Louisiana Archives - American Atheists https://www.atheists.org/tag/louisiana/ Protecting the absolute separation of religion from government. Mon, 07 May 2018 15:58:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 125490277 Keep coercive prayer out of public schools! https://www.atheists.org/2018/05/louisiana-school-prayer-education-committee/ Mon, 07 May 2018 15:58:44 +0000 https://www.atheists.org/?p=7217 Baton Rouge, LA—On Tuesday, the Louisiana House Committee on Education will hear two bills which would allow teachers and students to pray together in public schools. To be clear, students can already engage in voluntary, nondisruptive prayer in school. However, these bills go a step further and would allow teachers to improperly join the students and even lead prayers.This law would be unconstitutional and would violate the rights of students to be free from coercive religious activity in public school. Each of these bills already passed the Louisiana Senate unanimously, and if they pass the Committee on Education, they are likely to become law. It is essential that we speak out against them now. Instead of spending their time addressing the real challenges facing the people of Louisiana, lawmakers are pandering to their Christian base by pushing forward bills they know will be struck down as unconstitutional. In the process, however, they will waste millions of dollars in taxpayer money to defend the indefensible. The Supreme Court and lower courts have repeatedly made clear that allowing public school teachers to engage in prayer with students is a violation of the First Amendment. We need to stop these bills at the committee level. Help us stand up for the rights of all students. Please contact the Louisiana Committee on Education now and tell them you oppose SB 253 and SB 512!

The post Keep coercive prayer out of public schools! appeared first on American Atheists.

]]> 7217 Tell Louisiana Lawmakers Not to Allow Public School Teachers to Pray with Students https://www.atheists.org/2018/04/louisiana-school-prayer/ Mon, 30 Apr 2018 19:03:41 +0000 https://www.atheists.org/?p=7196 Baton Rouge, LA—Lawmakers in Louisiana are rushing to pass several unconstitutional bills which would allow teachers and students to pray together in public schools. Students can already engage in voluntary, nondisruptive prayer in school.  However, these bills would allow teachers to improperly join them, violating the constitutional rights of students to be free from religious coercion. Each of these bills already passed the Louisiana Senate unanimously, so it is essential that we speak out against them now! Instead of spending their time addressing the real challenges facing the people of Louisiana, lawmakers are pandering to their Christian base by pushing bills they know will be struck down as unconstitutional. In the process, however, they will waste millions of dollars in taxpayer money to defend the indefensible. The Supreme Court and lower courts have repeatedly made clear that allowing public school teachers to engage in prayer with students is a violation of the First Amendment. We need to put the brakes on these bills immediately! Please help us stand up to religious coercion against students and tell your Louisiana representatives that you oppose SB 253 and SB 512!

The post Tell Louisiana Lawmakers Not to Allow Public School Teachers to Pray with Students appeared first on American Atheists.

]]> 7196