Atheists Warn Indiana Superintendent against Unconstitutional Christian Promotion

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Sarah Henry, (202) 238-9088, shenry@americanhumanist.org

David Niose, (202) 238-9088, dniose@americanhumanist.org

(Washington D.C., February 7, 2019) – Attorneys at the American Humanist Association (AHA) sent a warning letter to Dr. Jerry Sanders, superintendent of the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation in response to his promotion of Christian ideology. Sanders sent a letter on school district letterhead describing his religious beliefs, quoting scripture, and requesting that local clergy pray for him and the school district.

“A school superintendent, acting in his official capacity, writing on school letterhead, should not be promoting his personal religious beliefs and encouraging religious practices,” explains David Niose, legal director at the AHA. “This is insensitive to religious minorities and offensive to the separation of church and state.”

“This violation of the Establishment Clause, and a blatant show of disrespect to the many non-Christian residents of the school district,” notes American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt.

View the letter sent by Dr. Sanders to local clergy here.

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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

Special thanks to the Louis J. Appignani Foundation and the Herb Block Foundation for their support of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center.