Nikolai

that a new law just passed which require all Virginia public schools to post "In God We Trust" signs. The legislator was arguing it was to preserve history, but this trend scares the crap out of me as, as I recall, atheists cants hold public office here by the constitution (I am not sure about this, correct me if I am wrong), so a knee-jerk reaction could lead to "remembering" that law. Has anyone else heard anything about this? I have to spend 3 more years in high-school, and being an atheist is bad enough without it being posted on the wall that you are un-american.

Alonzo Fyfe

It is true.

You could do something about it. One option: file a lawsuit. Though I am not actually much of a fan of lawsuits. They get people to arguing about what the founding fathers believed or did not believe and similar irrelevancies, and everybody ignores the important point as to whether the law is a good idea or not regardless of what the founding fathers believed.

Or you could protest within your own school without writing a letter. You can begin simply by creating a paper that you hand out to your teachers, your principle, and (if you are willing to take the risk), your classmates explaining why this is a problem.

The words "In God We Trust" implicitly divide the high school community between a group called "We" who trust in god, implicitly putting all who do not trust in God in a group called "Them." It says to a subcommunity in the school that you are outsiders, that you do not belong here, you are not welcome, you are not one of us, you should go away, you are inferior." And explain why it is wrong for the school to deliver such a message to a group of students whose only crime is that they have looked at the evidence for the existence of a God and came up with a different conclusion.

You could post your paper here, and I am certain that several of us here would be interested in helping you with the content.

You can title your paper, "Why This Sign Betrays American Principles," and tape it to the wall next to the sign itself.

Such a plan takes courage, I admit. It is easier to hide and simply hope to get through the experience alive. High school is hard enough as it is.

Buffman

You might wish to consider eventually starting campaigns to replace IGWT signs with "United We Stand" ones. Any politician/administrator or school official that stood against your motto could find their support disappearing rapidly.

[ July 26, 2002: Message edited by: Buffman ]</p>

GaryP

Or educate your teachers and students by posting
E Pluribus Unum, the ORIGINAL motto.
<a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/nat_mott.htm" target="_blank">religioustolerance.org</a>

capsaicin67

High school sucks. Especially when the adults running things are crazy teenagers [emotionally/intellectually], too. Your own good judgement will have to ultimately be your guide as to how effective, and safe, you can be challenging this individually. Are your parents supportive? Do you have any freethinking peers to align with? Are you an opinion leader amongst your classmates? Are there sympathetic faculty? Or are you one of those fortunate individuals that while not the MOST popular, are big/intimidating, and nobody messes with you?
IMO,if you are isolated in your disapporoval, and still feel that your conscience will not tolerate riding this out, enlisting a lawyer would be advisable so that you are visible and monitored for any more immediate threats or oppression/violations. On the individual front, you could also write a thoughtful editorial/ letter to the paper but this, too, would be a very visible act, requiring a bit of careful thought.
You could also, more simply, get involved with any local groups that would simply offer some support and validation to make it more bearable through your final years until you can get to a university or location with even greater oportunities for activism. If we're all going to weather this, and get a more positive outcome, the movement overall is going to have to increase in resources and sophistication. Its going to need people like you to take part as a fully engaged adult, so there are many ways you can also use this energy and experience to inspire you in your preparation for post-high school life. I wish I would have had resources like this site, or would have even known about critical thinking skills, logic, R.G. Ingersoll etc when I was in high school. Or had access to the internet.
You may want to check out the internet for some of the Campus Freethought sites or Americans United for Separation of Church and State and see if there are any other ideas, activists in similar situations, or opps to get involved while you are in high school. Another possible local source of validation on a social level might be a local UU congregation [they tend to be heavily populated with humanists and independent thinkers though they, too, are constantly trying to reconcile how to guide a ship with increasing tensions between nontheists, Deists, and theists and specifically "liberal" xians]. They often speak up on such issues and one of the local Revs here took on one of the Nativity Scene controversies on the right side of things.
And again, I do not know your family dynamics and those are important and must be carefully considered as well.
What's going on is gross right now, but don't forget to have fun exploring and using the internet to hopefully inspire you.
I admire individuals like yourself that are already thinking about such important issues!

Peregrine

Concerning the latter part of you post concerning the prohibition of atheists holding office:

Most states in their constitutions or statutes have a provision requiring a belief in a creator to hold office.

Back in the 60's the Supreme Court ruled (Torcaso v Watkins) that these provisions were unconstitutional under Article 6's prohibition of religious tests for public office.

So if one does exist, it is moot. However, it doesn't stop some local, backwoods, governments trying it out upon occassion. I think it was in Virginia a couple years ago a guy was denied notary certification because he crossed out a religious pledge on the notary application form. The county's position was that it was illegal to modify an official form, the court chuckled and found for the plaintiff.

[ July 25, 2002: Message edited by: Peregrine ]</p>

DMB

This is the Campus Freethought Alliance <a href="http://www.campusfreethought.org/" target="_blank">website.</a>

Ron Garrett

FYI North Carolina passed similar legislation last year under the brand of "cultural history."

The Other Michael

Hi Peregrine,

I think there is a thread on this - though my recollection was it took place in Mississippi.

If I get a chance I'll do a search and see if I can find it.

cheers,
Michael

It was <a href="http://www.aclu.org/news/w100396b.html" target="_blank">Herb Silverman in South Carolina</a>. But all those southern states look alike.

M

[ July 25, 2002: Message edited by: The Other Michael ]</p>

Nikolai

There are two mains problems with protesting on a school or even county level. One, I live in Virginia and the lashback against me from my own friends is way too unpredictible. Being an atheis is one thing, doing something unpopular with NO suport that I can think of is another matter. THe second is that this is a STATE law, therefore as far as I know the school board can do absolutely nothing to affect this. A lawsuit is useless because, well, for now htis IS our national moto. And my mom is Russia Orthodox and wouldn't suport me while my dad MIGHT.