Atheists Object to NC Public School Fundraising for Christian Ministry
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sarah Henry, (202) 238-9088, shenry@americanhumanist.org
(Washington D.C., February 14, 2019) – Attorneys at the American Humanist Association (AHA) sent a letter to Elkin City Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Myra Cox, warning the school district about their unconstitutional fundraising efforts on behalf of a local Christian ministry. Elkin City Schools’ social media broadcast teachers’ and students’ fundraising for Stone’s Throw Christian Ministries, a self-proclaimed religious organization that “works to provide goods and services to other agencies and ministries allowing them to show the love of Jesus Christ.”
“A religious organization being funded by the activities of taxpayer-funded public schools is wholly inappropriate,” explains David Niose, legal director at the American Humanist Association. “Non-Christian families and taxpayers find it problematic that Elkin City Schools displayed such a blatant disregard for the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.”
According to one social media post from Stone’s Throw Christian Ministries, which was subsequently shared on the Elkin City Schools’ Facebook page, a donation of $900 was paid to the ministry as a result of the fundraising activities.
“It’s disappointing to see public schools favor a sectarian program like this,” says Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the AHA. “There are so many religiously neutral charities that these students could be working with to create positive change in their community.”
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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.
Special thanks to the Louis J. Appignani Foundation and the Herb Block Foundation for their support of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center.