A mother in the US sued her daughter's school district on Monday, alleging pervasive promotion of Christianity, King5.com reported.
Christy Cole of Sibley, Louisiana, filed her federal lawsuit on behalf of her daughter, Kaylee, a junior at Lakeside Junior/Senior High School in Sibley, according to the lawsuit. It details more than 30 specific incidents of allegedly unconstitutional use of religion in schools, including science teachers calling evolution a 'fairy tale', teachers waving a Bible at students while objecting to a card game, and teachers punishing or criticising students who refused to participate in classroom prayers.
In a bizarre twist, Cole says was raised as a Christian.
'Ms Cole was raised as a Baptist and deeply values her religious beliefs,' the lawsuit said. 'She objects to and is offended by Defendants' conduct because it promotes beliefs to which she and her daughter do not subscribe, co-opts her faith for official government purposes, promotes religious favorites, and usurps her role.'
Lawyer Bruce Hamilton of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana filed the suit in US District Court.
Webster Parish School District board, Superintendent Johnny Rowland and Lakeside Principal Denny Finley were named as defendants.
'As a parent, I was alarmed and offended that the school district would pressure my daughter into reciting prayers and participating in religious rituals that she doesn't believe in,' Cole said in a statement provided by the ACLU.
'I believe that praying in public is a sin and that our religious faith is between us and God,' she added. 'The government simply has no business strong-arming my daughter into practicing a certain faith.'
According to the lawsuit, 'The Webster Parish School District has a longstanding custom, policy, and practice of promoting and inculcating Christian religious beliefs by sponsoring religious activities and conveying religious messages to students, including by broadcasting prayers daily over school speakers'.
It further alleges that promoting religion has become so ingrained in district schools that 'virtually all school events,' including sports games, assemblies and graduations, have school-sponsored Christian prayers, religious messages or proselytising.
The daughter, Kaylee Cole, was raised Baptist and Methodist but now considers herself agnostic, according to the lawsuit.
'K.C. has been mocked by teachers for questioning religious doctrine they espoused,' the lawsuit alleges. 'And she feels ostracized among her peers for her recent acts of dissent and because she does not share the religious beliefs promoted by her teachers and her school. ... Her experience of her schools' religious practices has made her depressed, exhausted, upset, and distraught.'
