The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has announced a complaint against an Alabama teacher for allegedly proselytizing his students.
According to a letter from the FFRF, a “concerned” parent from Shelby County Schools has informed the FFRF that their child’s teacher has been proselytizing to students and has been exhibiting “other concerning behavior.”
The letter claims that Alan Waring, a biology teacher at Calera High School, sent his students home with religious materials and also signed a student’s yearbook with a religious message.
Administrators with Calera High School have not responded to multiple inquiries from 1819 News regarding the status of the teacher after the FFRF’s complaint.
According to the FFRF, the handout Waring gave to students was titled, “God loves you and He has a plan for your life.”
FFRF described the tract as a “bizarre religious screed meant to indoctrinate students into Christianity.”
The handout reportedly details Christian beliefs about Jesus as savior of the world and ends by stating, “Regardless of your feelings towards Jesus, how much you agree with Him or disagree with Him, you will bow before The King. You will bend your knee, and you will confess with your mouth that He is the Lord, even if you hate Him.”
Further, the FFRF claims that Waring wrote a religious message in his student’s yearbook.
“You are designed for a grand incredible purpose that has cosmic significance,” the inscription read, according to FFRF. “The God of the Universe, your creator and mine, has made a way for men and women to commune with Him and to be found in Him. This purpose is tied up in His identity, who He is, God is triune, three persons one God. God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Father… He desires a corporate Bride for the Son, Jesus Christ. He desires children for His family, sons and daughters reconciled to the Father.”
The FFRF has sent a letter to school officials, imploring them to intervene.
“If the district continues to turn a blind eye to the overt proselytization occurring in Mr. Waring’s classroom, it becomes complicit in an egregious constitutional violation and breach of trust,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line wrote to the counsel for the school district. “The district must make certain that none of its employees are unlawfully and inappropriately indoctrinating students in religious matters by discussing their personal religious beliefs, preaching, handing out religious materials, or otherwise creating a religious environment in their classrooms.”
While the FFRF did not openly call for the termination of Waring, it did intimate that other schools have terminated employees for similar conduct, and judges have affirmed those terminations.
“This sort of abusive conduct cannot be tolerated in our public schools,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The freedom of conscience of students, especially those belonging to minority religions — and no religion at all — is in grave jeopardy under such teachers.”
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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