Student challenges prayer at Bastrop graduation
Threatens to contact ACLU if prayer is offered
Bastrop, La. —
For the first time ever, prayer will not be part of graduation ceremonies Friday night at Bastrop High School.
Principal Stacey Pullen said the school received an e-mail on Tuesday from a student who identied themself as an atheist.
“They said if we included a traditional prayer in the ceremony that they would contact the (American Civil Liberties Union),” Pullen said. “We asked our attorney about it, and we are making changes to the program.”
<snip>
Mitzi Quinn has been on the staff at BHS for almost 25 years, much of that time as a senior advisor. In the past, Quinn said there have been students who were atheist, agnostic and other non-Christian religions who “had no problems” with the prayer.
More:
http://www.bastropenterprise.com/features/x2132687894/Student-challenges-prayer-at-Bastrop-graduationSee also:
I am Damon's Brother.
Here is an update: My brother has been cut off from all communication by my mother. He is not allowed to speak to me and I live 6 hours drive away from him. There's nothing I can do. My sister is supposed to go pick him up tomorrow and he will no longer be living in that town or with my parents. He's coming to Texas with me.
Regarding Quinn's comments. I was one of her students in high school. This is the letter I wrote to her this afternoon:
Hello Mrs. Quinn,
My brother is Damon Fowler. I recently heard by proxy that you stated some pretty hateful and incredibly biased remarks in regard to him confronting the school about its illegal prayer at graduation. It's insulting and upsetting to me because I honestly considered you one of my favorite teachers in high school. It was because of you and Mr. Horton that I went on to the University of North Texas and got my BFA in New Media Art and I'm currently a lead web designer at one of the largest Universities in Texas.
The quote I am referring to is this:
“
respected the majority of their classmates and didn’t say anything,” Quinn said. “We’ve never had this come up before. Never…And what’s even more sad is this is a student who really hasn’t contributed anything to graduation or to their classmates.” (Bastrop Daily Enterprise, http://www.bastropenterprise.com/features/x2132687894/Student-challenges-prayer-at-Bastrop-graduation
)
The last sentence is what I am referring to specifically. This is extremely unprofessional and unbecoming of a teacher. I am requesting that you both personally and publicly apologize to my brother for your remarks and if I do not hear that this has happened by the end of the week, I will be taking this to the superintendent and to the school board. If the school board does nothing, I will take this even higher.
I need not remind you that a specific and lengthy school prayer is illegal in the state of Louisiana. My brother is in the right here. The will of the majority does not rule all in this case. In other words, in this case, the majority is in violation of state and federal laws. This is why the school board backed down.
Of all people I saw you as a person who stood up for the weak and hurting. I remember a story where you told me you were instrumental in desegregating BHS. This is no different. By dismissing Damon's emotions/feelings/beliefs, you ignore him (and other religious and non-religious). You marginalize other religious and non-religious students. By not standing up for him and the law, you are hurting who my brother is and what he's trying to do, without any care for his emotions. You're advocating to have this little ritual performed illegally at graduation, with blatant disregard for anyone who isn't Christian. Instead, what you should be doing is supporting all students and the law by supporting a brief moment of silence, not prayer, but moment of silence. It's the law.
Sincerely,
Jerrett Fowler
This boy needs your help, Reddit. He needs this to go national. We all need this, to protect the young atheists and agnostics (and all religions other than Christianity) all over the country. We cannot allow tyranny to reign, we cannot allow these people to win this fight. We are the internet, we can win this. We have won this so many times.
My sister called my brother and was able to conference me in without my mother knowing. My brother is overwhelmed by all the support that I told him about. He literally didn't know what to say and was not expecting this to happen. He is extremely grateful for all your support and he says "Thank you." He will be on the internet tonight to respond personally.
As far as his spirits are concerned, he sounded scared. Really scared, actually. He sounded as if he was about to cry on the phone with me, although I'm not sure if it was because of all the support here or because he's scared. He has gotten death threats already and threats of bodily harm if he shows up to graduation. We're still assessing if it is safe enough for him to be there. The only way we can ensure his safety is to grow this to the national level. I'd love to see CNN, BBC, TheDailyShow, Richard Dawkins, and Colbert get on this story. I can't provide safety alone.
Thank you to everyone who is following this.
Jerrett
Graduation date is May 20th, in the evening, not sure on top specifics.
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