Christmas

This is a copy of the testimony given to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission on Friday, August 21, 1998 by Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists.

Introduction
 American Atheists is a non-profit, non-political, educational organization dedicated to the absolute separate of government and religion. Our organization has been intricately involved in the area of religion in the public schools. It was the founder of our organization, Madalyn Murray-O'Hair, who was the successful litigant in the Supreme Court which removed both organized prayer and bible recitation from the public schools. It has been repeatedly overlooked that this decision made the public school system equally accessible for all American children.

Since 1963, despite more than three decades of legislation and court rulings, the issue of religion in our nation's public schools remains a controversial and contentious subject. As the courts have moved to uphold the constitutional separation of church and state, the issue of student religious expression and the inclusion of religion in public school curricula have become divisive.

Some of this is due to a biased redefinition, not only of the First Amendment (both the free exercise and establishment clauses) and its precise legal meaning, but how it is to be applied in public school classrooms and other school-related activities such as sporting contests or graduation ceremonies. American Atheists takes the position that court rulings such as MURRAY v. CURLETT (1963), ENGEL v. VITALE (1962), LEE v. WEISMAN (1992) and LEMON v. KURTZMAN (1971) and the Federal Equal Access Act define the proper roles in our civil institutions of both the free expression and establishment clauses of the First Amendment.

In the United States there are over 350,000 churches, mosques, chapels, temples, and other \houses of worship.\ This figure does not include the many \weekend congregations\ that gather in rented halls, hotels rooms or even private homes. Churches of many faiths are represented in listings in the \yellow pages\ of phone directories. Newspapers often include a Religion Section, with advertisements and listings of services. There is ample and abundant opportunity, for those of a religious inclination, to worship not only in these venues with others of like-minded worldviews, but in the privacy of their own homes without having to bring religious ceremonies and rituals into the public schools.

Thus it disturbs us, as state-church separationists, that so much is done to magnify the issue of religion in public schools and to inject religious themes, activities, organizations, and content into what should be a secular institution having the primary goal of educating students and preparing them for societal integration and the workforce.

In addition, most of the political and social discourse concerning freedom of religion in our nation's public schools has focused on how best to accommodate the needs of those who wish to express their religious views, or engage in religious activity - everything from praying (or leading others prayer, or praying during a school event in front of others) to forming worship or study groups. Little, if any discussion has ever covered the problems associated with that religious expression, or the rights of students to freedom from religion.

THE PROBLEM
As courts have noted, students are a \captive\ audience. The demands on the public school system to prepare youngsters for the job market and the challenges of the next millennium are staggering. There are only so many hours in a school day, and we note with alarm that the number of hours devoted to academics has declined over recent decades.

In addition, the public school system is the only viable educational system which is available to all American families. As in the past, the responsibility for educating the America of tomorrow rightly rests with the public schools.

As such, the public schools are the inheritors of parental trust. Parents send their children to the public schools with an implied agreement that the school will provide them with a safe environment and protect them from outside, unwanted and intrusive religious activity or requirements into the educational milieu. Children attend the public schools where they are not supervised directly by their parents, but are placed in the trust of educators to be educated, not indoctrinated.

Unfortunately, the American experience over the last few decades has demonstrated that religious proselytizing has been directed toward our children not only against our wishes, but especially when they are beyond or outside of our direct supervision.

While religious expression in the public schools has been justified on the basis of freedom of speech, American Atheists is concerned that \improper\ religious expression - specifically during official school activities like classes, school choirs or athletic events where the students often comprise a \captive audience\ -- violates the rights of Atheist students, or even members of minority sects. Some, but not all, of the issues germane to this have been addressed in guidelines and other documents, including the JOINT STATEMENT OF CURRENT LAW, RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS issued by a coalition of religious and civic groups in April, 1995.

We also cite the guidelines on religious expression which were issued by the U.S. Department of Education in August, 1995, at the direction of President Clinton, and the 1986 Federal Equal Access Act which sought to clarify the rights of \religious groups\ to establish \clubs\ in the public schools.

However the problem, still not addressed by our government, is how best to protect - not just in theory, but in law - the rights of students to be free from religious intrusion, harassment or even verbal or physical assault if they choose to exercise their freedom from religion.

We note the many cases (as in Alabama, for instance) where students who chose to opt out of religious activities are marginalized, insulted and harassed; in some cases, threats and physical violence have been used against those students and their families. American Atheists has received reports from across the nation of students in hallways being accosted by \prayer bullies.\ In addition, some religious clubs - as in the example of the one at Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky - conduct their activities not in the privacy of a meeting room (as most other student groups might do) but in hallways or lobbies, sometimes obstructing entrances or positioning themselves so that others must take notice.

Unfortunately, neither the \Joint Statement of Current Law, Religion in the Public Schools,\ nor the Equal Access Act provide sufficient legal mechanisms to penalize and prevent religiously motivated harassment in the public schools.

The establishment clause of the First Amendment was intended to prevent the sorts of abuses that are taking place in our public schools today by keeping the spheres of public education and religious indoctrination separate. Once that clause is breached, however, abuses occur.

It is not always realistic to assume that administrators, counselors or other officials in a school where such activities take place can \self-police\ or correct the problem. In fact, in many cases, they are all too often the cause of the problem.

This suggests to us that much more needs to be done in defining and enforcing guidelines having to do with the rights of the many students who choose to remain free from such religious activities.

Government statements and guidelines do not go far enough in discussing or protecting the rights of those students (including Atheist students) who do not wish to pray, or attend religious clubs or Bible-study groups, or be proselytized in their schools.

RESISTANCE TO THE FIRST AMENDMENT
While most school districts do acknowledge and obey guidelines pertaining to the separation of church and state, there is the obvious fact that in some areas of the country administrators, teachers and/or students who wish to violate the First Amendment simply do so.

• In DeKalb County, Alabama, for instance, there have been recurrent problems involving student religious expression over a school public address system, in class rooms and at athletic events. Federal Judge Ira DeMent, who overturned Alabama's school prayer law, has had to admonish and warn Christian administrators that continued opposition to the guidelines he affirmed in his rulings could result in further legal action. The court has had to actually field \monitors\ in these schools to insure that the First Amendment is recognized and to serve as information resources for any students, teachers or administrators who have questions. Unfortunately, not all public officials have cooperated with Judge DeMent. Alabama Governor Fob James has spoken favorably of those students and administrators who \resist\ the court's order, and Attorney General Pryor has actively distorted the meaning of the guidelines. And in late July, 1998, a finding by one of the court-appointed monitors, Rev. Chriss Doss, a Baptist minister and educator at Samford University in Birmingham, raised questions about the involvement of a high school principal (Gary Carlyle, Sylvania High School) in encouraging students to join in reading \The Lord's Prayer\ at a May 26 graduation ceremony, an activity that contravened the Federal court order pertaining to the separation of church and state.

• In 1996 the Washington State Attorney General issued a ruling that officially sponsored prayer at public high school graduation ceremonies was unconstitutional after two students, one an Atheist and the other a Baptist, filed suit to stop the prayers.

• In New York, a teacher was recently dismissed for allegedly leading her sixth-grade students in prayer and healing services. While she gave students who did not wish to engage in this activity the \option\ of spending time on a classroom computer instead, her actions were nevertheless highly inappropriate and she was dismissed. Her case is on appeal.

• In Jackson, Mississippi, the local school superintendent was the target of gunfire after suspending a principal in Jackson for allowing Christian prayers to be read over the school's public address system.

• Again, in Mississippi, Lisa Herdahl's son was required to wear a football helmet, or musical headphones, or leave the room because he refused to participate in organized religious rituals with the majoritarian sect (Baptist). He was Lutheran.

• In Oklahoma, Ms. Jo Ann Bell, a mother and homemaker, was assaulted in a parking lot and her home burned down after she protested school-sponsored religious activity.

• In Dunn, N.C., Laurey and Rick Wyble received harassing phone calls, were called \communists\, and were driven from their home for protesting sectarian bible classes in their son's public elementary school.

• In Columbia, S.C., Henry Jordan, a state school board member, and member of the Christian Coalition, proposed the posting of a version of the Ten Commandments in the public schools. When asked about the sensitivities of minority religions to his suggestion, he remarked, \Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims - and put that in the minutes!\

• Attempts by Christian-oriented groups such as Family Friendly Libraries to limit our children's access to library and internet resources continue unabated. They are entitled to impose such limits on their own children, but are they not legally empowered to make such choices for our children as well.

• In May of this year the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon went to court on behalf of an Atheist family from Portland, to prevent the Portland School District from actively participating in the recruitment of Cub Scouts at Harvey Scott Elementary School. The suit was filed on behalf of Nancy Powell and her son, Remington Powell, who was in the second grade.

After-school staff assisted Cub Scout recruiters in placing wrist bands on students that urged them to join Cub Scout Pack 16.

The suit argued that the recruitment of students to join the Cub Scouts during school hours and on school property is unconstitutional because the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts are required by the Boy Scouts of America to refuse membership to boys who do not \profess a belief in God, recognize an obligation to God and declare a duty to God.\

In most school districts throughout the country, proper limits concerning the expression of religious beliefs by students are generally (but not always) observed.

If there is a lesson here, though, it is this:

Our public schools are considered not educational centers, but a locus for \culture war\ battles waged by certain sectarian groups who seek to introduce prayer, religious proselytizing or inappropriate religious content into the public school curricula (such as \creationism,\ \ bible history\) and other extracurricular activities (such as sporting events, graduation ceremonies and other school- sponsored presentations).

STUDENT RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION
Under the Equal Access Act, students are permitted to form religious clubs if non-curriculum related secular student groups are permitted in a high school. We see no reason why students should not enjoy this right of free speech, whether it involves religious expression and study, or some other area, from chess to politics. However, religious activity in the schools warrants special attention from us for several reasons:

1) The Equal Access Act (EAA) requires the elimination of all non-curriculum related clubs as a response to the denial of the legitimate rights of other groups.

We disagree with that remedy. By eliminating all clubs, the schools thus deny the free speech rights of everyone, in order to accommodate the prejudices of some.

• In Utah, for instance, the EAA was supported in order to defend the \free speech rights\ of students who wanted to form religious clubs; but when a gay- straight student support group was founded, however, Senator Orin Hatch and other EAA proponents quickly abandoned their enthusiasm for free speech. Sen. Hatch declared that the purpose of Equal Access was not to permit the establishment of \those sorts of clubs,\ only religious groups. In addition, a student group that supports homosexual rights sued Cherry Creek Public Schools in January of this year for refusing to recognize it as an official club at Smoky Hill High School.

The \Equal\ in Equal Access needs stronger protection and enforcement.

2) The EAA, in our opinion, does little to establish and protect freedom of speech for all students.

There is no mechanism for safeguarding the rights of students who may, and frequently are, subject to religious harassment. The whole question of the status of religious expression by students in public schools has been demonstrated to be a highly emotional and controversial issue - outside the normal rules of decorum observed by other student groups. Unlike chess or computer clubs, religious clubs in schools have been surrounded by an aura of controversy.

• One such controversy is the nature of bible/prayer \clubs\ themselves. First hand observation and additional anecdotal evidence reveals that these are not student \clubs\ in the traditional sense. Rather, they consist of religious ritual, scriptural readings, songs, prayers and similar activities usually reserved for the church setting. In effect, these clubs become satellites of the local church for proselytizing and recruitment in the schools - a fact that should give pause to civil libertarians and parents everywhere.

One of our members related the following events at her Oak Ridge High School in Conroe, Texas. Remember, this is just one school.

• \The 'see-you-at-the-pole' event was attended by several teachers.\