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[Demon Ice]

The following news stories cover a 15 year old student's fight to start a chapter of the Secular Student Alliance at her school.

At first, the school refused to allow the club, stating that it would not "fit in" with the other clubs at the school (including, of course, Christian clubs)

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...students-hopes-atheist-club-article-1.1613391

A North Carolina student was looking forward to starting a club for atheists at her high school—until administrators reportedly shot down those dreams.

Pisgah High School in Canton already has a fellowship for Christian athletes. But when 15-year-old Kalei Wilson tried to start a club for secular students, she said she encountered nothing but resistance.

“Everyone’s accepting of the Christian group,” Wilson told The News. “It’s not fair to people like me who don’t have a place to go to meet like-minded thinkers.”

Wilson says she often sees posters in the school advertising events for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which many of her peers call the “Bible Club.

Since being an atheist is a “big part” of her identity, Wilson and her brother Ben Wilson wanted to create another space for people of their mindset to meet. They would come together to do community service and talk about their non-belief.

“We just wanted to prove that we can be good without God,” Kalei said about her club.

The idea for a secular club was first presented to the school administrators in October by Ben Wilson. Around 11 students expressed a willingness to join at that time.

Faculty members allegedly told Ben that “we don’t need a group like that” and that a secular club was “not a good fit” for the school. They also said that there weren't any faculty sponsors available.

The story got some national attention and groups such as the Secular Student Alliance (SSA), the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union put pressure on the school to change their stance and treat the students equally. The school eventually allowed the club to form.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progre...ool-students-win-right-to-start-atheist-club/

In a victory for young atheists, a high school in North Carolina will allow students to form a chapter of the Secular Student Alliance after initially refusing to do so.

The decision to allow the atheist club was made only after significant pressure was brought to bear by the Secular Student Alliance (SSA), the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union.

For over a year, administrators at Pisgah High School in Waynesville, North Carolina, told students they could not form a secular student group because it would not “fit in” at the school. However, in the face of a legal challenge for violating the students’ rights, and a great deal of public pressure and bad publicity, school administrators relented, and decided to allow students to form the club earlier this month.

The Friendly Atheist reports 15-year-old Kalei Wilson and her brother Ben (who attempted, to no avail, to start the same group last semester) will each be receiving $1,000 scholarships from the Freedom From Religion Foundation for their courage and effort in the face of oppression, ignorance, and even threats.

Unfortunately, that's when the Christian students at the school took things into their own hands.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progre...nd-harassment-nc-teen-abandons-atheist-group/

Sad news: After suffering threats and harassment a North Carolina teen has been forced to abandon her efforts to form a chapter of the Secular Student Alliance at her public high school.

15-year-old Kalei Wilson waged a brave and determined battle against school administrators at Pisgah High School to form the group. Indeed, the decision to allow the atheist club was made only after significant pressure was brought to bear by the Secular Student Alliance (SSA), the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union.

However, fearing for the safety of her family, last night Wilson announced that she is bowing out.

This morning I was called “Satan” by one Christian girl who first called me a “dumb c&^t b*&^h!”

I know what I’m doing is right but it’s scary…

It saddens us to report that due to the numerous threats and the verbal attacks on Kalei along with the vindictive witch-hunt to hurt the reputations of affiliated local groups and our own family, Kalei will not be continuing with the group.

The whole episode is a sad and painful reminder of the formal and informal persecution, intimidation and harassment that atheists, agnostics and other freethinkers often must face.

It is also a stinging indictment of the hypocrisy, the arrogance, and the cruelty of the Christian community at large. One can only wonder, where were the so called “good Christians” while this teen was being threatened and harassed?

TL;DR: A high school student wants to form a secular student club at her high school which has several Christian clubs, is initially denied, story gets national attention, school reverses its stance, Christian students threaten and verbally abuse secular student and her family until she gives up on forming the club.


I just thought this story was important to share to provide some perspective, as the Christian community is often the loudest to complain about their "religious rights" being "oppressed" by atheists / free thinkers. Yet here we have a student who only sought equal standing with the Christian clubs at her school. The secular club would have had absolutely no negative effect on the already established Christian clubs, but would have stood alongside them. But apparently even equality was too much to ask of this school's Christian community.

 

[Hylian7]

Incredibly sad story. I always wondered why high schools didn't have SSA. I was in SSA in college and loved it.

 

[Count Dookkake]

But she's not Christian. How can she be persecuted in the US?

 

[xxracerxx]

Sad to hear they bullied her out of it. People can be real fucking dicks.

 

[Feep]

Dammit, humans.

 

[Damaniel]

Considering her brother tried to start the same group the prior semester, I suspect that an overzealous atheist parent is the one who wants her to form this club. Not that there's strictly anything wrong with that, but I'd prefer to know if the club was strictly the kids' idea, or if there was some external, perhaps slightly fedora-equipped, euphoric force at work.

That being said, why the hell are schools allowed to have religious clubs in the first place? Seems like an official club with a faculty sponsor very much fits the definition of 'establishing or promoting religion'. Maybe the best solution is to allow no religious clubs at all. Of course, the secular club wouldn't be religious, so I suppose it could still exist...

 

[Demon Ice]

Considering her brother tried to start the same group the prior semester, I suspect that an overzealous atheist parent is the one who wants her to form this club. Not that there's strictly anything wrong with that, but I'd prefer to know if the club was strictly the kids' idea, or if there was some external, perhaps slightly fedora-equipped, euphoric force at work.

Eh, I don't think that's necessarily true. Speaking from personal experience, my brother and I are both atheist, our parents are religious, and my brother is still in high school. It can happen

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

FCCLA is one of many venoms plaguing southern-US high schools everywhere, though the theology club wasn't too bad thanks to excellent supervision. This horror story's more common than people realize, but rarely does the news get out to gain such exposure.

 

[Mollymauk]

That went exactly as expected.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Eh, I don't think that's necessarily true. Speaking from personal experience, my brother and I are both atheist, our parents are religious, and my brother is still in high school. It can happen

I heard of this one family that was all Muslim and another that was all Christian.

Pretty weird, huh?

 

[DonMigs85]

I wonder when Christians thought it was OK to be so hateful to anyone outside the faith.
They really choose to ignore Jesus' teachings and actions.

 

[Demon Ice]

I heard of this one family that was all Muslim and another that was all Christian.

Pretty weird, huh?

Bizarre to the point where I just don't believe you.

 

[Damaniel]

Eh, I don't think that's necessarily true. Speaking from personal experience, my brother and I are both atheist, our parents are religious, and my brother is still in high school. It can happen

Yep, that's definitely true. I was a non-believer in high school with religious parents (my mom eventually became a non-believer too). I'm not so strongly atheist that I would have formed a club around it, but I also went to a school in a city where such a club wouldn't cause anyone to bat an eye anyway.

 

[Fury Sense]

School was right, it didn't fit in. As cliche as it sounds, it's still progress for schools everywhere. I bet being under the spotlight didn't help their cause either

 

[Demon Ice]

School was right, it didn't fit in. As cliche as it sounds, it's still progress for schools everywhere. I bet being under the spotlight didn't help their cause either

How does it not fit in? And being under the national spotlight got the school to reverse their initial stance in the first place.

 

[Fury Sense]

How does it not fit in? And being under the national spotlight got the school to reverse their initial stance in the first place.

I was kinda joking about the fitting in since they got abused into oblivion by other students. The attention got them the club in the first place, but happening under duress probably made the initial opponents even more upset. I bet at other nearby schools with similar demographics will now have an easier time creating secular clubs without (as many) threats thanks to this event.

 

[Alcoremortis]

That's weird. I went to a Catholic school and while I don't think there was an SSA specifically there definitely was a club for atheists.

Then again, my school was viewed as borderline heretical by most of the conservative Catholic churches around, so who knows.

 

[Demon Ice]

I was kinda joking about the fitting in since they got abused into oblivion by other students. The attention got them the club in the first place, but happening under duress probably made the initial opponents even more upset. I bet at other nearby schools with similar demographics will now have an easier time creating secular clubs without (as many) threats thanks to this event.

Oh, sorry lol. And yeah, I hope you're right.

 

[Fantastical]

Wonder how a gay-straight alliance would go down.

 

[Aquamarine]

I want a middle-eastern, gay, atheist club. That's three birds with one stone.

 

[Demon Ice]

Wonder how a gay-straight alliance would go down.

If I were a gamblin' man...

I want a middle-eastern, gay, atheist club. That's three birds with one stone.

Hell of a niche

 

[CornBurrito]

I want a middle-eastern, gay, atheist club. That's three birds with one stone.

Well I'm not middle eastern. Can I join anyway?

 

[The Big Rig]

As a North Carolinian (and an atheist), I'm not surprised by this at all. The South is very adverse to change. People think that everyone around them is a good, God-fearing individual, and when that is challenged, it is like they're meeting another species or something. Upon moving here in high school, I found out that I would be more accepted if I claimed myself Jewish (my cultural background). And just because of that different faith, I became a novelty. And people asked me "So do you believe in Jesus, or do you just believe that he was just a guy?" I didn't care as much then as I do now, but I always wonder how brainwashed these Protestant southerners are.

North Carolinians, specifically native ones, are very sheltered and naive when it comes to other ways of viewing the world.

 

[dan2026]

And this is one of the many reasons I hate organised religion.

So many people use it as an excuse to be awful to others.

 

[Arrowgigantic]

When my wife was in school, a kid hit her over the head with a Bible. She didn't want to start a club or anything, she just said she was atheist and word got around to this little shit.

 

[Damaniel]

When my wife was in school, a kid hit her over the head with a Bible. She didn't want to start a club or anything, she just said she was atheist and word got around to this little shit.

And to think, if the person had actually read the book instead of just assaulting people with it, he or she might have figured out the whole tolerance thing. Sigh.

 

[OrlanisWorks]

Anyone willing to abuse, with bible in hand, an.individual should shove it right up into their own colon.

Threats for opening a club is goddamn foolish.

 

[Dead Man]

School was right, it didn't fit in. As cliche as it sounds, it's still progress for schools everywhere. I bet being under the spotlight didn't help their cause either

LOL

I was kinda joking about the fitting in since they got abused into oblivion by other students. The attention got them the club in the first place, but happening under duress probably made the initial opponents even more upset. I bet at other nearby schools with similar demographics will now have an easier time creating secular clubs without (as many) threats thanks to this event.

Ah, fair enough.

 

[LQX]

Why do they need a secular club though? What would they discuss? Join the book or computer club.

 

[Man God]

Ridiculous. I had friends start one of these over a decade ago in a private catholic high school and they faced nothing but a few harmless jokes.

 

[Dead Man]

Why do they need a secular club though? What would they discuss? Join the book or computer club.

Why do they need a book or computer club though, join the Christian club. Talk about books in there.

:/

 

[Demon Ice]

Why do they need a secular club though? What would they discuss? Join the book or computer club.

Why do schools have Christian clubs?

 

[Hypron]

Why do they need a book or computer club though, join the Christian club. Talk about books in there.

:/

There's only one book that's important anyway. Why would you need a book club?

 

[-Deimos]

When my wife was in school, a kid hit her over the head with a Bible. She didn't want to start a club or anything, she just said she was atheist and word got around to this little shit.

You gotta beat the religion in.

Sucks that the girl got bullied. Shouldn't the school do something about the kids who bullied her?

 

[CornBurrito]

Why do they need a secular club though? What would they discuss? Join the book or computer club.

Because the world is overwhelmingly religious at times. Sometimes it is just nice to meet people with similar views on what is an important cultural subject. They can also discuss the challenge of being secular in an extremely religious country.

 

[Dead Man]

There's only one book that's important anyway. Why would you need a book club?

 

[JohnDoe]

There's only one book that's important anyway. Why would you need a book club?

If that's the case, why should we even have schools?

 

[KissVibes]

Why do they need a secular club though? What would they discuss? Join the book or computer club.

Why do they need other clubs based on belief systems? Just go to church together.

 

[Downhome]

Not that it matters at all but this school is in Canton, not Waynesville. Two completely different towns, my wife is from Waynesville. Yes, the entire area is predominately Christian (as are my wife and I and her entire family up there). Canton is closer to Asheville, it's not too far down the road. This entire situation obviously sucks, no one should be bullied in school, period. I don't see this as a religious issue however. This same thing would happen if it was a majority atheist school and Christians wanted to start a group. It'd happen if it was a majority anything and a small minority anything wanted to start a group. This is a tolerance issue, a bullying issue, and that's wrong regardless what the topics are about. Well, within reason, you get what I'm saying.

 

[cameron]

Kinda scary how the school sat back and allowed the harassment to get to the point where the student had to bow out in fear. Way to encourage shitbag behaviour.

 

[Alcoremortis]

When my wife was in school, a kid hit her over the head with a Bible. She didn't want to start a club or anything, she just said she was atheist and word got around to this little shit.

Sometimes I wish I could do that with Campbell Biology. Except it's a good deal heavier and would probably do some serious damage.

 

[Demon Ice]

This entire situation obviously sucks, no one should be bullied in school, period. I don't see this as a religious issue however. This same thing would happen if it was a majority atheist school and Christians wanted to start a group.

A majority atheist school faculty would deny formation of a Christian club? I find that hard to believe.

 

[Dead Man]

Kinda scary how the school sat back and allowed the harassment to get to the point where the student had to bow out in fear. Way to encourage shitbag behaviour.

Yep. And the school admin will face no repercussions at all.

 

[Enron]

Why do schools have Christian clubs?

The FCA isn't even really all that religious, despite it's name and origins. Pretty much everyone I knew was in it, athlete or not, in high school. I was in it as well. It was basically just a service organization in High School - you get together, volunteer/do something charitable, every now and again have a get-together of some sort (where you just tried to hook up with girls) and maybe a church would actually host an event once or twice a year. That was about it.

 

[Dead Man]

Not that it matters at all but this school is in Canton, not Waynesville. Two completely different towns, my wife is from Waynesville. Yes, the entire area is predominately Christian (as are my wife and I and her entire family up there). Canton is closer to Asheville, it's not too far down the road. This entire situation obviously sucks, no one should be bullied in school, period. I don't see this as a religious issue however. This same thing would happen if it was a majority atheist school and Christians wanted to start a group. It'd happen if it was a majority anything and a small minority anything wanted to start a group. This is a tolerance issue, a bullying issue, and that's wrong regardless what the topics are about. Well, within reason, you get what I'm saying.

Not sure I'm following here. So gay clubs clubs can't exist at straight schools? Minorities should just accept persecution?

 

[Aksala]

It sucks, but she should just wait it out and join a club in college.

I have no idea why there is a Christian club. It shouldn't be allowed either for the sake of fairness.

 

[-Deimos]

Minorities should just accept persecution?

He never said that.

It sucks, but she should just wait it out and join a club in college.

I have no idea why there is a Christian club. It shouldn't be allowed either for the sake of fairness.

Like Enron said, most of the time it really has nothing to do with religion. It's just a way to get some extra-curricular activities done. Great for getting into colleges.

 

[Muppet of a Man]

School was right, it didn't fit in. As cliche as it sounds, it's still progress for schools everywhere. I bet being under the spotlight didn't help their cause either

What is this nonsense? This is exactly why they should have had this club. At that age, I would probably have fought those MF'ers and handed out some serious beatings.

 

[Napoleonthechimp]

Kinda scary how the school sat back and allowed the harassment to get to the point where the student had to bow out in fear. Way to encourage shitbag behaviour.

It's the Christian way.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

It's the Christian way.

When Jesus said "turn the other cheek" he really meant "You go on doing what you're doing, I'll be looking over there for a while."