Students in a West Virginia city have staged a walkout to protest a Christian assembly they were forced to attend during school hours
Huntington, WV A, Between calculus and European history classes at a West Virginia public high school, 16-year-old Cameron May and his classmate were asked by their teacher to attend an evangelistic Christian restoration assembly.
May said that when the students arrived at the school auditorium for the ceremony, they were instructed to close their eyes and raise their arms in prayer. Teenagers were told to lay down their lives for Jesus to find purpose and salvation. Those who did not follow the Bible were told they would go to hell when they died. Huntington High School junior sent a text message to his father.
"Is it legal?" He asked.
The answer is no, according to the US Constitution. In fact, the separation of church and state is one of the basic principles of the country, notes Max Norbert, a senior at Huntington High School.
"It's just frustrating to see such insults and neglect," he said.
Norbert and other Huntington students walked out of the assembly on Wednesday in protest of the assembly. More than 100 students walked out of their classrooms chanting "Separate church and state" and "My faith, my choice".
School security removed journalists trying to cover the protest.
I don't think any kind of religious official should be hosted in a taxpayer-funded building with the clear intention of persuading minors to be baptized after school hours," Hebert said. During the walkout, he carried a sign that read, "My rights are negotiable."
More than 1,000 students attend Huntington High. Cable County Schools spokeswoman Jade Flowers said the money restoration took place during COMPASS last week, a daily, scheduled "non-teaching" break during which students can study for tests and work on college preparation. Or listen to guest speakers.
Flowers said the event was voluntary, organized by the school's Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He said there should have been a sign-up sheet for the students, but two teachers brought their entire class by mistake.
"It's unfortunate that this happened," Flowers said. "We are not sure if this will ever happen again."
But in this community of less than 50,000 people in southwestern Virginia, the controversy has sparked a wider debate over whether religious services - whether volunteering or not - should be allowed at all during school hours. A parent group, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, and other organizations say the answer is no. He said such incidents were a clear violation of students' civil rights.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting the separation of church and state, wrote in a letter: Offer unique access to proselytizing. " School district. The letter states that the district "cannot allow its schools to be used as recruitment grounds for churches".
At last week's assembly at Huntington High, a sermon was delivered by Nick Walker, a 25-year-old evangelist preacher at the Nick Walker Ministries, who has been leading the revival in the Huntington area for more than two weeks.
During assemblies,
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