The sole elementary school in a rural Florida county has disbanded its Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA ) club because an atheist group complained that it was “unconstitutional” to “indoctrinate” kids into religion.
After the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation ( FFRF ) claimed the school had violated the First Amendment in March, Hamilton County Elementary School, a small town in Jasper, was brutally armed to shut down its chapter of the North Central Florida FCA.  ,
In a text to Hamilton County School District Superintendent Dorothy Lee Wetherington-Zamora, FFRF legitimate fellow Samantha F. Lawrence wrote,” Kids have the First Amendment right to be free from religious education in their public institutions.”  ,
The atheist group claimed that secondary schools, never elementary ones, are protected by the Equal Access Act’s right to form spiritual clubs.  ,
According to Lawrence,” Elementary learners are too young to really work a team on their own program without the assistance of school personnel or outside experts.”  ,
” Any claims that the Hamilton Elementary FCA team is’ scholar led’ are at best stupid and at worst dishonest”, she continued. ” Younger children cannot almost initiate, organize, and operate an Bank club on their own, meaning people are the people truly behind the club”.
According to Breitbart News, the FFRF frequently persuades Christian teachers to abstain from professing their beliefs, leading to the firing of a Georgia high school football coach for inviting a priest to the facility to baptize ready people in November 2023.
The activist group criticized University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley for bringing her Christian faith into the forefront while coaching and for saying something about those who do n’t believe in God.
” If you do n’t believe in God, something’s wrong with you. When you’re at your worst, He’s at His best”.
After defeating Oregon State to reach the Final Four, @GamecockWBB coach @dawnstaley twitter.com/pI2iDKUvvG
— Sports Spectrum ( @Sports_Spectrum ) March 31, 2024
” The District must immediately investigate this matter and ensure that the FCA club at Hamilton , Elementary is disbanded”, the FFRF letter demanded. By organizing, leading, and supporting a religious club for elementary school children, the District cannot allow Hamilton Elementary to violate students ‘ First Amendment rights.
The school district’s legal team, which attorney Meagan L. Logan heads, conceded to the FFRF in an April 22 response:
The District determined that there was only a small group of fifth graders at the school who were involved in such a club after looking into the allegations in your letter. While , these same students will be eligible to participate in FCA on the campus of Hamilton County , High School in a few short months as six graders, in an effort to avoid any perception that , such a gathering on the campus of Hamilton Elementary is being organized, promoted or , endorsed by the District or its employees, the club has been dispersed. We firmly believe that your letter’s concerns are addressed by the investigation and response described above.  ,
The FFRF expressed gratitude for the “unconstitutional elementary school religious club’s closure,” saying it was “always pleased to see the respect for student freedom of conscience.”
In a press release, FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor stated that” the Hamilton County School District ought to know better than to grant a religious group free access to students during the day.” ” School districts exist to educate, not indoctrinate into religion”.
Hamilton County School District was criticized for accepting the FFRF by The First Liberty Institute, which claims to be” the largest legal organization in the country dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberty.
” Banning students from having a religious club at a school while permitting other, secular clubs is a travesty that teaches children their faith is unwelcome and must be hidden”, the organization’s senior counsel, Justin Butterfield, said in a statement to the Christian Post.
The lawyer explained that the Supreme Court has repeatedly acknowledged that students ‘ religious viewpoints are protected by the First Amendment and that students do not violate their free speech rights while attending school, including elementary schools.
When organizations like FFRF demand that secular clubs like FCA be permitted in addition to religious student organizations, Butterfield continued.
The FFRF has since attacked another Florida school district” for endorsing Christian nationalism” with its most recent support of the National Day of Prayer. It has since continued to pursue schools and other institutions.
