Students Respond To Atheists' Demands For Christian Flag's Removal From School

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a group of atheists, agnostics, and freethinkers that is based in Wisconsin. Rather than being content with the fact that they have managed to assemble a group of like-minded folks to chat about things, the foundation has taken it upon themselves to act as some sort of moral authority for a high school in LaRue, Texas.

Yes, that’s correct. A high school that’s located on the opposite end of the map from where the group is based has found itself in the group’s crosshairs. So what’s the foundation all colicky about this time around?

As Fox News shares, the group has taken umbrage with the fact that a flag flown out in front of LaPoynor High School is a symbol of Christian faith. It’s a simple white flag with a cross on it, and it flies right next to the Texas state flag and the American flag on campus.

This is not a new thing, as reports indicate that the flag has been flying as long as anyone can remember without incident. Somehow, this is too much for the foundation to take, and they have dropped a letter demanding its removal.

FFRF attorney Sam Grover drafted a letter to superintendent James Young, and he huffed and puffed his way through a combination of legal mumbo jumbo and veiled threats.

"It is unconstitutional for the school to display the Christian flag. The display of this patently religious symbol by the District confers government endorsement of Christianity, in violation of the Establishment Clause,” he wrote. "The District must immediately remove the Christian flag from school grounds. In addition, the District must ensure that its staff members are not organizing, promoting, or participating in religious events while acting in their official capacities."

This where things get a little tricky. The FFRF seems to pride itself on making cases out of things such as separation of church and state, so we’ll assume that they have all of their ducks in a row on the legal end.

However, what is really the harm in having this flag fly - for as long as anyone can remember, mind you - in a place in which it seems to be welcome and accepted by the surrounding community?

It doesn’t seem like there’s any harm at all. In fact, students got wind of the letter that the foundation drafted, and they took it upon themselves to craft an interesting response. A number of students took to flying the flag off of the back of their trucks, and they snapped a pic of them in the school parking lot.

Once again, we come back to a simple point: if no one in the school or surrounding community is complaining, then why would the foundation be so worried about it?

The foundation is entitled to be as free from religion as they please, but that doesn’t mean that they need to keep everyone free from it. In fact, there’s plenty of folks out there that welcome religion into their lives and wish it was even more prevalent.

In both cases, the best course of action is to do what works for you without pushing your beliefs on others that may not agree with them.

Source: Fox News
Photos: Shaine Snyder/Facebook, Lapoynor ISD, KETK, YouTube, Google, East Texas Matters