Kentucky
The Fort Campbell School system will not take students to a farm to be preached to after FFRF informed the district of the First Amendment violation taking place there.
A district parent reported that Andre Lucas Elementary School took students on a field trip to the Christian Way Farm. FFRF learned that, at the farm, students were told a story about God which implied there was hate in the children’s hearts, and that God would clean out the hate. A previous telling of the story captured on video and posted to YouTube shows a woman using a pumpkin as a metaphor to tell the story, where the woman begins by asking a group of students to be “pumpkins” during her story so they will sit still and stay quiet.
The video continued with the woman telling the audience that God has come down from heaven and sees hate in their hearts. She explained that the way to remove hate from their hearts and be able to love other people is by allowing God to live inside them. The story concluded by the woman proclaiming that “love looks like Jesus,” and the reason Jesus died on the cross was to teach the students how to love.
FFRF’s complainant stated that the informational packet the school sent home regarding the field trip did not mention the trip would include a religious presentation, and that the religious story about God cleaning out children’s hearts “scared” their child.
“Students have the First Amendment right to be free from religious indoctrination in their public schools, including when attending school-sponsored field trips,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district.
Superintendent Hugh McKinnon wrote back to FFRF after receiving the letter of complaint. “We have thoroughly reviewed the matter and have taken steps to ensure that the material presented by Christian Way Farms in the ‘story time’ segment of the trip will not be a part of any future field trip attended by our students,” McKinnon wrote. “We appreciate you bringing your concerns to our attention and we will use those concerns to ensure that all school activities, including future visits to Christian Way Farm, fully comply with all laws, and are respectful of all views.”
