CASE WATCH::Mississippi Teacher Calls Atheist Student a “Fool,” Humanist Group Intervenes

In a letter sent to officials and attorneys at Rankin County School District in Flowood, Mississippi, the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center decries a teacher’s unconstitutional and disparaging remarks about atheists.

Sent on behalf of a parent whose child attends Northwest Rankin High School, the letter describes a history teacher who frequently made disparaging remarks about atheists and promoted Christianity during class. The teacher, also a pastor of Rehobeth Baptist Church, recently announced to his class, “Atheists are throwing a fit because they don't have their own day. They do have their own day; it’s called April Fools’ Day, because you are a fool if you don't believe in god.” The letter states that, as atheists, the student and parent feel unwelcome in the district because of the teacher’s insults.

This is not the first instance of the school district endorsing religion. In 2013, a former student and the American Humanist Association filed a lawsuit challenging the district’s practice of holding religious assemblies. The judgment, favoring the American Humanist Association, included a consent decree requiring the district to stop the assemblies. In July 2015, a United States District Court granted a motion for contempt filed by the American Humanist Association’s legal center, which ruled that the district defied the consent decree by sponsoring an award ceremony with Christian prayers and by permitting Bible distribution in an elementary school. The court’s order states that the district will be fined $10,000 for each future infraction.

Mississippi Teacher Calls Atheist Student a “Fool,” Humanist Group Intervenes