Like Hemant, I have received an email from a nonreligious Lebanon High School graduate (not the same one!)—one whose graduation ceremony was marred by the prayers of Principal Lowery. It details a history of religious inculcation in that school that goes far beyond the prayer uttered at graduation. For obvious reasons, I have kept the student’s sex and identity confidential.
Dear Professor Coyne,
I was a graduating student at the Lebanon High School 2014 commencement ceremony in Lebanon, Missouri. I have been a Lebanon student my whole life.
I grew up in a secular home where I was neither encouraged nor discouraged in participation of religious activities. This immediately separated me from most of my peers who would often talk about or discuss church. I never thought much about it until I started attending Lebanon High School.
The school was definitely primarily religious. With clubs such as Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Bible Club, I simply got used to religion being a driving force at the school. I never attempted to impede on the rights of others to get together and pray, often personally opting out of prayer circles in preparation for tests before classes. Prayers were also held before sports events, talent shows, assemblies, and other school events that I also did not participate in. These things didn’t bother me too much, as it was student led.
What bothers me is the school’s [tendency] to dissolve other groups that promote tolerance of differences. My sister, a graduate of Lebanon High School, helped found the Youth for Tolerance club. This club was met with great controversy, but was a safe place for non-Christians and LGBT youth to convene and promote tolerance. This club never received a teacher sponsor, with teachers admitting to be afraid to lose their job in just hosting the club. When I became an LHS student, this club was no longer in existence.
My absence in these prayers was noted. Christian students often dismissed my opinions in class discussions about whether non-Christian sources were credible. Political discussions in Social Studies classes were quite one-sided. In response to my stances, people would frequently say to me, “I’ll pray for you,” knowing that I was non-religious. To put the cherry on top, my yearbook is full of messages encouraging me to find god for my mortal soul.
What Mr. Lowery did at the 2014 graduation ceremony is hardly the first time that he danced around the Separation of Church and State for prayer. At the previous graduation ceremony, he said that he is not allowed to say a prayer, but if he could say a prayer, this is what he would say. He added that he would encourage everyone to bow their heads. And if this was not ambiguous enough, he added an “amen” to conclude his statements.
I was surprised. I tried to discuss this with like-minded classmates who informed me that he often prayed before school sponsored sports events. This was of course allowed due to the majority of Lebanon being religious—a population around 15,000 and a church on every corner.
But he is a school official. His actions as principal seem to represent that of a Christian private school. Lebanon High School is not a private school. The students felt safe to bully me and my non-Christian peers, as they were the majority. And the principal seemed inclined to protect them.
At my graduation, I was prepared for him to say a prayer. I did not expect a speech about America essentially being a Christian nation. It was arrogant, aggressive. I felt shamed for being a non-believer. It was not a simple prayer. It was an outcry of how he didn’t care about the minority. I had already felt as though he had a personal distaste for me as he knew I was not religious. His actions at the graduation were a slap in the face.
Let it be known that I am hardly a bad student. I graduated as an honor student, received generous scholarships for college, and participated in a plethora of extra-curricular activities. I attended classes, made good grades, and treated my classmates with respect. As I was seated in my cap and gown, I was happy to be celebrating this accomplishment with the peers I had grown up with. At that point, we were one. We were united as the LHS Class of 2014. We were the Lebanon High School Yellow Jackets.
What Lowery did, however, stole that from me. It was no longer about my education. It was about religion. So as my peers around me clapped and cheered for his prayer, I realized. This is not for me. I am not welcome here. I have never been. Lowery is not proud of me or for my various accomplishments, no matter what my class ranking was. I was not a Lebanon Yellow Jacket. I was an unwelcome non-Christian. Before Principal Lowery’s speech, I felt welcome. I felt safe. But after the cheers, the hollers… I was anxious. I wanted to leave. I will only have one high school graduation, and I will forever remember that feeling.
The public outcry from this is disappointingly not surprising. I was aware that even though logic would state that this was unconstitutional, people would support him anyways. They do not care about the minority, because they are the majority. They protect each other, and collectively shame me. No one cares if I leave the community or not, because my opinions are not welcome. And Lowery further illustrates that they never will be.
Several teachers have voiced their displeasure with Lowery’s statements, but have admitted to being afraid for their jobs to do anything that was anti-Christian. Even Christian teachers are upset by his comments. Though take one tour through the Lebanon town Facebook pages, and you’ll see why.
I lived 18 years of my life surrounded by hateful people. Principal Lowery’s speech endorsed it all. He is no better than my school peers who bullied me for my non-belief. I sincerely hope that he reads this and reflects on his actions.
Thank you for your attention to this issue. Those of us within the community are too afraid to have a voice, as you have unfortunately learned. But there are those of us who find comfort in knowing that others have empathy for our situations.
This letter almost makes me weep. People of Lebanon: do you see what religious prosyletizing does to people who don’t share your beliefs? Does that not bother you one bit? If it doesn’t, then even if you call yourself a Christian, you aren’t.
There are more letters to come from offended students, I think. I wish Principal Lowery would read them.
…
🐾
This is a very thoughtful and carefully written letter that speaks truth to power. Methinks Principal Lowery is being schooled right now, but I also think this represents only a drop in the national bucket.
If he cared he would read the letters of his students. I would surprised if he acknowledges the unfairness that religious proselytization promotes not just in his school, but in society.
I would be very, very surprised. Most evangelicals that I knew thought that it would be a good thing for the heathen to be exposed to that sort of religion, and fuck ’em (although, of course, they would never say the f-word in public; after all, they are good christians) if they didn’t like it.
I hope these letters are forwarded to the FFRF lawyers. They are very well written and are similar to a soon-after-the-fact deposition.
Great letter, what a horrible experience. Makes me feel like we secularists should steal a page from Savage’s “it gets better” campaign, and tell these kids how their internment in christian social pressure cooker-land is and will come to an end.
I thought a second you were going to say: “internment in Christian POW camp.”
What’s POW stand for? Prisoner of Worship?
Prisoner of woo?
/@
Not to be snarky, and not to deny the truth of what is described in the letter, but that is a mighty literate composition for a recent high-school graduate.
Perhaps they have super-good English teachers there (like my Dad was).
I know many current high school students who write just as well.
Good high school graduates certainly can write this well. I’ve taught incoming college Freshmen for years.
Certainly better than I would have done at that age but, in my experience, well within the capabilities of a recent high school graduate who is a good writer.
My local small-town paper has a high school student as a columnist every year (different student every year). Montly columns. They are comparable to this letter in quality.
I did. People looked at me funny because I also looked younger than I was so I had to dumb it down. I’m sure this student is no stranger to dumbing things down either!
I may well be out of touch — many years have passed since High School.
I do think many kids are getting better instruction and more practice in writing than they did when I was in school. My daughter has written more essays already by the 5th grade than I did through grade 12. It is a huge emphasis now. At this rate, by the time she graduates from high school she will probably write better than I did in college, or indeed now.
I’m not an English native (but Dutch), but I’m very certain that, at age 18, my idiom and grammar were on par with this student’s. My English idiom was more limited, but my grammar was quite correct.
And I was not entirely exceptional in my class.
It’s actually about the level of English that I’d expect from an A-grade college-bound high school student who hasn’t yet taken advanced composition classes. There aren’t any technical errors and everything is clearly presented…but it’s a bit stiff and formulaic and lacks rhythm.
Give the student a few years at a decent college to hone the craft, and he or she should fit right in on the staff of any respectable publication. There’re still a few more laps to run before racing in the big leagues, but not all that many.
Cheers,
b&
Yeah, the stiffness makes it seem legit to me too.
I’d also add for people who think it’s “too good” that there is no reason to think the student just typed it down in one shot. Its entirely possible what we’re seeing is a second draft or cleaned-up draft.
It is the rare individual, professionals included, who is a good writer. A great many people, on the other hand, range from serviceable/good all the way to great re-writers.
I forget who said, “I would write you a shorter letter if I had more time.”
While I read a lot (due to the ministrations of an educator grandfather), I did not much write in elementary school, not much more in high school (other than book reports and short essay answers in history). Of course college was where I had to put my nose to the grindstone; there were days when I would rather have “taken a whoopin'” then to have had to write.
This was not because I didn’t occasionally have at least a little something to say worth another’s time and attention, but because of the bloody tedious mechanics of the process. Few of us (who took typing in the pre-“keyboarding” ancient days) haven’t left out at least one word or sentence or paragraph, not realizing it until after writing/typing the final result.
Whatever other factors affect effective writing, the advent of computer word processing has very significantly reduced the tedium of writing and especially editing, what with the merciful and liberating copy, cut, paste functions. Seems that that would help predispose a student at least a little bit toward writing.
It is possible a parent or friend may have reviewed it. What author does not have peer review or an editor!
Maybe you went to the wrong school
If your command of the English language is below that level, I suspect a failure of your instructors/teachers might be the cause – or just a lack of interest in the finer points of the English language.
I have an excuse – I am an immigrant from a non English speaking nation. I am however often astonished by the lack of skills by recent graduates to express themselves concise, accurate and using correct grammar.
accurately, concisely?
“mighty literate composition”
I agree, but it’s not the grammar that seems age-inappropriate but the sentiments expressed. For instance, this seems like an adult attempting to express what he would feel if he were a child:
My guess would be an adult helping his child a bit too much, because that seems more likely than an adult completely fabricating an experience.
Maybe it is so, but I am quite shocked how low y’alls expectations of your high school graduates are (also, a child, really? It’s not like we’re dealing with 12 year olds). A reasonably gifted 17, 18yo who is into reading decent literature will surely pick up on the kind of slightly theatrical language you find suspicious. I’ve written more sophisticated stuff in my mother tongue in 12th grade, and it’s not like I was the best writer in my class.
I so disagree. My children and many of their friends were wonderful writers in high school; probably because they were all avid readers. There were certainly plenty of other students who struggled with writing, but for the bright, well-read student this letter would be no stretch whatsoever.
“My children and many of their friends were wonderful writers in high school;”
No one said it was impossible for a student to write such a letter, only that the probability was somewhat low.
I’m the sister of the author of the letter.
Let’s just say that we’re a family that welcomes debate. We typically have very long family dinner discussions that may have influenced their word choice.
Awesome!
Great! I stand corrected.
Thank you.
“We typically have very long family dinner discussions that may have influenced their word choice.”
Thank you, that would explain it. And I envy you your family experience. My own family discussions are rather short and moronic.
I really do resent the speculation on this thread that this wasn’t written by the student. It was. And all the stuff about age-appropriate grammar is largely irrelevant.
Do you people see what this thread is ABOUT???
Apparently, about high school students not being taken seriously as citizens and persons capable of critical and independent thought.
Indeed. Well put.
Thank you for saying that!
That speculation was also astonishingly rude and potentially hurtful. Why on earth would anyone feel it proper to pick apart a heartfelt and well-written letter from a young adult expressing such an important POV?
This student wrote well but I did find an error. “Anyways” is not a word. See paragraph 12.
In any case, I hope this young person gets the heck out of Missouri and lets the people there, as my grandma used to say, stew in their own juices.
Really? Really? You want to point out a word-usage error, and to direct us to the paragraph?
I must say, this behavior is simply arrogant and offensive. Who the hell cares if a high school student, in a letter like this, makes one mistake? That is NOT what the post is about.
I think you might do better on some other website, where you can police other people’s grammar to your heart’s content, while ignoring the heartfelt content of their words.
I wasn’t worried about the error. I just noted it because it was evidence of authenticity to me.
It certainly is a word, leastways in Missouri. (I’m reading Huck Finn at the moment)
If the people of Lebanon call themselves Christians then they simply are Christians. There is no need for the true Scotsman fallacy here. We know them by their actions and not the tired platitudes they fall back on to massage their egos.
Plus, their attitudes are majoritarian among American evangelicals and fundamentalists.
Wow, this letter was so much better written than the screeds you received from the Board. Hey LHS student, get out of there and go to a college town! Get a scholarship to study in Europe (or even Canada)! You will be shocked and amazed at the difference.
“I grew up in a secular home where I was neither encouraged nor discouraged in participation of religious activities.”
Could have described my upbringing, but I grew up in a big city in Canada. The difference is huge.
Partly similar to mine. My parents dragged me to church through 1st grade, then it petered out. Religion never really stuck to me.
I attended several Catholic schools here in the UK, and none rammed religion down the throats of the pupils to anything like the extent reported here.
I think everybody should be required to spend a decade in Oklahoma where the first thing a person will ask you is “where do you go to church.” In Okla. I learned never to schedule something for a Wednesday night because that’s “church night.” In a small town church was the social hub. You were either in or out.
Reminds me of a funny story. When we moved to a new house with our 3 young kids, the very friendly elderly neighbor lady took it upon herself to drive me around town, showing me the main places to shop, etc. Every few minutes she brought up the Catholic church that she goes to, clearly expecting me to reciprocate with telling her about our church. I would just change the subject. After about the 4th or 5th time, I just said ‘oh, we go to St. Mattress of the Springs‘. She got very quiet after that.
Actually, I felt bad at the time, but it is a funny now & we became good friends.
Good story. Reminds when I was a medical resident in Grand Rapids, MI living across the street from a Dutch Christian Reformed family. I’d mow my lawn whenever I had a break from my 80-100 hr weeks of work and sometimes it would fall on a Sunday. Old Porch Pete (he was a constant fixture on his front stoop) made it known that it was taboo to do “yard work” on a Sunday, the Lord’s day. I told him, no problem, I’ll leave my garage unlocked and he can mow my lawn whichever day met the Lord’s approval. Needless to say, his complaints vanished.
Wednesday? – because it’s equally far from both sabbaths?
Ah dunno, that thar’s Prayer Meetin’ night fer not a few folks.
One thing that really strikes me: I how much better written these two letters are than the incoherent raging of the Xians who are writing to Jerry. Not surprising I suppose.
A thoughtfully written letter that drastically contrasts the poorly written invective I read in the Blaze. These are the type of intelligent citizens that the ignorant, intolerant people of Lebanon drive out. I hope this student has much deserved success in college. Lebanon’s loss will be another town’s gain!
This is the real “Left Behind” at work: towns slowing suffocating themselves with incurious conformity, such that anyone with half a brain can’t wait to leave.
Jerry has observed before that the percentage of atheists seems to increase with the level of education (which I somehow suppose has a correlation with intelligence)- especially professors in the exact sciences are amongst the least religious.
The question now is, are these people less religious because of what they’ve learned about nature at university, or because of their general intelligence? If they’d become registered accountants or machine workers, would they also have lost their religion?
It could be a characteristic of openness as well. I test high on openness, which surprised me because I’d like to slap a lot of people. I guess that is more about tolerance. :). So, if you are more open, you may be willing to question established beliefs, including your own and to listen to the opinions of others. This can lead to a more educated person.
I don’t think it has such a clear-cut correlation with intelligence. I’ve met plenty of intelligent people who were quite fudamentalist in their outlook. I made the observation that highly intelligent people who are drawn to mathematics are more likely to espouse some sort of religious belief than their counterparts in the natural sciences, and I attributed this to the more axiomatic mindset of the former fields. So my impression is that it’s a matter of character.
As a commenter above stated, this student is speaking truth to power.
“Does that not bother you one bit? If it doesn’t, then even if you call yourself a Christian, you aren’t.”
Why use a definition of Christian that’s better than what Christians really are. We should say instead, “You call yourself Christian, and that exactly what you are.”
The sad thing is is that this student, and the others like him/her, will probably get out of Lebanon, leaving only the ignorant majority who will only further entrench themselves against the first amendment, and become even worse aggressors against anyone not like them. This is playing out in thousands of communities across the South and the Midwest.
This. That’s exactly what I did. I’d also like to say that when I was a Lebanon High School student back in the early 70s there was absolutely no religious bullshit going on in classes. I never heard people saying they would pray for non-believers (of course, different from now, maybe no one admitted being one). Also there were no prayers at graduation or before games or assemblies. This is a change from before and I can’t help feeling it’s a reaction to the more visible and growing number of non-religious people around. It shows we’re winning.
Agree about the lack of god-iness back then but think it was more a reflection of the much more liberal political climate of the time.
Today the pols skew much farther right and the SCOTUS as well, and it’s predicted the Dems will lose the Senate in the upcoming election. Wish I could share your optimism, but I guess I’m just too cynical for that.
Slow clap.
I’d be interested in seeing this student’s test scores and comparing them with the test scores of those who prayed for assistance.
And then I’d like to show that comparison to the idiot theocrat school administrators.
They’d just blame it on Satan.
We certainly seem to have some high-quality “yoots” on our side of the issue, don’t we?
It always strikes me the way literacy and good skills to articulate ideas are correlated with irreligiosity .
Even intelligence plays in this correlation, but we tend to shy away from stating it, just because “some scientists are religious”.
The contrast between the writing of this non-Christian student and the muddled crap of the adult pro-prayer crowd in Lebanon, MO, is sharp and striking!
And you are right, this literacy contrast is often striking.
What a shameful indictment of the religious hijacking of this student’s graduation ceremony. The letter shows commendably restrained indignation.
The student mentions something which I found particularly repellant: the whooping audience support after Lowery “came out” as having prayed to God during his silence. The event was turned into a defiant us-against-them rally. Fuck you, seculars, our God will bless this event, was the message.
Grovelling repentance is now in order.
You’re absolutely right about the message that he sent and the audience was looking for. I graduated from Lebanon High School shortly after Kevin Lowery started as principal (4-6 yrs ago), and I can tell you that his speeches are always the same. This is just the first year that someone posted it and caused a stir.
The high school graduation is hosted at the Civic Center in Lebanon, a (at least partially) publicly funded facility, and every single event held there is started with a prayer. Everything from rodeos to tractor pulls to concerts or graduations wouldn’t be complete there without the National Anthem and a prayer. Nothing like god and America to energize some rednecks like them.
In fact, one of the most popular events held at the venue every year (and one of the things Lebanon is “famous” for, if you can call it that) is the Brumley Gospel Sing, a festival for christian music every August. They’re so proud of it that Lebanon just came out with a new tourism TV commercial (funded by the MO Division of Tourism) which featured it. The entire town, if not through words then through actions, tells non-believers to fuck off and not even bother visiting.
The irony is that the other thing Lebanon is famous for is our meth epidemic. Three choices after graduation; flee, conform, or get an addiction. So sad. Bless this kid for finding their way. This reminds me to be grateful I fled and why it was the right decision.
Yeoman’s work, Prof Coyne. This young student deserves a voice and understanding. Thank you for calling attention to this egregious violation of our Constitution.
And of just plain ole Decency.
Oh, bullshit. You don’t change from Christian to non-Christian by being a jerk. Christian jerks are still Christian.
Christianity =/= moral.
I have no doubt but that this letter will find its way to the legal team at the FFRF.
And I sincerely hope that this student and the one who wrote to Hemant will find within themselves the courage to assist the FFRF legal team in loosing the wrath of the American judicial system upon Principal Lowery and the school board and set the fear of the Constitution in their hearts.
It would be understandable if the students fear retaliation sufficiently to not wish to put themselves and their families at risk of being ostracized further than they already have…but, if they can work up the courage, they’ll have done an incredible service to all the other students, present and future, who otherwise would be forced to undergo the same abuse that these two eloquent graduates have had to endure.
They’ll also have something truly admirable to feel proud about, something that will do wonders to banish the stench of bigotry that suffuses their community.
Cheers,
b&
As the parent of the daughter who wrote the first letter, I just want to point out that, in my view, it really has more to do with foresight than courage. Although, if contacted by the FFRF, i’m sure that my daughter would cooperate to her fullest ability, trying to debate with the christians in this town is futile. They cannot and will not admit to any wrong-doing when it comes to spreading the word of god. If she were “come out” publicly, she would be ostracized not only by 98% of the community, but by close family as well. She knows what she’s doing. She is wise beyond her years.
On a side note, I could tell you the name of the church that each elected school board member attends, and any stance that they would take that might seem anti-christian would effectively guarantee that they would not be re-elected. That’s just how this community rolls.
Congratulations on the way you’ve brought up your daughter and thanks for commenting!
Thank you 🙂 I am very proud of her.
Adding my expression of respect to you and your daughters.
“Adding my expression of respect to you and your daughters.”
Adding mine as well!
First, thanks for raising such a sane daughter. We need more like her in the newer generations.
The “community” you describe reminds me of nothing so much as the deep South’s attitude towards Blacks in the Jim Crow era — with a side helping of general attitudes towards the gay community a few decades ago. It’s actually quite depressing and frightening.
While of course there’s still a long ways to go towards attaining not merely legal rights but common courtesy and respect towards Southern Blacks and gays, it seems the worst of those struggles is past; the wars are won, and it’s now a cleanup operation.
Sadly, I fear the worst is yet to come for the “nones.” The Blacks and gays have not only shown us the way, they’ve smoothed over many of the roughest patches. But we still have a long and painful struggle ahead of us…and you’re living that struggle right now.
We need people fighting the good fight both publicly and privately. If your daughter can shoulder the burden of the public fight, fantastic; I suspect she would do much better than either of you suspect. But if that’s not her fight, there’s still much that needs to be done out of the spotlight as well.
b&
The attitude towards gays is still alive and well, even just outside the urban boundary in the Twin Cities of MN, where I live. Anoka County, part of Michelle Bachman’s district.
The state instituted a very strong anti-bullying law for public schools (mainly). This was fought tooth and nail by the district that covers most of Anoka Cty. They wanted they kids to be able to bully the gay kids (the targets of the bullying were usually the gay kids.) Just ridiculous!
In contrast, the district one of my sons went through (almost a neighboring school district to the one discussed above) had great policies against harassment and he grew up gay not really realizing that there were people out there (beyond the insulated capsule of his school and family) who would hate him for just being who he is. We needed to work with him quite a bit to ensure he was careful for his safety. Which I guess is a good thing, right? (Except for the need for that particular bit of education, obviously.)
Damn. Obviously I’m not aware of how rough it is on the ground for those for whom that’s part of their daily lives. At least as a nation we’re rushing headlong towards marriage equality, and the victory being won on paper if nothing else….
b&
Our libertarian laissez-faire lords & masters could give a rat’s ass — a rat’s ass, I say — about same gender marriage. They are all about money and power, and only about money and power. There is relatively little money to glean from either side of this issue that is not presently already contributed for a lengthy list of non-marriage equality conservative social issues, and barely enough political power not already in play due to those other things to move the amp needle re gay marriage above dead rest.
It is a bread and circus issue in libertarian elite’s minds, is all, though hugely useful to distract the masses into their entertaining little cultural spat while siphoning an already limited masses’ attention span away from quite fully registering the steadily increasing imposition of 21st Century feudalism via SCOTUS extra-judicial fiat and neo-liberal bipartisan Congressional legislation
” . . . fought tooth and nail by the district that covers most of Anoka Cty. They wanted they kids to be able to bully the gay kids . . . .”
Just congenially curious, were opponents of the anti-bullying policy so forthrightly brazen that they specifically stated – for the public record for all to hear and see – that they were against it so that gays could continue to be bullied? (No doubt that that’s their position; some would never publicly say so.) What reason – for public consumption – did they presume to give for their opposition?
Kudos to the parents of both students.
Very good point.
Indeed.
To this student (if I may). I grew up in a similar town. Once you get off to college things will be very different. If you go to a reasonably good place,you will meet many students who share your views, faculty who are not remotely like the people of Lebanon, and encounter all sorts of interesting new ideas. Good luck
Ditto. Even aside from religion I found the contrast between my small town high school and the people I was surrounded by in college to be night and day. In retrospect, I regard my time in high school something like a stint in prison. The worst of the riffraff don’t make it to college.
You’ll probably also find that those people from high school that never left to do much else will appear pretty much as they did in high school. They won’t really change while you would’ve changed lots.
…and you will find it hard to deal with your former students who talk about nothing but their high school glory days.
I went to work for a small engineering company in the Midwest (of the US) right after returning from a two-year bicycle journey around the world.
On arrival (or shortly thereafter) I met a fellow engineer, just a few years younger than me (early thirties). He went on and on about wasn’t it great back in the high school days, blah, blah, blah.
I looked at him deadpan and said, “I haven’t thought about high school in over a decade.”
To think that this guy thought high school was better than university! Boggles the mind! I’m sure he’s a mega-church tea-bagger.
I only stayed at that company for about 9 months …
I never got the “high school is the best part of your life” bit, either. My experience in high school wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it certainly wasn’t the highlight of my life. I’m at a loss to think of how it possibly could be; I lacked knowledge and skills and resources to be able to do anything significant. We all do, practically by definition — and the whole point of school is to remedy at least the first two of those deficiencies.
At best, reminiscing about high school is like saying that your favorite part of the concert was when the musicians were warming up on stage before the show. Three cheers for missing the point!
…unless, of course, the concert proper really was that bad….
b&
Bullseye, Ben.
I assume the student is reading this post and hope s/he will continue to visit the website, whether or not making that known.
And, in case you’re not familiar with >a href=http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/mencken.htm<HL Mencken's quotes, that go back at least to 1956, they may provide some solace.
Also, in case you like bluegrass music notwithstanding its frequent religious themes, may I recommend the Dry Branch Fire Squad’s Live at the Newburyport Firehouse album. Much anti-religious humor in-between excellent, hard-driving bluegrass. You might even be able to turn the tables on some of your Xtian friends with it.
Those Mencken’s quotes are awesome! Lowery should be sentenced to read them all out loud before an audience of his friends.
And maybe throw in some Ingersoll, Twain, Russell, Vidal and Hitchens darts for good measure.
sub
“They protect each other, and collectively shame me. No one cares if I leave the community or not, because my opinions are not welcome. And Lowery further illustrates that they never will be.”
This is how they maintain their majority – by driving out anyone who disagrees with them. Why are big cities home to thriving gay communities? Cities don’t make people gay. They welcome and support people from ignorant small towns. How many Lebanon H.S. grads have hit the road and never looked back?
This is interesting. When I think of the decline of rural America I think mostly of the economic causes but maybe I’ve overestimated those. I wonder how many young people would stay in small towns if they were friendlier places to live.
Sorry, Sherrif Andy but Mayberry was really a big fat myth.
I’m interested in Andy Griffith’s personal motivations and goals for that show. Maybe he wrote them down somewhere. Maybe there was some idealism there, combating the unpleasant realism which did in fact occasionally rear its head in serious episodes and against which, in the spirit of fairness and justice, Sheriff Taylor stood his ground.
Buddhists are treated the same way. The so called Christian values are as remote as so called Islamic values. Buddhists have allowed people of other faiths to observe their faiths in Buddhist countries. But once they establish themselves, they get rid of the Buddhists and any evidence of Buddhist existence. Unfortunately, no “fair” Western government will acknowledge this for obvious reasons.
Yes, they are a bunco of hypocrites.
The first I heard of the Taliban was when they blew up a huge Buddha carved out of a mountain. The carving was thousands of years old 🙁
That was when I first heard of them as well.
Buddhism does not immunize people against the ills of nationalism,witness the violence in Myanmarlast year, where ultra-nationalist Buddhist mobs burned minority (5%) Muslim homes and shops.
Yes, people are basically the same. People use their religion to divide, dominate and control, no matter what name they give to the god they created. The labels don’t make any difference.
Not to mention the Buddhist Sinhalese majority of Sri Lanka and their rather ruthless war and oppression against the Tamils.
I was saddened to read the Lebanon High School student’s letter and dismayed that in my country, which has the benefit of the world’s first secular constitution, such circumstances continue to occur. Simply put, the principal and the faculty there seem to defy the Constitution on a daily basis.
I think back to a particular day when I was a senior in high school reading brand new books in the library and reflecting on how bright the future of my country seemed, how the pace of societal advancement seemed to have quickened enough to suit an impatient youth. Then, I would never have believed that the circumstances at Lebanon High School would be extant in the new millennium.
Lebanon High seems like a nice little madrasa – probably as nice as any madrasa in Beirut. I never understood why the christians think they’re so different from the muslims.
Their magic prophet went up to heaven on a cloud. The other magic prophet went up to heaven on a horse. Totally, totally different.
Cumulative errors in translation?
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Actually, Muhammad is closer to the original — the original, of course, being Bellerophon, who rode Pegasus into the heavens.
For confirmation that Bellerophon was the inspiration for Jesus’s Ascension, look no farther than Justin Martyr’s First Apology.
Cheers,
b&
I did not say *equine errors* …
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To plod is human; to fly, equine…?
b&
E-hugs to the student who wrote the letter.
I hope that, now you’ve graduated, you go on to far bigger and far better things.
Prof Ceiling Cat, and everyone else here, is rooting for you! Things will get better… eventually…
…and far far away
It’s hard to change the religious mindset with their beliefs usually being taught to them from a very early age. Some people are able to overcome it but most continue with their beliefs throughout their lives.
It’s great that some students can see the inappropriateness of the Principal’s actions.
Actions that, in the context of a public school, are out of place.
I hope these letters make a difference for the current and future students who don’t hold the beliefs imposed upon them.
And for every Lebanon (=that we hear about), how many more go unreported?
(Has PCC learned of others as a result?)
I am the mother of the child who wrote the first letter. I could give you dozens of examples that I have personally witnessed. I have 2 children that are in this school district. The stories I could tell would disgust any non-christian.
I identify with you, atheist mom. Up here in outstate MI it’s as red-state as can be; the religious right is constantly trying to pack the school boards, and we even found that a couple of middle-school science (!) teachers had secretly initiated an “Of Pandas and People” unit within their curriculum.
I like to think my two kids came through it as intact as yours have, but they certainly also learned what it’s like to be not quite full citizens of the local community.
Congratulations on your two fine young adults! Just what the world needs.
Crap, I didn’t realize MI was like that. You’re north if me so I just figured if your state is that far north (excluding Alaska), you don’t suffer through such things.
Howdy, down there. 🙂
We’re only a blue state due to the Detroit/Ann Arbor nexus; outside of that area it can be pretty fundie, with the accompanying politics. (Plus, union-busting has effectively destroyed what used to be a nice bloc of solid-Democratic votes from MI.)
And the way Detroit keeps bleeding people, I dunno how much longer we can count on their input electorally.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t some other simpatico political pockets here & there–around other universities, e.g. Pretty typical for the Midwest in general, I think.
One wouldn’t normally have worried too much about Pennsylvania, either; and then there was Dover.
That’s a great letter. Though I appreciate the effort to conceal the writer’s identity, I worry that including the part about the sister founding a Tolerance Club may blow the cover.
A family which has students founding LGBT clubs and being ostracised for being non-believers, they probably aren’t all that undercover. But still you’re right, internet publication might spread this further than originally intended.
As the sister spoken about in the article, I am not worried. My sibling (author of the article) and I have a larger age gap than one might think. Enough for my inclusion on the club to be forgotten.
Great. Thanks for the reply.
Kudos to you, too, Black, for also being a brave pioneer!
I think the identities of folks like these letter writers are rarely secret to everyone. The goal of the secrecy isn’t to stop their 4th period lab partner from figuring it out, it’s to stop them from being harassed by hundreds or thousands of bystanders who aren’t already famliar with them. The dam is there to control the flow of the water and keep it at a trickle; not stop it altogether.
Great letter from a thoughtful, intelligent young Non-theist.
The flavour of X-tian on display here reminds me of something Gandhi said “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
This young person is headed in a better direction than their peers. Hopefully they can put this celebration of ignorance behind them. Read Coyne, Dawkins,and Harris. There are almost 1 billion of us. When you feel isolated know that the tide sees atheists as the fastest-growing demographic on the planet. And we don’t need to breed and indoctrinate to bolster our numbers.
Peace
The wikipedia article on the town has two interesting little facets
1. In the 1890s it tried to build a reputation as a “magnetic” water spa (water that would apparently magnetize steel). It failed though apparently $200,000 was sunk into the venture (a good chunk of money in the 1890s).
2. A couple of decades later a local writer, a Christian, wrote a scathing novel about a thinly disguised Lebanon and the Christianity of many the folk there (e.g., the church elder leading the service in the morning and foreclosing on a widow in the afternoon). Its available on Gutenberg, “The Calling of Dan Matthews” by Harold Bell Wright. Definitely on the pious side and definitely of the era but it did have “But this community with its churches and Sunday schools and prayer meetings wouldn’t let her. They denied her the poor privilege of working for the food she needed. They refused even a word of real sympathy.”
BTW should a public high school be administering scholarships that require a belief in God (the Lebanon high school web site lists somes and they aren’t pointing necessarily to a third party web site). Google on Brian Chastain Memorial Scholarship
To the people of Lebanon:
Have you ever wondered why so many young people are leaving the church, and why so many can’t wait to get out of the town in which they were raised?
You think it’s the work of Satan. I think it is because of the stifling anti-intellectualism, paranoid intolerance, and refusal to live and love life that so many adults in your town exhibit.
We may both be correct.
“We may both be correct.”
Te-hee
My father grew up in pre-war Hungary. He and 2 Jewish boys were allowed to excuse themselves from religion class. Howevee, they were regularly beaten up after class by Christian boys because they weren’t fellow Christians.
Just allowing a kid to opt out does not give him the same protections as the majority group. Indeed, it forces you to expose your religious beliefs even though that targets you for abuse.
Perhaps the school would like to ask Jason Rosenhouse to give the speech next year – I rge you to read it:
http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2014/05/10/my-speech-to-the-graduates/
URGE I urge you 🙂
Thanks so much for that link–what a splendid speech!
Me too.
To the letter writer–kudos to you for acting like an adult while your principal wasn’t. I have a feeling you’ll go on to much success, leaving your insular, small-minded childhood community in the dust.
And that’s why the Dawkins style of atheism is needed.
Here, here.
#”Those of us within the community are too afraid to have a voice, as you have unfortunately learned.”#
Ah, the religion of love.
I think we should all be thankful for these brave young people from Lebanon, and all young Americans with the courage to lift their voices on important issues in our culture. This generation of college and high school students has had their future mortgaged more times than I can count. They’ve come of age in a cultural climate so abusive and hostile I can’t believe they have any convictions at all, but damn if they don’t just keep coming over the hill. And a child shall lead them indeed.
Nicely said!
Wow. You are so right!
I grew up about 30 miles from Lebanon, and graduated from high school 25 years ago. This article describes quite well why I left the area as quickly as possible–it sounds like it’s become much worse. The principle has clearly violated the Constitution repeatedly. Ugh.
I live in Lebanon. I am an Eclectic Pagan/Atheist and as an adult, I know exactly what this graduate was saying. He/she is far from incorrect. My husband and I are trying to find a way to get away from this town and it’s poison. It is scary to live here, because in reality, we are completely alone. My children are now home schooled because they were constantly being bullied, and they are nowhere near the age of 18. I hope that this town and the principal of the high school get a good dose of justice, real soon.
I encourage you to contact the FFRF with a complaint. You can do so anonymously.
Every statement they get adds weight to the case.
As a person who spent a number of my years as a youth in Lebanon Missouri I cannot express surprise with any of this. Lebanon is a town with almost as many churches as street corners and the segregation is tangible. I was raised to be very religious but I do feel a responsibility to state being a Christian doesn’t mean making those that believe differently feel unwanted in fact being a true Christian means to share and enjoy fellowship with your fellow man no matter if they do not agree with your choices. Jesus taught love and respect his followers need to follow his teachings.
I am resident of Lebanon, with three kids in the school district. It does not surprise me to see the principal promote his views. Most school award ceremonies are held in churches. I never thought this was right because there are a number of students and families who do not follow the Christian beliefs. The city is located 30 minutes from Fort Leonard Wood, so there is some diversity but not a lot. They need to work harder on promoting tolerance and not have religion be a major part of the district.
I would encourage you to make a statement to the FFRF as well, and you can do so anonymously. The more Lebanon people make statements, the more evidence they have to work with.
Whether it ends in a lawsuit or not, the more people who speak, the more things are likely to change. This is not an issue with hating Christians, but simply asking for tolerance.
I find it ironic that Atheists feel so threatened by an Entity they think doesn’t exist.
THANK YOU!!!!! 🙂
Atheists along with those who believe in the same god as you (Jews, Muslims) as well as many who don’t believe in your god (Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Bahai, and many many more) don’t like having your particular beliefs forced upon them. The only irony here is those that believers disdain the most (atheists) are often the biggest supporters for the freedom if religion and freedom of conscience. It is why we believe in a secular state that favours no one religion.
I can only speak for myself, not all those who self-identify as atheist.
It is impossible to fear something that does not exist.
If a large assemblage of well-armed warriors comes at me on the street and tells me they are sacking my town intend to either kill all the inhabitants or capture them as slaves, all in the name of their imaginary god, it is not Thor I am in fear of.
I am instead in fear of any group of theists who place absolute emotional faith conviction in this or any supposed deity. It is not Thor who will kill me or enslave me in absolute subjection, of course; it is the group of warrior true believers in Thor who will do so.
Same goes for Christians who are unable to comprehend the Establishment Clause and its absolute necessity for a society free of any single state religion. I have no fear of some imaginary deity these religious Christian elitist’s believe in, either, but I absolutely fear the narrow world-view vehemence of a high percentage of them.
I’ve seen this sort of thing snowball into nasty civil war and even full-fledged theocracy in too many highly religious societies around the world, when a majority faith starts throwing its weight around, to just sit silently while it’s happening here.
well armed Viking warriors, of course, damnit
Even if that were true, why would it be ironic?
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While I do think it is possible to fear things that don’t exist (children afraid of the boogeyman, for instance), it isn’t a godly entity that Atheists fear.
lsnrchd1 has the truth of it. It’s those who would use that entity as a defense for cruel actions.
As stated in this letter, this student had to deal with harassment and bullies as a product of those who felt just for Jesus.
The student isn’t afraid of god. I am not afraid of god. I am afraid of people who may very well literally attack me if I came out and made public that I do not agree with this graduation prayer. Take a look at the comments under any of the relevant news articles to this event. Look at how vindicated and angry the comments are. Look at the mob mentality of, “if you don’t like God, get the f*ck out!”
How could you not fear living in an environment that hates you so?
I see not much has changed since 1994 when I graduated from the same high school. My entire family moved out of Lebanon the day after graduation and I left the state after a few years of college to finish my degree in Maryland.
This writer explained it perfectly, it is exactly the same way I felt 20 years ago. I was also a good student and friendly to everyone, I was also expected to use up every ounce of tolerance I had while the Christian students gave none. High School is supposed to prepare young people for life and the lessons I learned at LHS failed to prepare me for the diversity I would find in the real world.
Its only been in very recent years that have I reconnected with my graduating class, I never returned to Lebanon and I was not missed. Only now have I found classmates that then shared in my ideals and had the same struggle as I. I have also reconnected with those who did not share my ideals and I have watched this week as they posted many comments in support of Mr. Lowery. Once again, I found myself on the outside not commenting on their posts and ignoring their statements which continue to support religious intolerance… just as I did when I was in High School (even though NOW I am very outspoken about my beliefs). You see, not much has changed in 20 years in Lebanon High School.