Mississippi high school forces students to attend Christian lectures
The school has held at least three mandatory assemblies about finding hope in Jesus Christ this month, according to the lawsuit. The assemblies showed a video laced with Christian messages about overcoming personal hardships through Jesus Christ and were allegedly led by local church officials.
“See, before Jesus came, innocent blood had to be shed for our sins,” one of the church officials allegedly told the students. “There had to be an animal that was sacrificed toatone for our sin. There had to be innocent blood. So Jesus came and he was the innocent blood because he lived a perfect life. He was that innocent blood. See the last few years of Jesus’ life he traveled from region to region and country to country and he had 12 disciples that followed him everywhere. And he talked about the hope he was bringing.”
The assemblies concluded with a prayer and teachers blocked the exits to prevent students from leaving, the lawsuit claimed. A disillusioned student videotaped one of the assemblies.
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You can read the whole complaint here:
44. At no time did the School turn off the video
45. Indeed, the presentation was mandatory and faculty and parents stood near the exit door, preventing students from leaving.
46. A senior friend of M.B. indicated that there were about 20 to 30 staff and about 5 to 10 parents present.
47. The parents were the family members of the Church Representatives.
48. The School’s truancy officer, Jeff White (“Officer White”), harassed several students who attempted to leave and told them to sit back down.