A group of students from Huntington, West Virginia reportedly held a protest recently against their school for forcing them to attend a Christian event.
Christian News Now said the group of students were from Huntington High School, which had a population of more than 1,000. The students accuse the school of violating their constitutional rights for having them attend the Fellowship of Christian Athletes assembly that featured traveling evangelist Nik Walker of Nik Walker Ministries.
Church Leaders reported the assembly, which occurred during class break period, required voluntary preregistration. However, two teachers took their entire homeroom classes to the assembly without realizing it was supposed to be voluntary.
As a result, high school senior Max Nibert led a protest during break period on Wednesday. The protest involved hundreds of students-approximately 200 as estimated by Nibert--that participated the walkout.
Accordingly, the big turnout is a result of the invite Nibert posted online. The invite also included a request that the teachers be given disciplinary actions for forcing the students to attend the assembly. Nibert also disclosed online that copies of the said invitation were forwarded to the Cabel County Board of Education and the WCHS Eyewitness News.
"I've been contacted by many community members that would like to attend the walk-out at Huntington High. I would love to see you there! However, please note that I cannot make any promises about the school's response. If you decide to come, please help us achieve our mission of a respectful but passionate display. Your support is so appreciated," Nibert announced in Facebook.
The invite raised that "if a revivalist Christian sermon can be held for students, we claim the absolute ability to protect the violation of our rights that accompanied the sermon during the same period."
"When you try to indoctrinate young people like that especially just totally disregarding the separation of church and state in this country, it's mind-boggling and it's disappointing," Nibert sa.
Besides Nibert, other students and their parents also came to the open and complained against the school. Cameron Mays, a 16-year-old student who was taken to the assembly by one of the teachers, felt confusion for being there. A session in the assembly asked participants to "bow their heads and close their eyes" with the invitation "to give their lives over to Jesus."
Mays got in touch with his father to ask if it was "legal" for him to be there in the first place. Mays also told his father that he witnessed school administrators and faculty members attending as though they were in a church service.
Another student complained to his mother since he was "unwillingly taken to the assembly." The said student, whose name was not disclosed, happened to be Jewish.
"He told me the teacher made the whole class go to the auditorium, and they were having a sermon. He said, 'I've asked to leave and I am not allowed to leave.'" The mother of the Jewish student said.
"I was brought up in a small Baptist church in Southern West Virginia, so this is not knocking Christianity. It's just saying that it was against the rights of my child and others mandated to go to this event," she clarified.
