation, but the Constitution is on our side. If some Christians hellbent on forcing their faith down everyone else’s throats want to bring on a lawsuit, let them. They’re going to lose.

We need people courageous enough to be plaintiffs when violations like these occur. At the very least, we need to make sure people are aware of the violations so they can notify the groups who can do something about it.

(via Rail Bender)

The question is whether the donations and publicity resulting from the ad will make up for its cost. Knowing the FFRF, they wouldn’t do something like this unless it did.

…

Bill Donohue (a.k.a. The Catholic League) responds by calling FFRF “Parasites of Christmas“:

There is a silly full-page ad in today’s New York Times by the atheists from Freedom From Religion Foundation called, Reason’s Greetings. The “Solstice Tribute” is appropriately vacuous, but what got our attention was the caveat at the end of the lyrical statement: it says, “May be sung to ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem.’” In other words, “Rock Around the Clock” won’t suffice. Sorry Brenda.

The good news is that these secularists cannot survive without parasitically feeding off Christmas, thus giving us Christians a back-handed compliment. We’ll take it.

Yep. Back-handed compliment. That’s what that was…

See? The truth doesn’t have to be scary!

Last week, the Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote a letter to the mayor of Pitman, New Jersey, Mike Batten, to ask that the banner be moved to private property. The response appears to be, “It already is.”

Borough attorney Brian Duffield says that the sign is hung from a bank building on one end and a privately-owned telephone pole on the other. FFRF said that it wrote the letter after hearing from a Pitman resident who saw Pitman firefighters putting the banner up between two city light poles.

Either way, it seems like a juvenile bit of mental gymnastics. Duffield said that the borough can regulate signs and requires permits for that sort of banner, but said that because it’s not on government property there’s nothing else that can be done.

In other words, the city of Pitman is hovering its index finger an inch from our collective nose and saying, “I’m not touching you!”

The banner has a subtitle which reads “Knights of Columbus 6247,” which only makes it worse, not better. This explicitly Catholic organization should not be allowed a monopoly on government property to propagandize. Even worse, it is part of a 5-decade-long nation-wide campaign of such “reminders.” (It’s in the name, people, we get it).

The problem is that the endorsement of religion is certainly implied, and Mayor Batten should do something about it. Though he makes his feelings clear about it, using the age-old argument I wish would go the way of the Dodo: “It’s sad, because the beginning of our town was religious and we have 13 churches. And I’m surprised because a banner has hung there for many years and we’ve never heard complaints before.”

Translation: “All you people who are marginalized and ostracized should stay that way forever! It makes me sad that you’re finally protesting the unfair privilege of my religion!”

Aside from the fact that Christianity actually co-opted other holidays to create Christ-Mass, there’s the very obvious fact that many people don’t include Christ in their holidays at all. These sorts of banners only serve to exclude and marginalize all of those people who either don’t celebrate Christmas or who do but have no need for Jebus in their celebrations.

One local resident had this to say about the issue: “But why should (FFRF) step on the rights of other people? I have my right to celebrate Christmas, just as a Jewish person has their right to celebrate Hanukah. Just as an African-American has the right to celebrate Kwaanza. It’s up to the individual.”

“Rights.” You keep using that word; I don’t think it means what you think it means.

One way or another, the banner needs to come down. My favorite part of this story is FFRF’s alternative proposal: their own banner. The proposed text:

“At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail. There are not gods, no devils, no angels, nor heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds. Freedom From Religion Foundation.”

Now that’s a reminder.