The bible club gave treeboy a bible

[treemom]

Putting this here because while it is not strictly fundie it is an example about how zealotry impacts others.

 

My son is in seventh grade in public school. He is a good student, and well behaved and overall well liked. So far middle school has not been terrible for him.

 

At this school there is a school sponsored bible club which meets outside school hours, but on school property and with a teacher as a sponsor. I am supportive of the existence of this group because I think teenagers transition a lot in faith and sometimes it is nice to have a group like this.

 

However, they have crossed the lines. They took up a collection to buy my son a bible for valentine's day. And this had the blessing of the sponsor. Because my son is currently atheist (I only say currently because he has flitted a bit about religion) I am Jewish and my husband is Episcopalian, but neither of us are practicing. We are supportive in whatever faith my son has...

 

I have no idea what I am going to do...but I am pissed. I think this is like religious bullying. Not to mention a little offensive on several fronts. And somehow I don't think giving out Korans would be ok.

[CoatRack]

Just your son?

[Lillybee]

I would be pissed as well. Talk to the principal.

[SamuraiKatz]

Putting this here because while it is not strictly fundie it is an example about how zealotry impacts others.

My son is in seventh grade in public school. He is a good student, and well behaved and overall well liked. So far middle school has not been terrible for him.

At this school there is a school sponsored bible club which meets outside school hours, but on school property and with a teacher as a sponsor. I am supportive of the existence of this group because I think teenagers transition a lot in faith and sometimes it is nice to have a group like this.

However, they have crossed the lines. They took up a collection to buy my son a bible for valentine's day. And this had the blessing of the sponsor. Because my son is currently atheist (I only say currently because he has flitted a bit about religion) I am Jewish and my husband is Episcopalian, but neither of us are practicing. We are supportive in whatever faith my son has...

I have no idea what I am going to do...but I am pissed. I think this is like religious bullying. Not to mention a little offensive on several fronts. And somehow I don't think giving out Korans would be ok.

What a douchey thing to do. Did they pass out Bibles to all of the non christian kids? Not sure what the middle way is with this one. A boundary was crossed and it should be addressed, but not in a way that would cause others to single your son out for ridicule.

[treemom]

Just your son?

yep

[MajorMajor]

My smart ass knee jerk reaction would be to have your son give the bible club members copies of The Atheist Manifesto, but that might just be fanning the flames...

[Megan]

If you're in the US, handing out bibles at school is illegal (http://ffrf.org/faq/state-church/item/1 ... ic-schools). I would meet with the principal and the sponsoring teacher to explain how inappropriate this is and that it's against the establishment clause. I'd ask for an apology and assurance that it won't happen to anyone ever again, at the very least.

[Lillybee]

The fact that Treeboy seemed to have been singled out for the bible just makes it so much worse. I would definitely go the the principal and the bible group leader. If nothing happens, if there is a fairly normal newspaper or tv station in your town, I might go the the media. I think that this is a horrible thing to happen.

[lilwriter85]

I agree with others, treemom should talk to the principal or maybe go to the media.

[paganhomeschooler]

I would be pissed! We have children's bibles at home. My kids know how to use a library. We also support our children in finding their own religious paths. We sure as hell don't need crazy fundies giving them bibles! That really makes me mad. The old elementary one of my kids went to hosted actual church services on the weekends. It wasn't affiliated with the school, but they didn't always clean up well, and sometimes there were "accidental" tracts left there. I just don't like that kind of stuff in schools!

In addition to what the others have suggested, I would also probably mention something to the super/local BOE. They might want to update their building principals on the freaking LAW since some people evidently aren't familiar with it.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

I don't think the link above about it being illegal applies to this situation. However it is upsetting and you should speak to someone. Why did they select him to be the recipient ? Is he the only atheist or what?

[gardenvarietycitizen]

My smart ass knee jerk reaction would be to have your son give the bible club members copies of The Atheist Manifesto, but that might just be fanning the flames...

Nah, that's my reaction too... maybe not something overtly "atheist" but at least "you don't need God" like maybe "The Blind Watchmaker" (my favorite introduction to evolution) and say "well, you went to so much trouble to raise money to buy me a book I thought I'd reciprocate and buy you a book too!"

[Megan]

I don't think the link above about it being illegal applies to this situation. However it is upsetting and you should speak to someone. Why did they select him to be the recipient ? Is he the only atheist or what?

ah, I think you are right. I searched for links regarding Bibles in schools but didn't realize student distribution would differ from nonstudents.

That said, I would still complain. I also believe the teacher "approving" the Bible hand-out steps over a boundary - I don't think teacher sponsors for religious clubs are allowed to act in a way that favors a religion while on-duty, they are just there to ensure no one gets hurt or anything.

[NeonJungle]

They took up a collection to buy my son a bible for valentine's day. And this had the blessing of the sponsor. Because my son is currently atheist (I only say currently because he has flitted a bit about religion)

Was this a collection for your son only, or was it some sort of effort to provide the same for students the organizers believed have no religious orientation?

If it was the former, yes; I would take it up with someone. If it was the latter, I'd let it go.

[FloraDoraDolly]

Nothing wrong with a free Good Book, but the idea of singling out one child like that doesn't sit well with me.

[Blahblah]

Just your kid? That's way too weird. Firstly, why him? Do they have a "nominate the heathen" week and he got the most votes?

In Aus in public schools if anything vaguely religious is happening (Easter plays, nativity plays etc) we get a note home asking us of we want our child to be included or not. Can't even begin to imagine what sort of policies there must be about actually singling out one child and handing over a bible.

I agree that you should go to the principal.

[shrewlu]

Singling out one child is completely wrong. If this happened to my kid (who is in 7th grade and has no religious affiliation), I'd go talk to the principal. They kids in the club might not have meant anything bad by it, but isn't it the job of the sponsor to make sure they don't do anything offensive?

Actually, before talking to the principal, I'd talk to my kid and find out what he wanted me to do about it. My son can be weird about things and while it would bother him to get a bible, he might not want me to make an issue of it at school because it would possible ostracize him even more. But my first instinct would be to talk to the principal - no threats of legal action or anything, just a simple "Why was my kid singled out?"

Additionally, I'd think there would be some freethinking/secular humanist/atheist group you could contact for advice about this (if warranted) but I can't think specifically of any names right now and my google-fu isn't working.

[NeonJungle]

Who is the "they" that took up the collection? It is difficult to believe that a school system would let that happen in this day and age. How is your son? Is he cool with what happened, understands that it's up to him?

[OkToBeTakei]

Who is the "they" that took up the collection? It is difficult to believe that a school system would let that happen in this day and age. How is your son? Is he cool with what happened, understands that it's up to him?

Yes, I hope treeboy is ok. Seems such a shitty thing to do to a kid, being singled out. Valentines day? Whichever adult suggested/allowed this should have said good book shoved up his/her arse. Not I realise a helpful suggestion.

Would they be perhaps looking for a reaction? For some reason? If so a nice thank you letter and in the bin with the book.

[constantgardener]

I would be extremely annoyed as well, but I would wary of doing anything, like going to the media, that would turn my child into the recipient of any resulting crossfire. Maybe your son could just politely give the Bible back, or pass it on to a charity shop, to quietly make the point that it was not wanted?

I know that at some point this year my son's class (he is in UK Year 4) will be visited by the local Baptists who hand them all a Bible - they do it every year for his age group. I feel it is completely unnacceptable for churches to do this - but at the same time this is small village school and I don't particularly want to make a massive deal about it if it's going to embarrass my son. We do not attend church and my son currently identifies as atheist. I have explained to him that he does not have to accept the Bible if he doesn't want to and I know he is enough of an over-confident loudmouth to tell them exactly why he doesn't want it.

[Ellimenopy]

Wow. That is really pretty insulting. It's like they're singling him out as in particular need of moral instruction. We're also atheists, and my own son is not old enough to have to deal with this yet. How did your son react to this? Because I think that's the key to knowing what to do. If your son is the type who can laugh off this kind of stuff, then I would try to encourage him to do that. To tell them something like, "It's so nice of you to do that [even though you know it wasn't nice; it might be a good time to talk about the concept of passive aggression], but I already have a Bible". Or, if he's really brave, "I don't need a Bible." If he can manage to not be bothered by the fact that they think he's evil, he might come up as terrifyingly chill to the other kids.

However, I realize that is probably not the case. I didn't manage to muster that level of zen until my later twenties (roughly... now). So if he can't manage to brush it off and laugh about it, I think you should do it for him. "How silly! They thought that you would need a Bible! Why would they think that?" I think the important thing is making him see that others' opinions on his morality have no relevance - only his opinions do (within the bounds of human decency and the law, which I'm assuming you're teaching him). Even though you'd certainly have a case to bring to administration, I think it'd only reinforce what this club is trying to push - that being non-Christian is somehow an offensive slur. So as hard as it is, I'd try to laugh it off. Realize that this coming from someone who 1) doesn't have teenagers and 2) is often a coward/ people-pleaser in her own life.

And, if you come across the club sponsor, spit in her drink. Bullying children is low down.

[Anny Nym]

What me bothers here quite much, is the "we collected money to buy you a bible!" thing. Bibles are neither expensive nor are they hard to find: There are new bibles for 2$ and at thrift shops, flea markets, etc. bibles are these books that will always sit there in quantities, for cents often.

But this group (or just the sponsor) but efford on extra telling your son in any way, they where going to all that way collecting money for this book, meant especially for him.

It´s like they were saying: "Look, what we did! FOR YOU! ONLY FOR YOU! Because we care so much about you - you cannot ignore us now!"

Treemom, I definitely don´t want to scare you unnecessary as I know nothing of this group or their sponsor whatsoever, but be aware and keep an good eye on them, as this is pretty much effort to "only" bring a new member to their High School bible group for 2 hours a week! There are evil people out there with evil & sick minds, and very often they work in fields where they have easy access to children... especially religious -pedagogic fields!

So talk to the sponsor, make clear you will certainly have an very watchful eye on him/her. And maybe also talk to other parents.

And tell your son, he should stay away from this kind of people and he mustn´t tolerate any psychological harassment in any form from them.

All the best,

Anny

[Childless]

I would talk to the leader of the group. Kids are sometimes selfish and stupid and when they have a dumb idea, they run with it. It was the leader's job to stop them and tell them that what they were doing was offensive and not a good way to convert anyone (as I'm sure your son is now less likely to be christian after having been singled out as some kind of heathen). If the group's leader won't promise to never do this again, I'd go to the principle and threaten him/her with the media if you ever hear of this happening again to anyone. Even if your son does not want to make a big stink about it, someone has to know that what happened was wrong and that you will not put up with it. They're lucky you're a nice person. If they had picked on another kid, his/her parents might not have been as considerate and could have worked to get their group disbanded.

I absolutely do NOT tolerate religious bullying. You want to try and convert adults, go for it. However, children should be off limits. How would the parents of these kids feel if someone came along and handed out Qurans and tried to convert their children? Somehow, I'm sure they would consider that wrong. Whatever happened to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you"?

[pixydust]

I would speak to the principal and group leader. While it was most likely a student's idea, the teacher needed to explain just how inappropriate this is. Is there possibly a girl in the group who liked treeboy? When I was that age and fundie it would have seemed like a great idea to give a boy that I had a crush on a Bible ( I had fantasies about converting Johny Depp so I could marry him. Not kidding at all).

I do hope that treeboy isn't being Bbible-bullied by this group!

[yewchapel]

Wow, that's all sorts of offensive that they picked your son out specifically. Over here the Gideons regularly hand out Bibles at school (at our school it was for every new Year 7 year group, so aged 12 or so) but students are free to refuse one. I wasn't a Christian at the time but was too shy to say no, and it came in handy for RE lessons :). But yeah, picking on your son like he's heathen of the week is just weird and really awful. I would talk to the sponsor of the group and the principal, I think that maybe one of the attending students had this idea and ran with it and it got out of hand (no excuse for the sponsor not to quash the idea though).