The
Damon Fowler story in Louisiana irritates me infinitely, especially given that the school
completely disregarded the first amendment.
If you need a refresher, it says
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Though I have seen a few supporters of the student who led the Lord's Prayer argue she was expressing her freedom of speech and exercise of a religion, they seemingly forget the forget the wall of separation between church and state implied by author Thomas Jefferson.
Also, Santa Fe School Dist. v. Doe as a precedent. Because even if the school didn't print it on the program and made it a 'Moment of Silence' instead, by not pulling the mike from Ms. Mattice implicitly endorsed her speech.
The internet support has been wonderful (See Hemant Mehta's posts linked above, r/atheism on reddit, etc.), but it really makes me wonder: why isn't there a nontheist equivalent to the "It Gets Better Project"?
There are some parallels between the homosexuality and nontheism movements: minority perspectives,
distrusted by various segments of the population, and ostracization of 'out' individuals in homogenous populations. This last part troubles me in particular, as I've seen people I knew in high school only come out of the closet as a gay person after arriving at college, away from the dog-eat-dog world of high school. I also know people who've come to the conclusion they don't believe in a God on their own, but refuse to publicly admit it for fear of familial backlash.
There are differences between the movements, true, as I can't think of any specific legislation against not believing (in fact, as mentioned above it's protected as a right to believe or not), whereas both at the state and national level laws have been made denying GLBT individuals the right to marry, the right to serve, and in some states the right to adopt (or any single parent for that matter, which is silly considering the number of children that need homes).
Also, as a friend asked me the other day, does it really get better for nontheists? We may not be legislated against, but certainly receive flak for merely
existing. And that's as adults, so not sure I could honestly say it gets better.
But what we could borrow from the LGBT movement is an equivalent to National Coming Out Day, so individuals don't have to feel like their hiding their true selves, as well as showing other people, "Hey, we're not alone, and we do exist!" Having a supportive framework would help towards this, which is why I applaud the increase in high school chapters of the
Secular Student Alliance, as well as at college campuses (including our very own Clemson!
Check us out). Especially in places like the Bible Belt, it really does help to know you're not alone. I almost wish we had an equivalent at my very Mormon high school, but then I remember I hung out with all the nontheists, Catholics and other religious minorities anyway.
There is the
Out Campaign for individuals to come out (and encourages people to let others 'out' themselves when they feel ready), and I highly recommend it.
Taking my own advice and declaring myself (though subtly put on my facebook) as an agnostic atheist, meaning: I don't believe there's a God or gods, but I also don't know that it's true (see explanation for definitions
here)
