Lawsuit: Louisiana students were tricked into going to church instead of a college fair (Livestream) 

My daughter is a special education student in 2nd grade. A KINDERGARTNER asked her if she believed in god. She said no. I haven’t exposed her to religion other than answering simple questions. That afternoon three different teachers were at my car, she was in tears and confused, and they were politely but aggressively inviting us to church. I was asked where we went. I politely declined their invitations. After I calmed my little one, she explained that after she said no, the other children laughed at her and the teachers didn’t say anything. The bullying continued until dismissal with several other children forcing her to listen to how they loved Jesus and that she would go to hell unless she did too. Every day for the next two weeks I got printed invitations for “the good news club” in her backpack. After I had words with the principal it’s better now, but she is still being bullied by the other children. That special brand of Christian love is something, especially when it’s encouraged in children.

I fucking hate the Christianity bias that exists in this country

If you have to use a bait-and-switch tactic to get people to go to your church event then there's something wrong with your church event.

Religion ruins everything. This field trip sounds like a wonderful way to TURN OFF kids from religion. Anything to keep kids away from religion and on the right path to critical thinking is okay in my book.

"If something has to be kept a secret, it shouldn't be happening at all" says the woman that helped with this secret church service.

I hope they are awarded every dime those programmers ever make and turn that "church" into an LGBTQ disco and community center!

I hate dishonest religious ambushes. Went to a dinner once that was supposed to be a school club event about planning for the future. Instead it was just a bunch of local church people trying to get students to give their lives over to Jesus. I walked out.

I did a 30-year survey.. where every time i met an atheist, I asked if they were raised that way or if they had been raised with religion. Unsurprising, almost all the atheists i asked, were raised going to church, and most grew up attending religious schools. When churches teach hate instead of love, people will stop believing.

When I was a grade school kid in the mid-1970s Midwest, some "friends" from the pool club invited me to join them for an "arts and crafts" day. It sounded good, so my mother approved and they picked me up. To give my experience context, I was never put through religious indoctrination and had never been to church, so I wasn't versed in any Christian nonsense. The event was about five miles from home, and I was 11 years old. EDIT: I also had no idea that this was a Christian event. I did have SOME experience in first grade, when I asked what "under god" meant in the pledge of allegiance. I got laughed at and became a social outcast because of it. I remember seeing people wearing crosses, and the adults seemed very stern. There was prayer before the first craft, and there was a prayer break about half-way through the first craft exercise. The first craft thing was where they gave us a 1" thick square of wood, about 4x4 in size. We had a screwdriver and hammer, as well as paints, glitter, and a brush. The craft was to use the screwdriver to make some type of imprint impression, and the project was to "make something that reminds you of Jesus." I made a Fred Flintstone head. The person in charge of this was confused. This was only the first hour. There was prayer again after the first exercise. I did not pray, as I did not know how and the whole thing felt silly. I have no doubt that they recognized that I wasn't participating in this. The second hour of the FULL DAY was a "question and answer" period. Kids were asking questions about death, dying, and heaven. I was asked if I had any questions. I wasn't certain what a good question would be, and I suspect they asked me this to figure out where I was coming from. So I asked them if I had an arm amputed and died later in age, if my arm would be in heaven waiting for me. They did not like this question and accused me of being "rude and inappropriate." My punishment was to be locked in the playroom by myself while the other kids enjoyed snacks. I was in this room, which had a few toy chests and was big enough for about 40-50 kids to play comfortably. Above each toy chest, at child eye level, were signs that clearly said in all-caps "TITHING IS FUN." I had no idea what that was, but later learned. I did not know how long I would be in the room, and wasn't certain what they were doing next. I didn't know if I'd get to eat. It was terrifying. Then I realized that the room was taking up an entire side of the building on the side that was the direction toward home. I opened a window, jumped out [ground level] and ran about 30 yards into a corn field. Once I got deep into the corn field, I felt safe. Once I was far enough away, I crossed the 2-lane rural highway and hitch-hiked back home. I got lucky that someone who wasn't dangerous picked me up and took me home. When my mother heard my story, we quit the pool club and I never saw these lying Christians again. If you have to LIE to get people to attend your church events, then it's a sign of trouble.

How do you try to convert people to your beliefs by breaking one of the rules of them by lying? oh the irony! These folks are usualy insane.

This whole event was super predatory.

Those who are regularly immersed in evangelical sermonizing really don't understand how ghastly and traumatizing their 'testimony' sounds to normal human beings. They just don't hear the blood, violence, hatred, and horror in their so-called holy word. Just such a message, directed specifically at children, caused me to walk out of the last church service I ever attended. I'd sue their pants off.

As someone who grew up in religion, this kind of “purity talk” did a lot of damage to me. I thought sex was my duty and it caused a lot of pain. I get really nervous about any sexual activity because I was told it was bad. I’ve had to do years and years of therapy to try to rewrite my brain into thinking sex is something you do for fun and not a chore 🙁

It's not hard to figure out why this suit was filed a year later. By now those 2 students who are plaintiffs are at college, and probably out of the area. As a member of a non-Christian religion, and a mother of a trans kid, I'd have waited too. And expected I'd have to move after this suit gets filed. But at least my kid would be out of harm's way.

Dont care the political affiliation or religious affiliation....If my child came home and told me that this had happened, I would be irrate!!! Letters would go out to the school district, the people who organized this crap, mybstate representatives....and I would have called the local news, posted on as many online platforms that I could. Followed by a trip to my attorney!!! Beyond unacceptable. For those who do not care about politics....Be careful! This is what you get if "they" are left unchecked.

When I was a kid, my (non-religious) parents sent me to summer camp. Little did they know it was a stealth Christian camp. They taught stories from the bible without telling you it was from the bible. They never mentioned religion specifically til the end, when they handed out tracts and bibles. When I got older, I was able to process how deceptive it all was. I've never trusted christians since.

The student who wrote the Facebook post was clear, concise, and detailed. Somehow I doubt they have that school district to thank for their eloquence.

This "college fair" was fraudulent. If the world was just, the people that put this on this charade should have been arrested. Absolutely no ethics in this stunt. Tricking kids to come to an activity like this is shameful.

And they wonder why no one wants to go to church. This is horrible.

This is disgusting. Every school administrator, teacher, ect associated with organizing this need to be fired. This is just awful. Those students and parents were tricked into attending a freakin religious event. I hope these parents get together and file a massive lawsuit for this nonsense.

Let them sign up to vote and have everyone register as Democrat. I would have done it, telling them i was going to vote against their bullshit guilt trip.

This just shows that if you can’t indoctrinate them before they are too old to reason, the next best way is to threaten, scare and prey upon grief, tragedy, fear, hurt, etc.

This meets the literal definition of grooming.

When I went to US Army Basic Training in 2009 I tried to bring a biochemistry textbook, which was confiscated from me. The only allowed reading material was religious texts. I tried to argue that as an atheist, my belief system is essentially the scientific method... they told me to shut up and sit down. On Sundays we were given the choice between cleaning the barracks, or going to church service... so I went, usually to a different one each week. It wasn't unpleasant, it was sort of relaxing, but it was also deeply disturbing that the only alternative was religion. I ended up leaving with a bible and quran (that I still keep), because what else was I going to read? The military still says a prayer before and after most events. It's just disappointing that the separation of church and state doesn't apply to the military (inb4 doesn't apply anywhere else either).

We were exposed to these shenanigans when we were children, back in the 1960s. State Schools were heavily influenced by the Church of England at this time. An exciting day out was promised. History, Heritage, Art and Architecture was replaced by a dull service in a C12th Church by an old bloke in a dress. No wonder Christianity is dying on its @rse in the UK.

In my public high school, in 1971 Houston, we students were called into the auditorium for two "magic shows." The "magic" turned out to be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Ha! My irreverent Unitarian youth group heard about the earlier show and we made a plan. On a signal, we all stood and walked out of the auditorium. Every morning in home room, we were expected to stand and recite the Lord's Prayer. I always refused and stepped out to the hall. Our resistance was good but a lawsuit would have been better.

Everything that Christo-fascists do is self justified because they have "the truth." If you tried to do this to them in reverse to say, a Muslim Mosque or a church that worships Poseidon, king of the sea, they would be furious.

The more i hear about Louisiana the more it disturbs me. What the prisons and cops do there make the other states seem civilized.

As a parent my top responsibility is to protect my children from the evil of the world. Evils like Christianity and religion in general.

I had to get bribed with restaurants to go to church once i hit a certain age. 😂 Sorry grandma, not sorry.

Jfc… I can’t imagine being so deluded that you’d think a stunt like this was okay. And I was raised as a fundie. This is so messed up

Was tricked into a Christian retreat in jr high (mid-to-late 80s) - told it was a weekend in the woods, doing things together, building confidence, rapport. The thrice daily prayers and the bonfire hymns, testimonies, and “altar calls” (sans altar) were NOT mentioned in the assembly or permission forms. It was awful, and there was nowhere to go.

I am so sick and tired of these people forcing their beliefs on the rest of us.

This is the beauty of RU-vid. Objectively revealing this religion sponsored activity in concert with the school board and teachers is mind boggling. We need law and order and the administration of law and order.

Evangelicals will spin this and put out claims that they are being sued for sharing the gospel, and that they are being persecuted.

Wow you can get out of a life sentence by changing your mind.....not sure other convicts know that trick.

The second woman says that if something needs to be kept secret, then it shouldn't be happening at all. Funny the organizers felt that they needed the true nature of the event needed to be kept secret.

When i was a kid there was a "public" skate park they built in a church parking lot. It had a fence around it so it could only be used while supervised by an adult. Right before youth group started, they would shut and lock the gate. If you were inside the fence, you had to enter the church to leave. We jumped the fence and didnt go back.

"somehow he changed his mindset and got out of jail." Tell me you've never been to prison without saying you've never been to prison. On a murder conviction with a 90 year sentence, no less. Sure. That happened.

I remember this too and argued with people who felt that the bait and switch was done for their own good. Because being saved was more important than a job or education.

Anyone who subjects me to an unwanted church sermon is going to hear about it in real time. I enjoy calling Christians out on their hypocrisy and I'm not afraid of Christian threats on my safety.

The idea that anyone could possibly believe "Donk's" story is beyond comprehension. If they don't win this lawsuit, it will be a miscarriage of justice to the highest degree.

The law works in mysterious ways...

This happened on a school-day field trip? Taxpayer money went to this use of school time? That's outrageous!

went through the exact same thing in the 80's at a church in ZAR called "The Scripture Union" (or something like that) - had nightmares for ages afterwards after seeing someone being "struck down by the holy spirit" and yelling like a madman in tongues while writhing on the floor. I thought the church was being attacked by terrorists and/or demons and nearly pissed my pants in fear (I was 10 or 11). But, on the positive side, (and apart from actually reading the bible cover-to-cover) this was the spark that started my journey into the light (ie. logical positivism and atheism)....

This case is similar to getting invited to someone’s home for a “social evening” only to discover you have been sucked into a MLM presentation like Amway or some other such sales/marketing scheme. Which, come to think of it, is what many religious bodies are.

I went to high school in Nebraska and we also had a few assemblies that were mandated (no option to opt out, entire class ushered into the autorium by teachers) where they gave talks to girls about not having sex until marriage (with the infamous tape demonstration AND a spaghetti vs. waffles demonstration to show how boys and girls are different???). Definitely religiously charged, AND we ALSO had that lady come and lie about her daughter in Columbine (the "Rachel said Yes" shit) and some other assemblies with graphic stories of drugs, porn addiction, and suicide attempts.

It's called, "lying for Jesus." Eminently google-able.

I’ll admit that I rolled my eyes when I first heard “most were traumatized,” since I don’t generally like others assuming a bunch of other people are or are not traumatized by something but HOLY SHIT I’ll believe it in this case.

This reminds me of a really traumatic event that happened when I was in high school. My school had a woman come in to tell us her story about how her daughter was murdered by her abusive boyfriend. She went into heavy detail about it, even showing pictures. Several people couldn’t handle it and got up to leave the auditorium. The lady went on to tell us that what happened to her daughter led her to become a Christian and she welcomed people to come on stage and pray with her before she left. Another time they showed us a drunk driving prevention video that was made by some of the high school students, but they didn’t tell us that going in. It was set up like a documentary and had very graphic scenes of one of our fellow students dying complete with having one of the local newscasters share the story on air as if it was a real thing. They also had a full funeral service. Many students thought it was a real event and they started crying and some had to leave the room. It wasn’t until after they had showed us the entire video that they let us know it was all staged and the student who “died” was sitting on the front row. The administrators all thought it was a good lesson and were happy with how it went, but tons of kids complained about how traumatizing it was and they even had to bring in a counselor to help people deal with it. This was in a public school in South Carolina in the early 2010’s. My sister went to the same school and they had 2 prayers led by the principal during the graduation ceremony last year. The district sees nothing wrong with any of it though.

Oh my god!! If I heard this from my kid. First thing, report to IRS! That church should lose their nonprofit status!

I hope the people suing will win their cases. This is an outrage!

Students were taken somewhere under false pretenses and they were not free to leave. Food and water was withheld unless they complied with an agenda, which was further duress. How is that not abduction, kidnapping, human trafficking?

Delicious lawsuit. I hope the students win a huge amount from the churches and it forces them to shut down. This is awful 😣

I would've lost my fucking mind on someone. I hated when they did shit like this when I was in a youth group. It was always some sort of fun trip we had to pay for that ended up being a total downer the whole time.

I was at the school this happened to. I'm so glad I decided not to go to that fair, but it happened to all of my classmates. It was a disaster and an enormous outrage. They brought us into a senior-class-wide assembly to advertise the event, and then illegally required that students register to vote in order to be allowed to eat. Multiple violations of various different legal rights. I personally know the kid of the mother mentioned at 14:00.

Another red flag... Selecting a college begins in junior year. So they failed these seniors by doing this in their senior year. If it was a real college fair it would be focused on juniors! 🥴

I would sue the shit out of the school.

“If it needs to be kept secret than it shouldn’t be happening at all.” This alone is such an abusive statement. Because the person who might harm you if they find out can’t possibly be the ones in the wrong. It also seems to directly contradict the “I don’t care if they are gay as long as they don’t shove it in my face” claim, as that is literally just saying “being gay is alright if you keep it a secret”

More like, the girls were given a graphic description of someone who took their life, and the boys were given INSTRUCTIONS. I mean, wtf...

I'm so grateful I never had to grow up in the South or raise my kid there. To suffer these types of demented, dishonest religious fanatics and deep theocratic machinations is beyond imagining. I'm also grateful to my parents for being cool with me quitting church at 17 in the mid-90s.

That's hilarious! These evangelists have no idea how to appeal to young people, and the fantastical lies they tell only make them look like the hypocrites they are.

A fair for all and no fair for anybody! Teach your kids about the concept of "bait and switch", which means when something is presented as one thing but turns into another, there is often criminal intent. (then run)There isn't any way any God would traumatize young people to gain their trust let alone to get them to believe in him. This is the evil of some really sick people who should be called out for their demented actions.

One of the local food banks in the city where I used to live was administered by the Springs Church (Inner City) where they made people sit through a sermon by some "hip" pastor about how fabulous Christianity is before picking up their bi-weekly assortment of completely random food. This usually resulted in a needless half hour or longer delay before the team of fresh-faced kids and well-meaning seniors started dispensing things down in the church basement. They also had a volunteer of some kind hanging about giving prayers and laying on of hands (creepy) while people waited in line, cornered in a stairwell with no way to avoid this weird person. As an atheist, the whole experience was highly annoying, but that's what you had to endure in order to get what usually amounted to about $25-$30 worth of stuff (mostly donations of expired or surplus items that wouldn't sell otherwise, plus potatoes - always plenty of those).

I'm a Louisianan... Sadly, I know nothing will be done about this. That's how f***ed up it is here. Court case will be probably be dismissed.

To the parents who get fired up over grooming and indoctrination etc. This is what it actually looks like in the real world. Tragically, those who get the most fired up about it wouldn’t recognize the irony.

If I had a kid at that event, I would be absolutely furious. I'd have contacted the ACLU as well.

I hope people can help those parents with legal costs.

If this isn't grooming, I don't know what is!

Should we also point out how the far right is against colleges in general, so using 'college' prep as bait was meant to be a debasing switch? They should add the Church into the suit for it's complicity, planning, and interference in publicly funded resources (the school) in order to jeopardize its tax shelter. ALso contact the Department of Education.

What's amazing is the sheer level of entitlement from those organising such batshit crazy nonsense. They really do believe that it's ok to treat people like that and fling their metaphorical poop around.

"If something needs to be kept secret, it shouldn't be happening at all." Oh really, madam preacher? Like keeping it a secret that this was actually a field trip to a church? Good to know! *walks out*

Good! I Sincerely hope this school and church LOSE this lawsuit so they can NEVER do this to children, EVER AGAIN!

When I think about all the times we were traumatized by horrible stories in church in order to scare/guilt us into conforming...

Gut shooting someone, doesn't make your bowels fall out, the hole is far too small.

There's only one word in the fanatics playbook....'deceive'.

That trick should be criminal.

Christianity is subjective depends on what somebody believes the Bible says actually what the Bible actually says. The Republican idea of Jesus Christ is a man with an A.R. 15 chilling, all the people who was sent to save.

Am I the only one who low key feels like some of these "... and I just got up and walked!" stories kind of s*it on people who spent months in rehab learning how to walk again?

"If something needs to be kept secret, than it shouldn't be happening at all." She is right, yet here are all these students kidnapped to a religious event under the guise of some career field trip. If it needed to be a secret, why is it happening than??? And this donk was shot, held his own guts in his own hands, became paralyzed, became unparalyzed, went to prison, on armed robbery, and murder, was sentence to 90+ years, release from prison after 90+ years???? This donk guy is a regular forrest gump, in a bad way.

Wow. Ive lived in East Baton Rouge and find this completely believable

"What book should a person read to become an atheist? The Bible." Nothing could be more true. The wildly implausible nuttiness in that book is off the charts.

Regarding Donk; life + 90 years there is no way he got out of prison because he changed his mind.

An unsurprising action taken by the "parents' rights" crowd. Where were the parents' rights in knowing what this event was gonna be?

Something about a state that calls it's counties "parishes" is really off.

And kids in that district can be hit in those buildings by teachers and admins totally legally.

Offering food for registration seems like that would be illegal.

Hemant is being entirely too charitable. "If you're standing 'Donk' in front of a train, maybe the conductor saw and stopped it." I mean, yeah, IF it happened, then the application of brakes is definitely a plausible explanation, but that said, I believe Donk is... What's the christian term? Oh yeah, bearing false witness.

I am disenfranchised... I was raised Roman Catholic, but find them to be so hypocritical. And I never had this type of experience. I have been helping the local Polish Catholic church, which is more inclusive, but I still refuse to attend the spiritual brow beating sessions.

Sue the church and every individual (NOT just organization) involved.

It is hilarious that religious groups are having to borrow the shady tactics of time-shares in order to "share the good news". I went to a church in the '80s which had an "outreach ministry" to the local homeless shelter. Basically, we tortured the houseless for a couple of hours with bad music and a verbal barrage of shame in exchange for providing a single meal and a place to sleep for a night. I remember the expressions of resentment and despair on the faces of people who despondently watching us. I was an idiotic teen who piously thought I was doing the lord's work, and smugly believing that at 15 years old, I had done everything right, because I had a home provided by my parents and regular meals, also provided by my parents. Those people didn't need Jesus. They needed a permanent place to sleep and regular meals.

Thank you! I very much appreciate you bringing this to our attention. They have absolutely no shame. No one should ever be subjected to this nonsense. I have never been religious, every time I was in church even as a child I always felt I was being lied to. Way to go evangelicals, hate has a home with you.

Fifty years ago, while living temporarily in Phoenix, my husband dropped my two children and me at a park while he continued his job of delivering flowers. Three women started talking to me and were extremely friendly and invited us to a gathering of friends who hung out together and "rapped" (a popular word at that time) about life. Since we were new to the area it sounded nice to meet some friendly people, so we got a baby sitter and went to the address given. Red flags appeared immediately when we kept hearing "Praise the Lord." They herded us inside the building to the buffet dinner and then guided us to the big round table in front of the stage where they were testing the microphone. We ate our dinner, then I turned to the woman next to me who had invited us and said, "You deceived me. If you had told me it was a religious gathering we never would have come." We got up and left and went to see Woody Allen in "Sleeper.'"

I went to college in Baton Rouge, at Louisiana State University. The second-hand cringe-embarrassment is palpable.

If this is a publicly-funded school board, I see a Establishment Clause court case on the horizon also.

I really love made up conversion stories. Oh yeah, I was in prison for life +90 but I got better and they just let me go.

Of course the boys got to have fun while all the horror and responsibility lies with the girls. Totally disgusting and that church needs to be gone.

This was not even a religious event, it was a violent kidnapping.

I'm curious to how "Donk" get out of jail from a Life plus 90 years sentence. I'm sure that's why he gave no real name that could easily be fact checked. I'm gonna add that to my Christians be lying file.

Doesn't the church telling people to vote also mean that said church can be, like. UNchurched? Cause I'm pretty sure religious institutions are NOT ALLOWED to involve themselves politically, or they lose their church status. Like, that's a wholeass LAW. It's literally not legal.