Robertson County School Targeted By Atheist Organization For Including Biblical Value In Lesson On Service To Others

White House Heritage High School Hosted A Member Of Middle Tennessee Fellowship Of Christian Athletes Who Led A Lesson On Service During A School Basketball Practice. The Lesson Provoked The Attention Of Well-Known And Historically Aggressive Atheist Organization.

Image Credit: © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro / CC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –

A Robertson County school is being targeted by a well-known and historically aggressive atheist organization.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national organization whose mission is “to promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.” 

The ”separation of church and state” is a common response when there is an objection to Biblical values being taught in public schools. In reality, the phrase is not even found in The Constitution, but rather is in reference to a well-known letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists. 

In that circumstance, these people were seeking the advice of Jefferson because they wanted the state of Connecticut to remove all laws that related to promoting an established religion in the state. 

Jefferson said, “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.” 

In plain speech, the government can’t make everyone be a Baptist, they can choose to worship however they see fit. The context was clearly not meant to be taken that religion or biblical values should not be intermingled with government and its function. 

According to reports, in Robertson County, White House Heritage High School hosted Andrew Fortner, a member of Christian organization, Middle Tennessee Fellowship of Christian Athletes, who led an exercise or lesson on service during a school basketball practice on Nov. 1. 

During this exercise, where the members of the basketball team washed each other’s feet, Fortner read the passage of scripture, John 13:4-6, “so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”” 

The passage as many Christians know is about service to one another, in humility no matter who you are, and Jesus being an example of that service. 

It was this lesson that provoked the attention of the atheist organization to ask Robertson County Schools to investigate what they are characterizing as “proselytizing” and “ensure that the White House Heritage High School basketball program ceases infusing the program with religion.”

Samantha Lawrence, a legal fellow with the organization, said “It is illegal for public school athletic coaches to invite and allow a religious organization’s representative to proselytize students or require student athletes to participate in religious activities, including washing students’ feet in order to mimic a story from the Bible”. 

Lawrence is referencing past precedent from Supreme Court rulings which were from 1962 and 1963, when prominent atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hare used the US courts to wage war against prayer in public schools, and found some success. 

However, in 2022, Kennedy V Bremerton held that a football coach’s prayer with players on a football field was in fact, constitutional. 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sees the event at the school as a “violation of the 1^st Amendment” because it was a school sponsored event, that was “infused” with religion…and not that a coach was exercising their 1^st Amendment right to free speech and religious expression. 

Jim Bellis who is the Communications Coordinator for Robertson County Schools characterized the allegations as being “unfounded” but otherwise had no other reported response.

About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member.  Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.