And the kid doesn't even belong to a religion.

Count me among the crowd that cannot admit that religion could ever have a positive outcome.

the religious crazies will probably be looking to destroy that family now.

If the school backed the teacher, sue them all! They seriously f*ed up and should be held accountable.

On the other hand, poor little guy. He so totally didn't deserve any of that crap. Heartbreaking.

religious patriotic country song for a school concert. A couple of kids said that they did not want to sing the song because they were not of that religion. The teachers putting on the concert allegedly told the students that if they did not sing that song then they could not participate in the program. (The teachers denied that the students were told they could not participate in the rest of the program.)

The parents sued the school district and got an injunction a barring the song. The teachers then replaced the song with another from the state approved for elementary students song book. I don't remember for sure what the song was, but I think it was Chatter with the Angels or something like that.

The parents went back to court and the teachers/principal/school district were severely chastised by the judge for trying to make an end run around his ruling. (The parents ended up with a nice settlement from the school district.) The teachers thought it would be okay to use the song because it was in the approved song book. The parents, with the judge agreeing, felt that it was a direct slap in the face directed at them.

To be fair to the school district, the teachers/principal made these decisions without the knowledge or input from the district supervisor or school board.

If you think that law suit didn't make changes in this school district, think again!. My son was graduating from high school in the midst of the fall out. The school choir, of which he was member, had always performed at the Baccalaureate service for the graduating seniors. That year, only choir volunteers were allowed to perform. But despite making attendance voluntary, when the choir showed up at the church, they were told that they were not allowed to perform due to the ongoing law suit.

The song lists for the following year was stripped of anything of a religious nature, including for serious high school music students. The court eventually ruled that high school student song lists could include nonsecular music.

My personal feelings on this were that the elementary teachers were out of line, and probably did choose the second song as a slap in the face to the parents... I don't do elementary school, so cannot comment on the prevalence of this type of thing in the lower grades. But I haven't witnessed it in middle and high school.

I have, many times, had students try to engage me in religious discussion; have had them ask me for my religious beliefs. I always tell them that in this country we have a separation between church and state and that I am a state employee and the school is a state institution, we were not having that discussion. Besides, I tell them, my beliefs are mine and private.

The teacher and school district would be paying out some big bucks.

one of the most backward states in the North.

God bothering bullies are everywhere, no single region escapes them completely. Yet they're the first to jump up on the cross and claim persecution when anyone calls them on their bullying.

I hope this kid is OK, that he's not afraid to go to school. I do know he's not going to be talking to anybody about lack of belief after this.

... is typical of the hand-waving, hallelujah, praise-the-lord crowd. They're too stupid and self-absorbed to realize that their actions defile the very teachings of the man they claim to worship. I have zero patience with, or respect for, such people.

I agree with H.L. Mencken's assessment: "Religion is the greatest fomentor of hatred and intolerance in the history of humanity." Or words to that effect.

If you have to force or threaten a belief in God....you don't have faith in it enough yourself

talk about a no-brainer court case. Sometimes it's really hard to see what passes for common sense in teachers. If the teacher can't keep his/her's beliefs out of the classroom, it's best they leave and take up the cloth. Religion: When the first con man met the first fool.

ceremonies. But usually it is the whole ceremony not just a song. My sister had not problem allowing the child to do something else. But she was not teaching in a fundie area either.

The treatment of the child was wrong.

punishing a person for their beliefs or lack of beliefs.

In a theocracy, they would've gone after the kids parents, too.

Some even believe anything else is satanic.

predictable behavior from fundy assholes.

Certainly Anti-American. Hope the settlement is big enough to deter future crap like this.

with me because I didn't and don't believe in a god. He reported me to the teacher! Luckily my teacher was a very liberal, probably secular Jewish woman who basically told the kid to fuck off in a kid-appropriate way.

believers simply don't get it that despite their firmly held fantasy, they are not privy to inside information nor can the either assume or force others to believe as they do. Whether ti's a rather nebulous belief in God, or adhering to a specific code or one particular interpretation of supposedly holy writings.

Not to mention, this country really was founded on a firm desire to get away from enforced religion, and the religious among us need to understand that.

She knows Jesus needs all the help he can get.

Their parents do, and they parrot them until they are old enough to think for themselves.

Any 7 yr old who says he/she believes in God has not yet reached the level of emotional /intellectual maturity needed to understand that statement.

If there was a religious book, but it was buried after it was written and nobody knew of it or knew to speak of it, would there be religion at all? Maybe Sun worship or fear of comets, but probably there would be no established religions.

“It is clear that it is not the province of a public school to advance or inhibit religious beliefs or practices. Under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, this remains the inviolate province of the individual and the church of his/her choice. The rights of any minority, no matter how small, must be protected.”
Fort Wayne sued after disciplining child over comments on religion
Posted: Jun 25, 2015 5:36 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 25, 2015 5:36 PM EDT
By WTHR Channel 13
http://www.wthr.com/story/29411211/fort-wayne-sued-after-disciplining-child-over-comments-on-religion

...about how strong their faith is are the ones most easily threatened by people who think differently. If a faith is that unassailable, shouldn't it serve as a bulwark and enable its believers to shrug off other philosophies without melting down? Kind of like if I like chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and you like yellow cake with chocolate frosting. So bleeping what? I think it shows that they are afraid, at some very basic level, that their faith is actually rather weak and their beliefs might be wrong.

I am under no delusion that everyone else thinks the way I do, and while I might cherish the fantasy that the world would be a better place if everyone did (namely Supreme Court justices), I certainly know the utter futility of trying to bring that about

You may be proud of yours, but keep it the hell out of my face.

Religion is like a penis. It's fine to have one and it's fine to be proud of it, but please don't whip it out in public and start waving it around... and PLEASE don't try to shove it down my child's throat.

...of these statements. I will have to choose carefully.

...they were fine with A.B. not believing in God. WHEREAS, as if it's a fact that there are deities and other supernatural beings, it's expected that an atheist should bow down and ALWAYS be fine with having people around him that believed in these supernatural beings, without one shred of evidence to the contrary, ones that by definition cannot transcend our natural world. Phuck that!

I guess I don't know too much.