Mississippi Atheists

As you know, the American Humanist Association is suing Northwest Rankin High School (Flowood, MS) for allegedly forcing students to attend an assembly where members of Pinelake Baptist Church subjected them to proselytizing and sectarian prayer. While most of the mainstream media coverage of the suit has assumed that the plaintiff must be an atheist student, it appears that this is not the case. One of the plaintiffs, Gracie Bedi, has courageously revealed herself in an effort to clear up the misinformation surrounding the motives for the suit.

I abandon anonymity not to call attention to myself, but rather to call attention to the case and better validate its purpose. As a student at the high school, I have been privy to the thoughts and analysis of my peers, and what I’ve heard has been incredibly disheartening. Rather than reviewing the case as one of constitutional rights, I have been written off as an angry atheist, a scorned student, and even as a greedy child looking only for profit. Allow me to defend myself against such harsh conclusions.

Here is Neil Carter of Godless in Dixie being interviewed at the Meadowbrook Church of Christ in Jackson as part of Interview an Atheist at Church Day.


Big thanks to Hemant Mehta (Friendly Atheist) for bringing this to my attention. He always seems to know far more about what is happening with atheists here in Mississippi than I do.

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Map of Mississippi highlighting Rankin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The separation of church and state is under attack here in Mississippi. We have teacher-led prayer taking place in our public schools in clear violation of the U.S. Constitution and considerable case law, and our elected officials seem to be determined to remove any legal obstacles to having even more of it. Under the guise of religious freedom, they are seeking the freedom to impose their particular brand of evangelical fundamentalist Christianity on the rest of us.

And now, right on the heels of news that Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree is using city resources to promote religion through his annual prayer breakfast, even more disturbing news out of Mississippi is starting to gain national attention.

English: Mississippi gubernatorial candidate Johnny DuPree at a forum sponsored by the Mississippi Democratic Club (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been trying to get additional information on Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree's prayer breakfast, which is scheduled for May 2, 2013, in spite of a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation explaining that government promotion of religion is unconstitutional. Here is what we know so far:

• The city government's website is being used to promote the prayer breakfast.
• The prayer breakfast is being held at the Lake Terrace Convention Center.
• Tickets for the event are being sold through the city's website using a form that instructs attendees to make their check's payable to the "Mayor's Community Activity Fund."
• Those with questions about the event are directed to a city employee at a city telephone number.

The exact amount of money the city is spending to lease the convention center, promote the event, book the talent, etc. is unknown. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed an open records request to obtain this information.

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Here is what Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree had to say after the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to his office urging him to cancel a prayer breakfast supported with public money (i.e., our tax dollars):

Hattiesburg is a praying city. We all understand what prayer does, how powerful prayer is. Personally prayer has done so much for my family, and people that I love. So we'll continue to have the prayer breakfast.

The Mayor appears to have no understanding of the law, the scientific studies which have debunked prayer, or the fact that there are several atheists living in his city. We are part of the city. We understand that prayer accomplishes nothing and has no power. We also recognize that the mayor's belief that prayer has helped his family is wholly irrelevant to whether he is entitled to spend public funds to promote religion.

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