A pupil who led the battle to force a school to tear down a ‘religious’ banner is facing vicious abuse from online commenters, who say she ‘brought hatred upon herself’.
Cranston West High School has covered up the banner encouraging its pupils to be kind to one another while it appeals against a judge’s decision that it violated the First Amendment.
Atheist student Jessica Ahlquist, who said the banner was offensive to non-Christians, has been the target of religious web users angry at the decision.
One man posted a message on Twitter saying: ‘I want to punch the girl in the face.’
A woman posted: ‘I hope there’s lots of banners in Hell when you’re rotting in there you atheist f***.’
Another sent her a message saying: ‘How does it feel to be the most hated person in RI? You’re a puke and a disgrace to the human race.’
Miss Ahlquist is now considering whether or not to stay at the Rhode Island school, and said: ‘The friends I lost weren’t friends in the first place.’
The banner at Cranston West was judged to promote religion because it takes the form of a prayer addressed to ‘Our Heavenly Father’ and concluding ‘Amen’.
Apart from its opening and closing, the banner does not appear to have an overtly religious message.
It asks that students should have ‘the desire to do our best’, should ‘be kind and helpful to our classmates and teachers’ and ‘bring credit to Cranston High School West’.
School officials argued that the banner, which had been hanging in the auditorium for nearly 60 years, was a historical artifact.
But U.S. District Court judge Ronald Lagueux ruled in Miss Ahlquist’s favour, deciding that the presence of the banner in school violated the separation of church and state.
David Bradley, who wrote the prayer as a seventh-grader in 1963, told WPRO he was angry about the decision.
‘I am upset, disappointed and not to say outraged,’ he said. ‘It’s a shame that some judge with an appointment out of a Cracker Jack box can make a ruling like that.’
He described Miss Ahlquist as a ‘trained seal’ who was being controlled by the American Civil Liberties Union.
But the pupil, a junior, today described her delight at her victory in the case.
‘I’m so glad and proud that the right decision was made and that the constitution was upheld,’ Miss Ahlquist said.
‘This country was founded to be a secular country. We’re supposed to keep church and state separate so people can have their rights and their freedom to choose. And I think that this lawsuit is a reflection of that.’
The decision was supported by Lincoln Chafee, independent Governor of Rhode Island, who said: ‘This is a clear-cut violation of the constitution.’
Watch the ACLU Press Conference with Jessica Ahlquist
See the screenshots of the worst threats at: jesusfetusfajitafishsticks.blogspot.com
