Today, April 5, 2013, the day before my high school’s prom, Siran Stacey was hired to speak at an assembly. I was actually looking forward to hearing his story and his message: Don’t drink and drive. However, his message was much different than I expected. In fact, I am writing my principal, the board of education, and my senators. The sermon I heard at school today was completely immoral and unlawful.
Mr. Siran Stacey proved to be a homophobic and sexist preacher that my school paid to feed my peers and I religious propaganda.
The things Mr. Stacey said have led me to believe that my school endorses Christianity over other beliefs. My administrators allowed an entire auditorium of students to hear that homosexuality is sinful and that a human’s self-worth comes from God. Mr. Stacey shamed women who choose to have sex before marriage, and spoke of abortion as if he could possibly understand how a woman would feel when facing such a decision. What can I do to improve such a biased school system? How is it that this man was allowed to preach to me? Why did I miss class to be fed religious propaganda? Something is very, very wrong here, and I need someone to hear me. Someone needs to say, “This is not okay.” I cannot undo the things my peers were taught in the school’s auditorium today. I cannot change the fact that there may have been a 16 year old girl or boy in the audience struggling with their sexual identity. I cannot change the fact that the administration at my school allowed a grown man to tell such a student that they are sinful and evil. I cannot change the fact that there were young women in the audience who made the decision to have an abortion. I cannot change the fact that these girls were shamed in front of all their peers.
I see my school system falling apart at the seams. Thankfully for me, I am graduating and moving on. However, I cannot abandon my fellow students. I cannot allow them to be manipulated through a supposedly unbiased school system.
Important Supreme Court cases to note on this subject:
Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 1992
Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 1962
Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 1963McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203 1948
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290 2000
This is my school and my friend. Please reblog this so we can make it known and better improve a biased school system.
(Source: toughgrrl, via ech0esofsilence)
