This was in the NYT, an op ed piece, on Monday. Got it out of the archives just now.
June 21, 1999, Monday
Editorial Desk
Atheists Under Siege
By Micah White
We hear it everywhere, from churches to Congress:
we need to allow religion back in the schools if we
want to avoid another tragedy like the one at
Columbine High School.
Groups like the Christian Coalition say there has been
a moral decline ever since the Supreme Court banned
school prayer. They were disturbed by the story of
Cassie Bernall, the Columbine student who was killed
after saying she believed in God. And they make
demons out of all atheist students, as if they had
anything in common with Eric Harris and Dylan
Klebold.
As a high school junior in Michigan, I am very
concerned with the national trend of blaming ''godless
teen-agers'' for school violence. As an atheist, I feel
I have endured persecution for my beliefs. I believe
that the only outcome of any increase of religion in
the schools would be an increase in anger directed
against those students who are either not of the
dominant religion or lack religion at all.
Last fall, I tried to form an atheist club in my high
school as an alternative to a Bible study group that
already existed. The school made it difficult for me
to do so, saying I didn't have a teacher-sponsor.
I threatened to sue the school with legal help from
Americans United for the Separation of Church and
State. Only then did the school say I could not be
prevented from forming the club.
The reaction of some of my fellow students to the
club was even worse. Immediately after I formed the
group, a few of them seemed to take it upon
themselves to intimidate me. Signs promoting the club
were torn down, and people scribbled insults like
''Burn in Hell'' on them. Students would come to our
meetings and yell, simply to be disruptive. And after
the shootings at Columbine, a friend told me that a
teacher had told his class that my club was the same
thing as the trench coat mafia.
All this negativity directed at my atheist group would
seem to indicate that we do evil things. But all we do is
meet weekly to discuss philosophy and talk about how
to keep our school as secular as possible. We face
opposition not because we are bad people but because
our ideas are unpopular.
If prayer in schools is allowed, what will happen to
those students who are not Christian, but are Jewish
or Muslim? What about atheists like me? Even though
no law could require us to participate, this would
further ostracize the nonreligious students.
Countless students may already be feeling religious
pressure as the school year comes to a close, since
many districts still have prayer in their graduation
ceremonies. I read about one student in Maryland who
was detained by the police after he tried to re-enter
his own graduation, which he had left because he was
offended by the prayer.
I have spent a lot of time thinking about how I can
show America that atheist students are not the
source of the nation's ills. Through my club, I feel a
lot of people have learned there is nothing to worry
about. And if we can learn to accept all students,
perhaps then we can find a way to bring an end to the
violence and ostracism instead of increasing it. |
