From Pharyngula:A high school student loans a friend, another high school student, his copy of The God Delusion. Two things happen: the friend's father loses his cool and complains to their school, and a school administrator suggests that this was an establishment clause violation. And this was at a school that allowed the Gideons to distribute bibles in the parking lot! Believe it or not, I'm not so worried about the religion/atheism aspect of this story, though it is important. I'm worried about this bit:She told me that in loaning a religious book to another student, I was promulgating my religious beliefs and forcing the school into an establishment clause violation.
WHAT?!
This kid is an Atheist and I am an Atheist and this book is about Atheism. There doesn't seem to be much "promulgation" there. The God Delusion is also not a religious book. I explained to her that Atheism is not a religion, and so the topic of the book is more akin to philosophy and science. One other thing I don't understand is how what goes on between students violates a clause that states the government cannot sponsor a religion. If the school was handing out The God Delusion, it could be seen as an establishment clause violation, but not if it was solely between students.
She also said that since the book was not in line with the school's curriculum, it was inappropriate for school. I then asked her what she meant by this: if I were to be reading it by myself on campus, would I be breaking a rule? According to her, yes. My English class is not allowed to read Grapes of Wrath because it was deemed unsuitable for non-AP classes by the school board. I happen to be a Steinbeck fan. I asked her if it would be inappropriate to read Grapes of Wrath in school. Her answer was, in my case, yes. Better empty the library of all books that aren't in line with the curriculum!
Now, obviously, the establishment cause DOES prevent a school from promoting any religion or lack thereof. It does not, however, prevent students from expressing their own religious views to each other. At least, that is, as long as they aren't disrupting class time to do so. There are student religious organizations and student atheist organizations all over the country, and those are perfectly legal. In fact, this is one of the things that annoys me the most about religious people when they discuss "lack of prayer in school." They're always harping on the idea that schools don't allow students to pray, even though they certainly do.
In fact, the only establishment clause violation I can see here is a school telling a student that he cannot express his own lack of religious views to another student.
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