Update:
After Satanic Temple made a request to distribute its own reading material at Orange County School District on Religious Freedom Day, which is observed on January 16, the Central Florida school district decided to completely revise its rules of distributing political and religious material on school premises. The decision to review the current policy at the upcoming January 28 school board meeting was made, after Religious Freedom Day had to be shelved at several schools because parents objected to Satanic Temple wanting to distribute a satanic activity book to young students.
Religious Freedom Day could have been observed at these Orange County schools had Satanic Temple been allowed to distribute its own literature like other religious groups have been allowed to do so far or all religious groups been disallowed from doing so in the present and the future. However, since Orange County School District failed to issue the necessary permit to Satanic Temple alone, it translated into the school district discriminating against one religious group only and that very reasoning could be used against the former if the latter did decide to file a lawsuit over the matter.
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High school students in Orange County would have been picking up either Bibles or pamphlets related to atheism on the occasion of Religious Freedom Day, which is observed nationally on January 16, but those plans have been shelved for now after district authorities expressed concerns over a provocative activity book that the Satanic Temple wanted to distribute as well.
“It seems like the momentum right now is to a policy that would exclude all religious materials, which is unnecessary,” said attorney Roger Gannam.
Gannam is one of the lawyers representing the Christian group that has distributed copies of the Bible in Orange County high schools for the last couple of years. He fears his client could lose the opportunity altogether, which is what David Williamson and his atheist counterparts say they have been hoping to accomplish for a long time.
“We don’t want our schools to become religious battlefields,” said Williamson.
Orange County authorities have said they will revise the current policy regarding the materials that can be distributed on campus for students to choose from. Under the existing policy, the Bible and atheist literature can be distributed but the additional request from the Satanic Temple has put district officials in a tight spot. The concerned authorities are expected to meet next two weeks after Religious Freedom Day. The delay has already proved to be a small victory for Williamson.
“We’ve advocated all along to close the forum,” Williamson said.
Photo Credits: New York Daily News
