According to the The Washington Post, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Texas sent the Frisco school district superintendent a letter expressing concern about a spare classroom being used, in part, for group prayer by Muslim students. This is only three months after Attorney General, Ken Paxton, made headlines when he helped a school nurse sue the Killeen school district for forcing her to take down a six-foot poster that read: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord.” In a letter regarding the poster, Paxton wrote, “These concerns are not surprising in an age of frivolous litigation by anti-Christian interest groups … Rescind this unlawful policy.”
The Letter
In the most recent OAG letter, Deputy Attorney General, Andrew Leonie, wrote sanctimoniously about “the ‘twin guarantees’ of freedom for the exercise of religion and from the establishment of religion by the government,” stating that Liberty High School is mostly “emblematic” in this regard. However, Leonie and his colleagues expressed concern at the school’s use of an open classroom as a prayer room “’dedicated to the religious needs of some students,’” saying that the school’s “policy should be neutral toward religion.”
The OAG cited an article written by Marisa Uddin, an 11th grader at Liberty High School. Uddin’s article included an interview with Principal Scott Warstler, wherein he said: “We have other religious student groups that meet maybe before school or maybe after school. As long as it’s student-led […] we […] allow them their freedom to practice their religion.” Even so, the OAG letter railed against the Principal’s policy, claiming that “such a practice […] is irreconcilable with our nation’s enduring commitment to religious liberty,” citing the First Amendment.
In response to allegations that the room is reserved exclusively for Muslim prayer, Chris Moore, a school district spokesman, said, “All sorts of folks use it. Muslims pray, Baptists pray, Catholics pray, Buddhists pray, Hindu students pray.”
Why Make These Claims?
In light of Paxton’s vehement support of religious speech in schools, the recent letter from the OAG raises questions as to the Attorney General’s intentions. According to the Texas office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the letter was a “cheap Islamophobic publicity stunt that could very well result in increased bullying of Muslim students.” And, according to a Houston Press report, immediately after receiving the OAG letter, Jeremy Lyon, the superintendent of the school district, wrote that the “Press Release,” put out prior to the letter, “appears to be a publicity stunt.” Confident in his position, Lyon requested “any and all evidence the OAG has in its possession of any religious group and/or individual requesting access to this room or any other room for their religious practices.” Finally, Lyon went on to clarify that Frisco Independent School District does indeed comply with federal and state law, specifically the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Attorney General Paxton attempted to interfere with the ability of a few students to pray without extra burden. As Mr. Warstler put it, “we gave them a space to [pray] so they didn’t have to be in a car traveling thirty minutes each way on a Friday missing an hour, hour and a half, of class.” Should the energy of the OAG really go toward the disruption of such harmless activities? Muslim students should not be made to feel unsafe at school, and considering the fact that the number of hate groups targeting Muslims tripled in 2016, the OAG’s allegations can only add fuel to the fire of islamophobia.
Leave a Comment