West Virginia High School Students Stage Walkout After They Are Forced To Attend Christian Prayer Event

NEW YORK (VINnews) — Over 100 students, some of whom were Jewish, staged a protest and walked out of the campus of their West Virginia high school after they were forced to participate in an evangelical Christian revival performance Wednesday. Jewish mother Bethany Felinton told local Fox television station WFXR that her son had asked not to participate and to stay in his classroom but was told the classroom was locked and he would have to stay.

“It’s a completely unfair and unacceptable situation to put a teenager in. I’m not knocking their faith, but there’s a time and place for everything — and in public schools, during the school day, is not the time and place,” Felinton said.

An Evangelical Christian preacher who urged students to commit themselves to Christianity spoke at the event, which took place during a daily period set aside for study, prayer or optional guest speakers, students told the AP. The event was organized by a group called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which organizes Christian prayer in schools and communities across the United States and beyond.

The students were asked to raise their arms in prayer and give their lives to Jesus, in order to find purpose in their lives and salvation. The report cited students who reported the speakers had told them that if they didn’t follow the Bible, they would go to hell after they die.

A local district spokesman said that the event was supposed to be voluntary but two teachers “made a mistake and took the entire class to the assembly.” The students walked out later because they claimed their religious freedoms were violated.

A parent reported that “While I was at work, my son texted me a video of basically what was a church service going on at school… I told him I’d be contacting the principal about it, and he said ‘LOL, the principal is here…’ One of the students asked to leave once they were told what was going on, and they were told they couldn’t.”

Max Nibert, the Huntington High School student who organized the walkout, sent the school administration and the Cabell County Board of Education a letter saying the walkout was “an attempt to convey our grievance; response from the administration and the county board of education was not satisfactory.” He added: “Student rights are non-negotiable, and by choosing half-hearted apologies and inaction in the aftermath of what happened, those at fault demonstrated their lack of empathy and concern for our well-being.”

An attorney representing the Freedom From Religion Foundation noted there had been two similar incidents in 2017 involving religious assemblies on campus at the same high school, one of which was supposedly voluntary, but a student reported to the foundation that a teacher mandated it.