Texas Archives - American Atheists

American Atheists Wins New Victory on Behalf of Harassed Nonreligious Student

American Atheists — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 20:43:34 +0000

Houston, TX—Today, the church/state watchdog American Atheists announced a new victory in its lawsuit against a teacher who harassed, disciplined, and retaliated against a nonreligious high school student for sitting out the Pledge of Allegiance. On Tuesday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant the teacher qualified immunity. According to the student, she exercised her right to freedom of speech out of her objection to the words, “Under God,” in the Pledge and her contention that the United States does not adequately guarantee “liberty and justice for all,” especially for people of color. “No student should face harassment and retaliation for exercising her First Amendment rights,” said Geoffrey T. Blackwell, Litigation Counsel at American Atheists. “We are pleased the court stood with free speech and reaffirmed just how outrageous the teacher’s actions were.” The lawsuit alleges that Benjie Arnold, the student’s 12th grade sociology teacher, harassed, disciplined, and retaliated against her for sitting out the Pledge of Allegiance. Although she was exempt from the Pledge under state law and teachers had been informed of this fact during a staff meeting, Arnold nonetheless required that she write the Pledge. After she refused, Arnold told her and the rest of the class, “What you’ve done is leave me no option but to give you a zero, and you can have all the beliefs and resentment and animosity that you want.” Based upon audio of the incident, the teacher then went on a long rant. Arnold offered to pay for students to move to Europe if they didn’t like living in America—but they would have to pay him back double if they ever returned to the U.S. He then exposed his own personal view of free speech and insinuated that anything else is un-American: “You know there’s a lot of things I complain about, so when it comes time in November, I go vote or I protest in writing and legal. Those are the ways we do it in America.” “Mr. Arnold should have been teaching students about American freedom, not American intolerance,” said the student’s civil rights lawyer, Randall Kallinen, who is serving as local counsel in the case. “A student’s right to peaceful freedom of expression does not end at the schoolhouse steps.”

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Texans: Oppose Dangerous Religious Exemptions in Health Care!

American Atheists — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 16:02:21 +0000

The Texas House Public Health Committee is considering a bill (HB 1424) that creates dangerously broad religious exemptions for health care providers and institutions, allowing them to deny care based on their beliefs. This bill opens the door to widespread refusal of care and discrimination in the name of religion. Help stop this terrible bill now before it gets any further! Email the committee members and ask them to OPPOSE HB 1424! This dangerous bill will allow health care providers and hospitals to deny any needed services, risking the health and safety of all patients in Texas. HB 1424 will have unpredictable and far-reaching negative consequences, affecting health care such as contraception, end-of-life care, vaccination, pregnancy & reproductive services, counseling & behavioral health, fertility treatment, PrEP & HIV treatment, and many others. This is especially devastating to women, older Americans, LGBTQ people, people living with HIV, people with disabilities, and those living in rural areas. Please act now — ask Texas lawmakers not to put the personal beliefs of hospitals and providers above patients’ health and safety!

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Texans, Stop Dangerous New Religious Exemptions

American Atheists — Thu, 16 May 2019 16:58:17 +0000

Texas lawmakers are trying to rush through terrible legislation that creates sweeping religious exemptions at every level of the Texas government before the end of session. SB 1978 would prevent the government from taking action against anyone who violates the law based on a religious belief—no matter what that belief may be. But there is one last chance to stop this bill—please tell the House committees considering SB 1978 to vote against it! This bill is clearly aimed at allowing discrimination against LGBTQ people—that’s bad enough, but the negative consequences of this poorly drafted legislation would go so much further. For example, imagine the impact on police enforcement if anyone can claim immunity because of their religious beliefs. And that is just one sphere—this will affect Texas schools, local government, the courts, and so many other areas of life. No one should get special privileges or immunity to the law based on their religious beliefs. Unfortunately, this legislation has already passed the Senate. It was passed out of committee without any hearing or consideration of unintended consequences of carving broad religious exemptions into the law. Before it’s too late, tell the Texas House committees to oppose SB 1978! Together, we can stop this bill, but only if we take action now!

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Texas Residents: Oppose Dangerous Religious Exemptions

American Atheists — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 17:42:15 +0000

Today the Texas State Senate will vote on broad, poorly defined religious exceptions that would open the door to widespread discrimination. Under SB 17, any professional licensed by a state agency could discriminate or refuse to provide services based on their religious beliefs. We urgently need your help to stop this dangerous bill! These exemptions from licensing and professional standards would have unpredictable and far-reaching negative consequences in hundreds of professions, including health care, education, and child welfare. For example, health care providers could turn away sick and injured people seeking care (except for immediate lifesaving measures), teachers could refuse to teach certain students or refuse to follow educational standards, or child care facilities could refuse to comply with vaccination requirements. There is simply no limit to the range of issues that this bill may affect which can be justified by religious belief. No one should receive special privileges based on their religious beliefs. And the people of Texas should not be made to bear the cost for these dangerous privileges. Please ask your state senator to oppose SB 17 today!

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