Humanists File Suit over Weekly Prayers in Missouri High School Classroom

The American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center filed suit today in U. S. District Court against school officials in Fayette, MO, demanding an end to teacher-sponsored and school-promoted classroom prayer sessions at Fayette High School.

MORE: http://americanhumanist.org/news/details/2013-11-humanists-file-suit-over-weekly-prayers-in-missouri

Mississippi High School Student Victorious in Lawsuit Challenging School's Religious Assemblies

A judgment has been entered by a federal court in a case brought by the American Humanist Association's Appignani Humanist Legal Center on behalf of a student at a Rankin County, Mississippi high school challenging the proselytizing religious assemblies it staged for students earlier this year. The lawsuit was filed April 24, 2013 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi against administrators of Northwest Rankin High School in Flowood, MS and the county school district.

The judgment includes an admission of liability by the defendants that they violated the Establishment Clause, the provision of the Constitution that requires separation of church and state. It also requires the school district to comply with a new policy that prohibits future such violations and orders the defendants to pay the plaintiff's attorneys' fees.

MORE: http://americanhumanist.org/news/details/2013-11-mississippi-high-school-student-victorious-in-lawsui

Win For The Wall: AU Letter Convinces County Officials In Washington State To Drop Grant For Fundamentalist Christian Group

Americans United has successfully foiled plans by a county council in Washington state to hand over thousands of taxpayer dollars to a Christian fundamentalist group that targets young children for conversion.

MORE: https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/win-for-the-wall-au-letter-convinces-county-officials-in-washington-state

Proposed Chapel at OK Capitol Building Draws Attention

The republican lawmaker from Lawton presented a blueprint for a chapel to be added to the state capitol building. The American Civil Liberties Union has spoken out against the proposal, citing separation of church and state.

MORE: http://www.kswo.com/story/24036690/proposed-chapel-at-ok-capitol-building-draws-attention

Repair Bill: Mass. Judge Says Taxpayers Can Be Forced To Pay For Church Restoration

Houses of worship in need of repair should ask their own congregants to foot the bill, not the local government. And since this is Martha’s Vineyard we're talking about, I'm betting cash isn't in short supply.

MORE: https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/repair-bill-mass-judge-says-taxpayers-can-be-forced-to-pay-for-church

After a Reporter's Biased Story of a Christian Politician's High School Visit, a Student Who Was There Speaks Out

Even though that report featured students who supported Saccone's bill, and the commentary implied a general level of support, too, the comments on the news station's website told a very different story. Students who were at the assembly, it appeared, were chiming in that a majority of them firmly disagreed with Saccone -- and took him to task for trying to push God into the classroom -- and that perspective was missing from the news report.

MORE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/11/29/after-a-reporters-biased-story-of-a-christian-politicians-high-school-visit-a-student-who-was-there-speaks-out/

On Second Thought, Watauga Schools Will Take 'In God We Trust' Posters After All -- As a Tool to Teach History

Ah. It's totally not about the promotion of religion, you see -- however did you get that idea? It's about teaching kids history.

MORE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/11/18/on-second-thought-watauga-schools-will-take-in-god-we-trust-posters-after-all-as-a-tool-to-teach-history/

See also...

Humanists offer posters to schools
http://www2.wataugademocrat.com/News/story/Humanists-offer-posters-to-schools-id-013262

Watauga School District Will Accept Non-Theist Posters, but Principals Don't Have to Display Them
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/11/26/watauga-school-district-will-accept-non-theist-posters-but-principals-dont-have-to-display-them/

The Pastor Who Started the Whole Costco/Bible Controversy Is Ashamed at How Christians Have Reacted

You may have heard that Costco believes the Bible is a book of fiction.

MORE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/11/23/the-pastor-who-started-the-whole-costcobible-controversy-is-ashamed-at-how-christians-have-reacted/

See also...

In come to Jesus, Costco sorry for labeling Bibles fiction
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/21/costco-california-pastor-bible-fiction/3661933/

Why is This Georgia Town's Chief of Police Using the Department's Facebook Page to Preach Christianity?

It's not strange at all that Harlem, Georgia Police Chief Gary Jones would use a Facebook page to keep citizens informed of local crime sprees, offer them some safety advice, and remind them of classes offered by the Harlem Dept. of Public Safety.

But it's not hard to see how Jones crossed the line with this recent Facebook post (on the Department's page).

MORE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/11/20/why-is-this-georgia-towns-chief-of-police-using-the-departments-facebook-page-to-preach-christianity/

Christian Group, Ignorant of History, Complains That Obama Omitted 'Under God' from Gettysburg Address Video

You knew this was coming: The Christian group Liberty Counsel is crying foul after a video of President Obama reciting the Gettysburg Address surfaced without him including the words "Under God" in the speech.

MORE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/11/19/christian-group-ignorant-of-history-complains-that-obama-omitted-under-god-from-gettysburg-address-video/

Fox News Ripped School Board For Nixing the Pledge of Allegiance -- Even Though the Board Did Just the Opposite

Sioux Falls school board member Kent Alberty has had quite the week, what with the death threats and all.

MORE: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/11/22/fox-news-ripped-school-board-for-nixing-the-pledge-of-allegiance-even-though-the-board-did-just-the-opposite/

Alabama legislator to Raw Story: 'Our country wasn’t founded on the Koran!'

Alabama State Rep. DuWayne Bridges proposed an amendment to the state's constitution on Monday that would allow public schools and other state properties to display the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. When Raw Story telephoned the legislator to ask if similar efforts would be made to display Judaic and Islamic documents, Bridges became angry and hung up.

MORE: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/19/alabama-legislator-to-raw-story-our-country-wasnt-founded-on-the-koran/

Leaky Boat: Kentucky Officials Labor To Keep Struggling 'Ark Park' From Sinking

Kentucky has already committed more than $40 million in tax incentives to this project. The state allocated this support even though the park is the brainchild of a prominent fundamentalist Christian ministry that believes the Earth is only 6,000 years old, that dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time and that unicorns once existed – ideas utterly rejected by mainstream science.

MORE: https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/leaky-boat-kentucky-officials-labor-to-keep-struggling-ark-park-from

Curricular Controversy: Hobby Lobby President Proposes Bible Elective in Okla. Public School

Green promised McDaniel and the rest of the board that the class would be taught from a historical, nonsectarian perspective. If that’s really the case, the class could meet constitutional standards, but his past and his connections to fringe figures on the Religious Right should give officials pause.

MORE: https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/curricular-controversy-hobby-lobby-president-proposes-bible-elective-in

Schools For Scandal: New Government Report Another Blow Against D.C.'s Voucher Plan

Washington, D.C.'s voucher experiment has failed -- so why does it still exist?

MORE: https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/schools-for-scandal-new-government-report-another-blow-against-dc-s-voucher

A Dateable Debacle: Texas School Presentation Raises Serious Constitutional Questions

Students at Richardson High School near Dallas received an unexpected lesson on the Constitution yesterday, courtesy of Christian speaker Justin Lookadoo.

Many of them walked out of a required school assembly after Lookadoo, author of Dateable and The Dateable Rules: Guide to the Sexes, repeatedly made sexist comments during his presentation.

MORE: https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/a-dateable-debacle-texas-school-presentation-raises-serious-constitutional

See also...

Sex Education Or Simplistic Sectarianism?: Religious Right 'Experts' Rely on Pseudoscience And Shaming To Promote Theology In Schools
https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/sex-education-or-simplistic-sectarianism-religious-right-experts-rely-on

Sarah Palin Has a Lump of Coal For Atheists

Oh, and "there's a reason why voters don't necessarily like voting for an atheist." Atheists can't be trusted not to commit mass murder because there's no God keeping them in check. Voters, she explains, are rightfully suspicious of people "who don't believe he or she will someday have to answer to the Ultimate Authority." Godless people are the worst because "when we dictate our own morality, we are capable of anything." Attacking religion, with its spotless human rights record, "inevitably leads to an attack on the rights of the people," she concludes.

MORE: http://www.newsweek.com/sarah-palin-has-lump-coal-atheists-10928

See also...

Imaginary Enemies: Sarah Palin's Phony Fight Against The 'War On Christmas'
https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/imaginary-enemies-sarah-palin-s-phony-fight-against-the-war-on-christmas

"Holidays and Other Disasters" an Antidote to Sarah Palin's Cockeyed Christmas Canon

New book uses atheist's perspective to explore the histories of religious and secular U.S. holiday rituals.

MORE: http://americanhumanist.org/news/details/2013-11-holidays-and-other-disasters-an-antidote-to-sarah-pa

Got faith? 'A Manual for Creating Atheists' would like to change that

Boghossian is a philosophy instructor and author of a wildly popular new book, "A Manual for Creating Atheists,"  that seeks to equip nonbelievers like him with the skills to convince believers to abandon their faith.

MORE: http://www.religionnews.com/2013/11/18/got-faith-manual-creating-atheists-like-change/

New Bible Book Is 'Awkward' on Purpose; Illustrations Meant To Stir Critical Thinking

Despite its title and seemingly playful illustrations, the intended audience of The Awkward Moments Children's Bible is not simply boys and girls. Rather than offering familiar Old and New Testament stories alongside colorful depictions of Jesus, Moses, Noah and David, the book contrasts some of Bible's most controversial, strange, and violent verses alongside cheerfully jarring and dramatic pictures.

MORE: http://www.christianpost.com/news/when-the-bible-is-awkward-trying-make-christians-uncomfortable-enough-to-open-their-bibles-108521/