WV High School Forces Students to Attend Revival Meeting

[Black Aliss]

@mods, if this is being discussed elsewhere, feel free to delete or move. Search didn't turn up another discussion

Students at Huntington High School were required to attend a revival meeting, held in the school, during school hours.

Quote

Between calculus and European history classes at a West Virginia public high school, 16-year-old Cameron Mays and his classmates were told by their teacher to go to an evangelical Christian revival assembly.

When students arrived at the event in the school's auditorium, they were instructed to close their eyes and raise their arms in prayer, Mays said. The teens were asked to give their lives over to Jesus to find purpose and salvation. Those who did not follow the Bible would go to hell when they died, they were told.

The Huntington High School junior sent a text to his father.

"Is this legal?" he asked.

The answer, according to the U.S. Constitution, is no. In fact, the separation of church and state is one of the country's founding basic tenets, noted Huntington High School senior Max Nibert.

"Just to see that defamed and ignored in such a blatant way, it's disheartening," he said.

Nibert and other Huntington students staged a walkout during their homeroom period Wednesday to protest the assembly. More than 100 students left their classrooms chanting, "Separate the church and state" and, "My faith, my choice."

School security turned away reporters who tried to cover the demonstration.

"I don't think any kind of religious official should be hosted in a taxpayer-funded building with the express purpose of trying to convince minors to become baptized after school hours," Nibert said. During the walkout, he held a sign reading, "My rights are non-negotiable."

Rest of the story here:

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/09/1079712717/students-walk-out-at-west-virginia-school-after-christian-revival

[gustava]

Not surprising for WVA though a bit surprising for a city the size of Huntington.

[Bassett Lady]

That is horrifying.

Those two teachers who required their students to attend should be fired. The top administrator who signed off on this should be fired, too. 
 

I know there are local people who are thrilled that their religious views were being extolled at school. To them, who are, in this circumstance, unanimously Christian, I would ask them if they still would agreed if it was a Muslim, Hindu, or Santeria cleric allowed to hold a “revival” on school grounds with kids forced to attend? 

 

[Loveday]

45 minutes ago, Bassett Lady said:

That is horrifying.

Those two teachers who required their students to attend should be fired. The top administrator who signed off on this should be fired, too. 
 

I know there are local people who are thrilled that their religious views were being extolled at school. To them, who are, in this circumstance, unanimously Christian, I would ask them if they still would agreed if it was a Muslim, Hindu, or Santeria cleric allowed to hold a “revival” on school grounds with kids forced to attend? 

 

I have family members who would totally approve of this assembly, locked doors and all. They're always posting things like 'bring back prayer in schools' on Facebook. As a Christian, I couldn't disagree more (and I'm old enough to just barely remember saying grace before snacktime in kindergarten at my public school just outside of Washington DC in the early 60s). As the saying goes, as long as there are quizzes and tests in schools, there will be prayer in schools, but formal, state-sanctioned prayer/religion is a huge Constitutional no-no. What in the world were these people thinking? 

[EyesOpen]

So next week a Muslim service then? will a rabbi be invited? 
not too surprising in small town West Virginia… unless my knowledge of the area is greatly misinformed.

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

38 minutes ago, EyesOpen said:

So next week a Muslim service then? will a rabbi be invited? 
not too surprising in small town West Virginia… unless my knowledge of the area is greatly misinformed.

 

They would all shit their pants if a Muslim came to speak and recruit with locked doors.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Good on those kids who decided to push back.

[feministxtian]

My question has always been what "flavor" of Christianity is going to be promoted? As a Seventh Day Adventist, I'd get shown to the county line and told not to come back. Why? Because of the differences in beliefs such as sleeping in death and not "going to heaven at death", not believing in eternal torment/punishment, believing that there are saved people in every denomination and non-Christian beliefs also. Fundie heads explode when they meet one of us. 

Are they going to permit a Baptist, IFB, Catholic Priest, Episcopalian Vicar, an Orthodox Priest, a JW elder, an Imam, and a Rabbi lead prayer? No? Then, fuck 'em all. 

[Audrey2]

47 minutes ago, feministxtian said:

My question has always been what "flavor" of Christianity is going to be promoted? As a Seventh Day Adventist, I'd get shown to the county line and told not to come back. Why? Because of the differences in beliefs such as sleeping in death and not "going to heaven at death", not believing in eternal torment/punishment, believing that there are saved people in every denomination and non-Christian beliefs also. Fundie heads explode when they meet one of us. 

Are they going to permit a Baptist, IFB, Catholic Priest, Episcopalian Vicar, an Orthodox Priest, a JW elder, an Imam, and a Rabbi lead prayer? No? Then, fuck 'em all. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the evangelicals involved would take exception even if a PLUME pastor was in charge, since it wouldn't be Evangelical enough.

(Presbyterian, Lutheran, United Methodist, Episcopal)

 

[PennySycamore]

@EyesOpen, Huntington is second largest city in West Virginia.  It's the home of Marshall University

[gustava]

Organized by Fellowship of Christian Athletes, apparently.

 

[ADoyle90815]

On 2/10/2022 at 7:59 PM, feministxtian said:

My question has always been what "flavor" of Christianity is going to be promoted? As a Seventh Day Adventist, I'd get shown to the county line and told not to come back. Why? Because of the differences in beliefs such as sleeping in death and not "going to heaven at death", not believing in eternal torment/punishment, believing that there are saved people in every denomination and non-Christian beliefs also. Fundie heads explode when they meet one of us. 

Are they going to permit a Baptist, IFB, Catholic Priest, Episcopalian Vicar, an Orthodox Priest, a JW elder, an Imam, and a Rabbi lead prayer? No? Then, fuck 'em all. 

They would lose their shit if a Mormon was the one leading a prayer.

[SunnySide]

A lot of thoughts come to mind when reading about this situation. One that made me chuckle a bit is the irony that so many fundies pull their kids out of public school or never let them go in the first place because they fear what the kids might be taught, or what sort of “ungodly influences” they’re around. Can you imagine all of the perfectly nice decent parents who are atheists/nondenominational/other faiths that aren’t Christian who now might want to pull their kids out of public school so their religious beliefs (or lack of belief to be fair)  and  constitutional rights aren’t violated? It seems so ironic to me.

[gustava]

15 hours ago, SunnySide said:

Can you imagine all of the perfectly nice decent parents who are atheists/nondenominational/other faiths that aren’t Christian who now might want to pull their kids out of public school so their religious beliefs (or lack of belief to be fair)  and  constitutional rights aren’t violated?

These 'good christians' think everyone should be the same kind of christian they are, 'cuz the Constitution and the Founding Fathers made us a christian nation.  And they would be perfectly delighted if heathens (aka anyone who doesn't share their toxic brand of christianity) would vacate public schools.

[zee_four]

And yet public schools are still bastions of evil gay fornication taught to preschoolers and other liberal brainwashing....

I haven't seen any local news stories with witnesses and evidence and co n confirmation from whatever school it occurs at about that. All these people would lose their shit if a single Christian denomination, only one doesn't matter who though I like LDS in the South and IFB in the Intermountain West for starters) took over prayer in schools and implemented all the other fundie/fundie life crap they've been demanding while reposting dumb memes for for years. The handful of these people who are with that denomination in charge will be thrilled, but 99% of the other Christians who finally got what they claimed they wanted will be furious.

Its not prayer and Bible reading in public schools they want its complete control to ensure that only people who agree with their every religious, political and (im)mmoral belief are allowed agency and being placed in leadership.

It reminds me of the South Park episode with heaven and hell shown, I think Sadam and Satan were having relationship issues and Kenny dies and goes to hell. Anyway all these religious people, priests, paarors, rabbis, imans are in line freaking out and when they reach the front where a really apathetic demon is giving entrance tickets their peppy orientation leader is like nope you were wrong and the demand to know who had the right answer and the guy was like. Well it was thebMormons. Yep the Mormons... the answer was the Mormons were rught and it cuts away and shows Heaven with all the Mormon missionaries but Heaven has no coffee or booze just juice and water and a eh potluck and is just FHE Family Home Evening non stop and super peppy and eager.

Then back in Hell everyone is having a great time partying and hooking up and chilling haha eventhe newcomers.

[katilac]

On 2/10/2022 at 9:17 AM, Loveday said:

 They're always posting things like 'bring back prayer in schools' on Facebook. 

ime, there's a huge Venn diagram overlap in the people who post 'bring back prayer in schools' and those who post 'the problem with kids today is they don't get their asses whooped enough!' 

Predictable yet disturbing. 

[Loveday]

14 hours ago, katilac said:

ime, there's a huge Venn diagram overlap in the people who post 'bring back prayer in schools' and those who post 'the problem with kids today is they don't get their asses whooped enough!' 

Predictable yet disturbing. 

Oh, yeah, that's another one of their favourite memes. 

[smittykins]

“When I did something wrong, I wasn’t grounded from my XBox or have my iPhone taken away.  I had my ass beat!”(Never mind that they didn’t even exist when they were young.)  And you can also add “ADD/ADHD doesn’t exist, the pill-rollers invented it and all those kids need is a good whoopin’” to that Venn diagram.

Edited February 17, 2022 by smittykins

[Black Aliss]

On 2/10/2022 at 7:17 AM, Loveday said:

I have family members who would totally approve of this assembly, locked doors and all. They're always posting things like 'bring back prayer in schools' on Facebook. As a Christian, I couldn't disagree more (and I'm old enough to just barely remember saying grace before snacktime in kindergarten at my public school just outside of Washington DC in the early 60s). As the saying goes, as long as there are quizzes and tests in schools, there will be prayer in schools, but formal, state-sanctioned prayer/religion is a huge Constitutional no-no. What in the world were these people thinking? 

Yeah, we are closing in on 60 years since that decision. My mother, having forgotten completely her panic some years earlier over my first grade teacher being Catholic, and thus we'd probably be forced to say the rosary every day, was outraged. But then she did what every other rational fundie parent should be doing, which was to set aside time to pray with me every morning before the school bus started down the hill toward our house.

I once tried to explain to someone that prayer in public schools never went away. We prayed during recess for the bullies to leave us alone, we prayed before the report cards were handed out that we wouldn't get beaten or grounded, and we certainly prayed before every test that we'd failed to prepare for.

[feministxtian]

I did 12 years of Catholic schools. I don't really remember religion being forced on me there either. At the beginning of the school day there was either an Our Father or Hail Mary read over the intercom, grace before lunch "Bless us oh Lord and these thy gifts...", weekly Mass (not in high school), the usual stuff. There were non-Catholic students who knew this was a Catholic school but if I remember right although the religion classes were required, they were sort of generic. I would be unbelievably pissed, even as a Christian, to know my kids/grandkids were forced into attending some religious assembly, unless, of course, it was a Christian school. 

[smittykins]

On 2/26/2022 at 6:24 PM, Black Aliss said:

Yeah, we are closing in on 60 years since that decision. My mother, having forgotten completely her panic some years earlier over my first grade teacher being Catholic, and thus we'd probably be forced to say the rosary every day, was outraged. But then she did what every other rational fundie parent should be doing, which was to set aside time to pray with me every morning before the school bus started down the hill toward our house.

I once tried to explain to someone that prayer in public schools never went away. We prayed during recess for the bullies to leave us alone, we prayed before the report cards were handed out that we wouldn't get beaten or grounded, and we certainly prayed before every test that we'd failed to prepare for.

“As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in public schools.”

Or, for kids in certain areas of the country, “Please, God, give us a snow day tomorrow.” 🙏 

[feministxtian]

On 2/28/2022 at 9:25 AM, smittykins said:

Or, for kids in certain areas of the country, “Please, God, give us a snow day tomorrow.

Right now it's "Please God, let us go remote on Monday". The forecast here keeps changing. It's snowing now (flurries). There's about an inch on the ground but it's supposed to keep snowing until late Sunday night/Monday morning. 

[zee_four]

3 hours ago, feministxtian said:

Right now it's "Please God, let us go remote on Monday". The forecast here keeps changing. It's snowing now (flurries). There's about an inch on the ground but it's supposed to keep snowing until late Sunday night/Monday morning. 

They have snow days way easier in the metro area way more than they did when I was young. I know everyone says that but it's true. I remember like first grade and we got stuck at school over night because they made us go to school with like 6 inches to a foot already with a forecast of like four feet. It ended up being 10 foot drifts and way over night at school!

[feministxtian]

I think there's more "remote" days now. The tech was set up to deal with COVID and now it's being utilized a lot more. Teaching remotely is more difficult in some ways for me because I make extensive use of the 12' x 4' whiteboard in my classroom so having to go virtual is not easy but I always have an alternative lesson plan or 2 in my hip pocket for that. 

[FiveAcres]

8 hours ago, feministxtian said:

Right now it's "Please God, let us go remote on Monday". The forecast here keeps changing. It's snowing now (flurries). There's about an inch on the ground but it's supposed to keep snowing until late Sunday night/Monday morning. 

I am about to head out to do some grocery shopping now that it is light. We have a trace on the ground so I hope the road won't be too bad.