The atheist Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) recently set it sights on a Kansas teacher after complaints that the teacher was having students perform Christian worship music. The complaint came from a parent whose student attends Challenger Intermediate School in the Goddard Unified School District in Goddard, Kansas. In its letter to the district, the FFRF claimed the teacher had begun teaching the songs October 25^th and had included “Praise His Holy Name” and “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel.” The parent also informed the FFRF that the teacher had taught lessons on the Biblical story of Daniel. According to the FFRF, the lyrics of the songs are “overtly religious” and that while there were certain situations where teaching religious songs in public schools in certain contexts may be permissible, these particular songs, according to the FFRF, do not “serve any sort of legitimate secular purpose.”

“We write to request that the District immediately investigate this situation and ensure that [name redacted] ceases teaching students religious worship songs and biblical stories. The District’s choir programs must focus on teaching secular music and lessons, not religious devotional music and bible stories,” the letter demanded. It also insisted that there is “no need” for students to be taught religious worship music. The FFRF also stated the district was in violation of the First Amendment. “By coercing sixth grade students to sing overtly Christian worship music in its choral program, the District demonstrates favoritism towards religion over nonreligion, and Christianity over all other faiths. This favoritism towards Christianity needlessly alienates all students and families, such as our complainant and their child, who do not subscribe to Christianity, including those students who are a part of the 49 percent of Generation Z who are religiously unaffiliated.”

The district superintendent, Justin Henry, responded to the letter, thanking the FFRF. “Since receiving your email on Nov. 29, we have had the opportunity to provide the teacher with this information and will be planning a meeting with all district choir instructors to ensure they understand the information,” Henry wrote. A local news station stated that following the complaint, parents interviewed about the lessons either said they supported the teacher or did not care. The FFRF stated it was pleased with the school’s actions. “FFRF is glad the district was able to change its tune to one that respects the Constitution,” the group wrote on its website. It quoted FFRF Co-President, Annie Laurie, who said, “There’s a distinct difference between a public school choir and a church choir, and the district did well recognizing that. It’s not a teacher’s job to convert a student to their religion, no matter what tools they use to do so.”