A high school student in White Oak, Texas recorded their high school principal reciting verses from the Christian Bible as a part of each morning’s school announcements.

The student — who asked to remain anonymous — provided the recordings to Patheos blogger Hemant Mehta, also known as The Friendly Atheist.

“Every morning, students at White Oak High School in Texas hear their morning announcements along with a daily Bible verse read by Principal Dan Noll,” wrote Mehta. “If you’re thinking that sounds illegal, you’d be right. The 1963 Supreme Court case Abington School District v. Schempp put a stop to school-sponsored Bible readings and subsequent rulings have only affirmed that idea.”

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Nonetheless, Noll persists in peppering his daily address to students with Bible quotes, recordings of which are embedded below:



Proverbs 28:10: He who leads upright along an evil path will fall into his own trap, but the blameless will receive a good inheritance.



Proverbs 15:8: The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him…A moment of silence.



Luke, Chapter 1, Verse 38: Surrendering is the best demonstration in obedience and trust.

Mehta noted that the Luke citation is factually incorrect.

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“So not only is Noll illegally reading Bible verses to students via the loudspeaker every morning, he’s not even doing it correctly,” said Mehta.

The actual quote found in the Book of Luke, Chapter 1, Verse 38 is “‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.”

Mehta said, “These beliefs are perfectly fine for Noll to have privately. But the preaching has to stop the moment he puts on the Principal hat. Students aren’t targets waiting to be converted — certainly not while Noll is on the clock.”

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The blogger said that he has contacted the Freedom from Religion Foundation and is awaiting comment by them and by Principal Noll.