When I first saw this Qpolitical meme with its message of sweeping ignorance (276,000+ likes and counting) come across my Facebook feed, I rolled my eyes and shared it to the Friendly Atheist Facebook page for our followers to demolish:

I included the caption, “Agreed. Is someone trying to take that right away? If so, it’s news to us.”

Disliking the viewpoint expressed in a meme is one thing — the message being objectively wrong is another.

In typical persecuted Christian fashion, they created a controversy out of thin air and waged war in defense of religious freedom, one that extends only to those who love Jesus. In reality, public school teachers and students alike have every right to pray in school, and nobody is trying to take that away. To the contrary, the vast majority of secularists will defend your right to pray anywhere you choose.

That’s the beauty of religious freedom as granted by the First Amendment. It protects your right to practice your religion freely, just as it protected you from the religious impositions of others.

To demonstrate how church/state separation advocates are the true defenders of religious freedom, I’ve manipulated Qpolitical’s meme a bit… I doubt they’ll mind.

#1)

Absolutely agreed.

#2)

Agreed, totally.

#3)

I fully agree. Isn’t this what you’re in support of, persecuted Christians?

#4)

I’m agreeing so hard right now.

#5)

N to the O, NO!

Teacher-led prayer in a public school is violating the religious freedom of any child who is not compliant. Prayer should not be forced on any student or faculty member, including over the loudspeaker, or at after-hour school functions such as sporting events.

If you don’t agree with #1 – #4, it’s time you ask yourself why you’re so opposed to religious freedom.



