. . . with a capital “T” and that stands for “theism.”

Reader Bob J. pointed out, in a comment, this article from today’s Lebanon Daily Record. It starts like this:

It goes on to reiterate Lowery’s “apology” that I reproduced in the previous post.

Like the Dover Area School Board in Pennsylvania, I don’t think the Lebanon School District realizes what it’s getting into. There is not a whisper of an apology by the school board for what Lowery did, nor the slightest hint that changes will be made.  I wonder if “the great things [Lowery] has done” include praying at graduation and continually praying before school assemblies. . .

As lagniappe, reader Steve Kern sent me an email he just dispatched to Principal Lowery, the Lebanon School board, and the Superintendent of Schools. I thought it was too good not to share, and I post it with his permission (and willingness to use his name):

Principal Lowery refers to his most recent statement as an apology.  However, he is still unwilling to directly admit that what he did was wrong and to apologize for that action.  When I wrote to you the first time I noted that my message was directed to his arrogance rather than the constitutional issue.  That is still the case.  I’ll try to make my message clearer…  in black and white.

If Principal Lowery were to stand before the graduating class and boast about how wonderful it is to be Caucasian, without actually criticizing people of any other race, would it have been wrong for him to do that?  “Arrogant” would be too gentle of a term to describe such an act.  But there was a time in our country when that wouldn’t have been subject to as much criticism as it would be today.  We have come a long way in dealing with racial discrimination and arrogance.  We have a long way to go in dealing with religious discrimination and arrogance.

Respectfully,

Steve Kern

A Lebanon, Missouri resident called my attention to a post on Principal Kevin G. Lowery’s Twitter page, which indicated that he’s apologized yet again for having prayed at the Lebanon High School graduation.

The link goes to a Dropbox page that contains the following statement:

To those who are willing to listen, I offer the following:

First, it was never my intention to personally offend, alienate, or target any student or audience member at our recent graduation. Rather, I wanted my remarks to be heartfelt, full of compassion, and deeply rooted in the history, culture, and tradition of America and Lebanon, Missouri. In fact, I wanted my comments to reflect the values, hopes, and dreams of this great community. So, why then did I apologize? Not because of pressure from my superintendent or board of education and not because of pressure from social media bloggers. I apologized because it was simply the right thing to do. This gesture comes from a lesson my parents taught me early in life. For the last 27 years, I have endeavored to create learning environments where all students feel welcomed, accepted, and fully embraced for their individuality. Have I been successful with every student over the course of my career? Unfortunately, the answer is no. However, I have tried to learn from my mistakes in such a way that other students may benefit from my lessons learned. Therefore, to whomever I may have offended on May 23, I am hopeful that you will accept my sincere apology.

Second, I want to thank Dr. Widhalm and the entire school board for their continued and unwavering support of my leadership at Lebanon High School. With their unrelenting support, our school continues to be recognized for excellence in many areas at the local, state, and national levels.

Third, I want to thank the Lebanon community for also supporting my leadership at Lebanon High School. This community has embraced me with unparalleled love, generosity, and genuine appreciation. For that, I am forever grateful.

Fourth, I want to thank the Lebanon High School faculty and staff for helping me put into place a mission and vision that is truly student-centered. I have never experienced a faculty and staff that work so hard and with so much passion in order to bring out the best in kids each and every day.

Finally, to the public at large, I have received literally hundreds of letters, cards, emails, text messages, telephone calls, Tweets, and Facebook postings from people around the country. Please know that I truly appreciate your passionate support and your strong advocacy.

It is my hope that our students will have a safe, enjoyable, and relaxing summer and we can look forward to the coming school year with a strong unity of purpose and sense of pride. Go Yellowjackets!

Kevin Lowery
LHS Principal

The curious thing about this statement, which is not an official response to the letter of complaint from the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), is that Lowery refers to “mistakes,” adding that this statement was “the right thing to do,” but neither mentions his big mistake—praying at graduation—nor promises that he won’t pray in school again. As we know now, Lowery prayed constantly before school events, saying stuff like “The law says I can’t pray at school functions, but if I could this is what I would say,” and then proceeding to pray. That makes everything worse, for it shows that Lowery knew his act was illegal, but went ahead with it anyway. And I think his omitting a description of the “mistake” was deliberate, for many citizens of Lebanon are furious that Lowery had to apologize, and some have called for the resignation of the School Board because Lowery was supposedly “forced” to apologize. (More on that later.)

While I try to be charitable about these apologies, I don’t see a lot of contrition here, but rather lot of self-praise and fulsome, community-courting praise for his school.  I don’t see that Lowery really grasps how much he offended some of his students, or that he did that by consciously and continuously breaking the law. Note, too, that he again apologizes “to whomever I may have offended.” May? That kind of qualifier always turns an apology into a notapology.

By all accounts Lowery is much beloved by his students and the community. And for that I give him credit. But he must learn that the oppressive atmosphere partially caused by his religiosity and enabled by his behavior has, as evidenced by the emails I’ve gotten and a few comments on this website, driven some of Lebanon’s brightest people away from his town.

This certainly doesn’t answer the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s complaint, which was addressed to the Superintendent of Schools and the school board members, not Lowery. But Lowery’s allusion to his continuing support by the school superintendent and school board doesn’t bode well for their legal troubles. If this is as far as they go in answering the FFRF’s complaint, I suspect they’ll face more trouble in the future.

I’ve heard from two more students at Lebanon High School in Missouri, one of whom (the first email below) was not afraid to be identified by name. As these emails mount up, perhaps the Lebanon School Board might want to take note of the number of students offended by overt displays of religion by school officials—but who say nothing out of fear. And surely there are others like these who are too afraid to tell anyone.

Apparently the Christian proselytizing by Principal Lowery in school has been going on for some time (I’ve bolded some bits of the emails showing that), but nobody outside of town was aware of it until the video of his graduation speech prayer was posted. There is a long-standing pattern here and it simply must stop. Again, the bolding below is mine:

My name is Alyssa Ishman and I am going to be a senior at Lebanon High School this coming school year. It does not matter to me if I am kept anonymous or not. I am an active member in the LHS Band, and a big part of being in band is playing at graduation; I have had to play at Lebanon’s graduation for 2 years now. The graduation speech Mr. Lowery gave my Sophomore year (2013) was no where as religious as this years was. I was ready for the normal “The law says I can’t pray at school functions, but if I could this is what I would say.” that he says every graduation, assembly, etc. What he said this year though appalled me. This being said his speech didn’t offend me at first. I have been raised a Catholic for a good majority of my life, and even though I don’t really believe in “God” I still go to church from time to time. It wasn’t until I started thinking about how the visitors that are of a different belief system must of felt did I really start to get upset. I have grown up in a very open-minded household; If I wanted to go to church that was okay, if I didn’t that was okay too. So, I don’t take to having religion thrown at me very well. People are arguing that if I didn’t like what was being said I should of left; For some people this would of worked, but I was getting a grade for being there. Don’t get me wrong, I love Mr. Lowery. He really cares about all of his students, not just the athletes. I’m glad someone finally called him out on this, but I really hope he doesn’t lose his job over it. I don’t think I can think of anybody who is more devoted to LHS than he is.

I hope this helped, feel free to ask any questions or anything of that sort.

I assured Ms. Ishman that nobody is going after the principal’s job (I’m certainly not). The students seem to like him a lot, and we simply want the school to conform to Constitutional law.  I hope Ms. Ishman doesn’t experience too much pushback from her classmates or neighbors. When I write the students back to confirm that they want their names used (I always do this twice), I remind them of the opprobrium and hatred faced by Jessica Ahlquist—and she was in Rhode Island!

Here’s the second (anonymous) email, whose authenticity I’ve verified. For you skeptics, these two letters, though both from people raised as Catholics, were not written by the same person using two names.

Hello, I am a [REDACTED]- year old student at LHS. My name is [REDACTED], and I give you permission to post any comments from this email, however I wish to remain anonymous. I’ve attended Lebanon my entire high school career and I love it. I really do. And I love our principle, Mr.Lowery. He’s active in our school, and despite popular belief he pays a lot of attention to our academic teams as well as our sports teams. However, when it comes to religion, he has always made his beliefs clear in a very public manner. I couldn’t begin to tell you on how many occasions he’s pulled the, “Now I can’t pray, but if I could I’d say…” and it really has bothered me. I was raised Catholic and my entire family is fairly religious. However, I’m constantly in arguments about my lack of a religious affiliation. I prefer the co-exist and day-by-day lifestyle. So when my principle is closed minded when it comes to other religions, I get frustrated. I honestly wouldn’t care if he said what he had to say in a more relaxed social setting, but he said it in front of thousands of people, as a representative of LHS. I just wish he would be more open and respectful of other people’s, especially his students and their families, beliefs or lack there of. As I mentioned before, I love having him as a principle and I love attending LHS, but if religion is mentioned it’s a battlefield, and I’m in the minority.

In a subsequent email, the student added this:

Thank you for listening to me and taking an interest in our school, most the time my friends and I cope with the close minded ness by brushing it off with, “it’s Lebanon Missouri!”  I’m glad that’s no longer an excuse. 🙂

Below is the statement of “apology” apparently made by Lebanon High principal Kevin Lowery (and issued by the school district) after the Freedom from Religion Foundation (and other people) complained about Lowery’s intrusive prayers at the school’s graduation:

“I sincerely apologize if any comments made in my speech offended anyone in the audience and our community, especially any of our students, and will strive to not let this happen again. Our district endeavors to fully comply with the laws and Constitution of the United States, and to provide quality education to all of our students. I wish each and everyone of the 332 fine young men and women who graduated that night the best in all of their endeavors.”

-Lebanon High School Principal Kevin Lowery

For additional information Contact:
Jacy Tilton
Director of Communications, Lebanon R-3 School District
417-225-8094

I am usually quite charitable about accepting apologies, but this isn’t a genuine apology.  Apologies of the sort that say “I’m sorry if I offended anyone” do not show remorse for the conduct, but merely for “offending” people, some of which, of course, Lowery doesn’t think should be offended.  Further, he doesn’t say it won’t happen again, but simply that “I will strive not to let this happen again.”  Strive?  Can’t the principal assure us that it won’t happen again?

Finally, if the district endeavored to fully comply with the laws and Constitution of the U.S., why did Lowery deliberately and knowingly violate those, for in his “prayer speech” he claimed that he knew that what he was saying was “politically incorrect.”

The proselytizing of the school’s officials, teachers, and students goes far deeper than the prayer at graduation, as a student attested yesterday. There are “prayer circles” before exams, no teacher dared host a “diversity club” for nonbelieving and gay students, students proselytize for Christianity in class, and apparently, Principal Lowery wasn’t a stranger to Constitutionally-banned prayer. This is from the student’s letter:

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.

What was “allowed” is, in fact, unconstitutional.

Principal Lowery’s apology is insufficient.  What he should have said is that his behavior was wrong, why it was wrong, and that he will assure everyone that the school will, in all its activities, comply with the requirements of the U.S. Constitution.

I am not involved in this issue any further, as it’s in the hands of the FFRF’s lawyers. But my own view is that Lowery’s apology is a sham, and that any legal body needs a stronger assurance that there will be no more prayers at public school activities. And, it seems to me—given the depth of religious indoctrination in that school—the FFRF might want to look into things bit more deeply.

For the nonce we’re assured that the Principal will strive not to pray at graduation. That’s not good enough. He needs to stop talking about God and praying in his school. Let him praise God on his own time, and in his own home and church.

The principal of Lebanon High School has issued an apology that isn’t really an apology. I’ll post that shortly.

First, I’ve received one more letter from a graduate of Lebanon High—one who wishes to be identified. I wrote her twice asking for confirmation, for we all know (viz., the Jessica Ahlquist affair) what can happen to students who stand up for the separation of church and state in a religious town.  The student repeated that she wanted to be identified because, as she wrote, “It doesn’t have to be anonymous at all. I stand by my views and wish to help fight for the cause!” How heartening to hear a young person talk about the “cause”!

Therefore, I give you the views of McKenzie McCaskill, who attended Lebanon High School:

At the graduation of my old school in Lebanon the principal, Mr. Lowery, talked a lot about god and even had a moment of silence (I’m assuming for prayer but maybe I’m wrong). I find this extremely wrong. Just because a majority of kids who go to the school are Christian doesn’t make it right to bring god into the celebration of a school matter. Imagine how out of place anyone of a different religion felt during this speech. If Mr. Lowery was, let’s say, Hindu and he had a speech that strongly mentioned and worshiped the Hindu religion he would most likely be hanged in Lebanon. Just because the majority of people in the town are Christian does NOT make it acceptable. There is a separation of church and state, and quite honestly I would have walked right out of that graduation if I heard that speech. If he would have pulled a stunt like that in any bigger city he most likely would have been fired.

Lebanon high school is a public school. If you want to talk about god then be a principal at a private school. I have nothing against Christians, I have nothing against any religion, I have nothing against god, I have nothing against the followers of god, but I sure have something against making people feel out of place because they have a different belief than you. Any kid of a different religion or of no religion probably felt like such an outsider and felt so out of place. Mr. Lowery has done this in many speeches before, and though he knows some students and parents are not comfortable with the talk of religion in events such as the graduation, he proceeds to do as he wants and disregards those in the minority. Laws were set to separate church and state and students at Lebanon High School should have a privilege to those rights. Those rights should not be ignored just because a majority of the town shares the same beliefs. There is a time and place for everything and it was very wrong for Mr. Lowery to put some (even if only a few) students in such an awkward and unfair situation at their own graduation.

This now makes three students who have expressed their opposition to the principal’s proselytizing and the relentless religiosity of Lebanon High, far worse than even I imagined.  These are courageous young folks, for, one way or another, people will probably figure out who they are. McKenzie doesn’t care, and good for her. I hope she doesn’t get too much pushback.

I’d like the school board of Lebanon to read those three letters (the first two are here and here), and then contemplate the effect of the school’s pervasive Christian proselytizing on their young people. For one thing, it’s going to drive the freethinkers away from Lebanon, as it has done for some already.  But maybe Lebanon doesn’t care if it hemorrhages its smartest kids, so long as the town can keep its Christian unanimity.

****

I’ll append one attempted comment by a Guy Caley, just to refresh you about the Constitutional acumen of many Lebanon residents:

Do any of you people even live in Lebanon or have kids in the school? No? Then this doesn’t concern you. I do and nobody I have heard in Lebanon is complaining. We aren’t really in need of your assistance.

And by the way the folks at Freedom From Religion Foundation that Professor Coyne tattled to have already said that Professor Coyne is an idiot and there is no constitutional violation here.

You’ve heard three complaints, Caley (there are more). The reason more people don’t complain is that you and your fellow Christians have intimidated them into silence. Oh, and you’ve lied about what the FFRF said.  You have no integrity.

Finally, you do need our help, or at least the FFRF’s, if your schools are to follow the law. Since you don’t do that willingly, we have to force you through the legal system.

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.