A Religious Right group in Kentucky is calling on parents to demand the right to deliver “inspirational messages” during public school assemblies, and they’re providing some interesting “facts” to make their case.

The Kentucky chapter of the American Family Association (AFA) just released a petition that declares, in no uncertain terms, that prayer in schools will take us back to Jesus and best of all, boost student test scores, lower the crime rate and even decrease the rate of HIV infection.

“After prayer was removed from our schools, teen pregnancy went up 500%, STD’s went up 226%, violent crime went up 500% and SAT scores went down for 18 years in a row, opening the door for the AIDS epidemic and the drug culture,” asserts the petition.

Take that, science!

The AFA blames “anti-God” forces for this moral decay and draws inspiration for their petition from new laws in Mississippi and Florida. These laws allow children to give “inspirational messages” in school assemblies. That means school prayer, according to the group, and they’re demanding that Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear adopt similar legislation.

The AFA likely got its “facts” from David Barton, the Religious Right’s preeminent pseudo-historian, who also attributes pretty much every bad thing that has happened in America over the past 50 years to Engel v. Vitale, the landmark 1962 Supreme Court ruling that struck down mandatory, coercive forms of school-sponsored prayer.

In fact, the belief that if one event occurred after another, the first must have caused the second is a common logical fallacy. The two may be related, but some proof is needed, not just an assertion. This is the sort of thing you learn in day one of a course in logic or critical thinking, so naturally I wouldn’t expect anyone at the AFA to know it.

More: Prayer Panacea?: Ky. Group Says ‘Inspirational Messages’ in Public Schools Will Solve Several Ills