In addition to surviving the novel coronavirus pandemic, students at a public high school in Huntington, West Virginia, apparently also fight to have their basic freedom of religion respected while in the building. What happened? As reported by the Associated Press, teachers (mistakenly) required a group of students to attend an assembly involving an evangelical preacher telling students to dedicate their lives to Jesus. If you went to a private school, you might be thinking, “Eh, weird, but par for the course.” But this is at a public high school.

Luckily students are well aware of the difference and why it matters in this case as they are now protesting after being forced to attend the event. The school’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA—more on this group later) put on the Christian revival assembly, which featured Nik Walker of Nik Walker Ministries. In protest, more than 100 students walked out of homeroom on Wednesday, Feb. 9, and chanted “My faith, my choice,” reminding folks that the separation of church and state is … a very important thing. Dozens have also signed a petition asking for an apology from the administration.

Max Nibert, a senior at the high school, was involved in organizing the student walkout. In speaking to the outlet, Nibert (rightly) said no “religious official” should be “hosted in a taxpayer-funded building” with the “express purpose of trying to convince minors to become baptized after school hours.”

Jedd Flowers, a spokesperson for the school, said the assembly was optional, not required. Flowers said the revival took place during a free period, but two teachers accidentally told their students they had to attend the assembly.

But obviously, this situation highlights important questions: Are students going to feel isolated or outcast if they don’t attend? Will they feel judged by people with power, like teachers or coaches? Should these sorts of activities be held on public school grounds, during school hours, at all?

Parent Jana Tigchelaar raised this argument in speaking to local outlet WCHS, saying, “Even if it was volunteer-only, this kind of religious event should not have happened in a public school setting during the school day at all.”

“I’m not knocking their faith, but there’s a time and place for everything – and in public schools, during the school day, is not the time and place,” Bethany Felinton told the outlet. She says her son—who is Jewish—asked to leave the assembly and was told he couldn’t. 

At least one reporter says she was turned away from covering the student protest, saying officials told her it was because it wasn’t an official school-sanctioned event.

Now, if you aren’t familiar with the FCA, it’s an international nonprofit group that was founded with the explicit goal of spreading Christianity through sports from the middle school through college level and into professional leagues. Much of its original ministry was rooted in homophobia, according to Out Sports. As reported by LGBTQ Nation, the group still holds a lot of regressive views. For example, the group reportedly espouses that marriage is between “one man and one woman,” that sex should only be between one man and one woman, and that marriage is the “foundation” of family and society.

According to LGBTQ Nation, these views are highlighted in a “sexual purity” document, but that appears to no longer be available on the group’s website at the time of this writing. According to the outlet, the group also believes “each person’s gender is determined by biological sex” as opposed to one’s “self-perception.” Sad, but not surprising.

According to Out Sports, faith mission statements for the group also make it clear that openly LGBTQ+ people cannot hold positions of power within the group, including both students and coaches.

You can check out some footage from the protest below, courtesy of the AP.

YouTube Video