And what I'm frightened of is that they call it God's love

Cranston High School West in Rhode Island lost the court battle to keep its school prayer banner on display.  Not a big surprise, given the precedent that publicly funded schools have no business officially sanctioning prayer.

Secular activists are lauding the young Jessica Ahlquist for her central role in the push to remove the banner as well as having the courage to come out as an atheist to an intolerant community.

For those who haven't followed the story, here's an image of the offending banner:

At its core, the banner's message really is a good philosophy for the school's students: do your best to grow mentally, morally, and physically; be kind and helpful; be honest; be a good sport; be a good person in general.  I don't think anyone should have a problem with those values.

What is a problem is that they are encapsulated in a prayer.  The assertion that these virtues come from a "heavenly father" rather than within the individual implies that engaging in prayer is essential to being a good student.  No public school should be saying such a thing to its student body.
 

In this country people are free to practice whatever religion they choose, or no religion at all; this certainly applies to students and faculty at a public school.  The school itself, however, is not a person, and ought to be neutral on matters of religion.
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In the wake of the court's decision, the good Christians of Jessica's hometown are letting her know how they feel about her role in the lawsuit.  Sweet, benign messages about how they'll "pray for her" and hope that she opens her heart to Jesus, right?  At worst, a fire-and-brimstone warning about the eternal consequences of her atheism?

Wrong.  Her fellow students tweeted about jumping her after school, someone posted her home address on internet forums, and one "AJ St. Angelo" mused about murdering her.  Below are a few samples:

All of this venom and hatred over a banner that shouldn't have been put up in the first place. Read the rest of them on JesusFetusFajitaFishsticks, or catch up on the whole story over at Friendly Atheist.

Horrific violence in the name of superstition

A couple of gruesome stories graced my Twitter feed this evening. It seems that violent religious extremists are starting off the year strong.

In Nigeria, Islamists are mercilessly gunning down Christians for praying to the wrong imaginary god:

"It was around 7:30 pm (1830 GMT)," Pastor John Jauro told AFP news agency of Thursday's attack in the city of Gombe.

"I was leading the congregation in prayers. Our eyes were closed when some gunmen stormed the church and opened fire on the congregation. Six people were killed in the attack and 10 others were wounded."

He said there was confusion as worshippers sought to flee at the Deeper Life Christian Ministry Church.

Local police spokesman Ahmed Muhammad confirmed the attack, but declined to say how many people the gunmen killed and wounded.

The attack comes after a purported spokesman for Islamist group Boko Haram on Sunday issued a three-day ultimatum for Christians living in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north to leave the region or they would be killed.

There was, however, no claim of responsibility for the attack.

(via Ophelia Benson)


Meanwhile in London, we have the ongoing murder trial of a woman and her partner, both Congolese immigrants, who tortured and drowned her teenage brother last Christmas because they believed he was a witch:

On Christmas Day 2010 the defendants, who both deny murder, allegedly forced the boy and his siblings into a bath, submerging him in water. Pathologist reports revealed he suffered 101 injuries, and died as a result of drowning and the injuries.

When Kristy was found by paramedics in the eighth-floor flat in Forest Gate, his head, face, back and arms were covered in deep cuts and bruises, and several of his teeth were missing.

Kristy and four siblings were sent by their parents, from their home in Paris, to see their sister and his partner on 16 December. A few days passed "pleasantly enough", then Bikubi said some of the children were possessed by spirits and were having an evil influence on a younger child in the house, it is claimed.

(via PZ Myers)


Belief in the supernatural isn't the root of all evil, but it certainly serves as an excuse for some.