A federal judge recently allowed a secular organization to distribute anti-Christian and atheistic reading material in public schools across Florida. The decision came despite the reading materials containing offensive language and graphic content.
After the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) discovered that a Christian ministry was distributing copies of the Bible to high school students in Orlando on Religious Freedom Day last year, the secular organization too sought permission to distribute a range of reading material based on their own ideologies within the school district.
Reportedly, the Orange County School Board allowed FFRF to hand out pamphlets and books that had titles such as “What is an Atheist?” and “What’s Wrong with the Ten Commandments?” In fact, some of the material was rather graphic with references to anal sex, oral sex, and abortion. However, the FFRF was disallowed from distributing other reading materials that the school district thought was a bit too disruptive and inappropriate.
In a statement released on July 15, the FFRF congratulated the school district for its decision.
“Satanists can distribute their literature, Muslims can distribute the Quran, and atheists can distribute books that criticize religion,” said FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel.
The organization has promised to distribute “a lot more” secular reading material to students in the future.
“We intend to give out a lot more literature to educate students about atheism and the importance of keeping religion out of public schools. We are even designing new materials specifically for students and families in Orange County,” said FFRF member David Williamson.
Yet many people have voiced their concern over the FFRF’s anti-Christian and atheistic literature, citing its graphic content and saying that it is a bit too candid for a school setting.
“The Christians wanted to only distribute Bibles to those who wanted them—not force them on anyone, not bash other religions… Then the atheists got involved, and they wanted to distribute material, not to promote atheism, but to denigrate Christianity and religion in general. They are not content with presenting their belief system, they have to tear down others belief systems,” said one commentator.
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