American Humanist Association Sues Mississippi High School Over Religious Crap, (Secular) Apocalypse Ensues

angry-religious-kidAfter a quick perusal through the comments section of this Think Progress article, I’m convinced I’m the only atheist alive who doesn’t think this ordeal is the end of the freaking world. The American Humanist Association is filing a lawsuit against a Mississippi high school for subjecting students to a Baptist religious assembly. Bad, yes, but “Christian Taliban” bad? “Fire everyone involved at the school” bad? No.

The article states that “students were given no advance notice about the nature of the assembly, but were told that attendance was required. It soon became clear, however, when a member of Pinelake Baptist Church opened his presentation by talking about finding hope in Jesus Christ. The assembly allegedly also warned students against premarital sex, pornography, and homosexuality.”

I can see how this clearly oversteps boundaries and goes against the constitution. It’s disturbing that students weren’t briefed on the nature of the assembly and that the truancy officer kept them from leaving.

But I also think this reaction is batshit crazy. Why does everyone’s mind always go straight to suing? Is suing the school really going to fix the problem? Really, I’m being serious.

I actually think this could have been a stellar teachable moment. If this was my daughter’s school, and let’s face it, something similar is GOING to happen because I live in the Bible Belt Buckle of America Incorporated, I would ask her what she thought of the presentation. What do you think about the Baptist interpretation of this Jesus character? How do you think this interpretation of what the Bible says about sex affects society? Do you agree with it? Disagree? Why? My daughter’s just a toddler and I’m practically foaming at the mouth to have this conversation with her.

And this brings up my major beef. Though this article makes no mention of the students’ parents, it seems so often that it’s the parents putting up a stink about any mention of religion in school. If outraged parents really think one Baptist assembly is going to be all it takes to indoctrinate their children, I think they’d better spend less time freaking out and more time pontificating on what they did wrong to raise such impressionable lemmings.

(photo: Vlue/shutterstock)

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