CBEB’s

This story has been circulating around the blogosphere, although I forget where I read it first. Some of you may already be aware of Wesley Crawford, the Mississippi high school student who wrote a letter to his local paper complaining about religious assemblies at his school. As one might expect, the situation has only gotten uglier since the letter was published.

The Mississippi Atheists blog is soliciting letters of support for Mr. Crawford, as the threats have already started. If you’d like to offer some encouragement to this brave young man, he may be reached at this address: wesleycrawford *at* tds *dot* net. Be polite, and keep in mind that he’s not an atheist (although that soon might change once he’s received enough of that “Christian love”).

Also - and readers might like this - The Hattiesburg American has a message board, and Mr. Crawford’s letter has become a hot topic. The first several pages are pretty reasonable, but the last 5 or so pages have some good stuff. The thread has already provided a new addition to the RTQG.

The most ridiculous argument on the thread is the “he didn’t follow proper procedure” argument. There’s no chain of command for public school students; was he supposed to report the Church & State violation to his homeroom Student Council representative? The hall monitor, perhaps? I also like the “a 9th grader couldn’t write such an eloquent letter” arguments. If you’re an adult who lends any credence to creationism, then it might boggle the mind to think that a high school freshman can write a coherent letter to the editor, but the rest of us know that there’s some pretty smart young’uns out there.

This case promises to be interesting, and it looks like it might get ugly. I certainly hope that young Mr. Crawford doesn’t back down in the face of threats and harassment. Crap like this is common throughout the American South, so maybe his bravery will inspire other students to make a stand.