Updated: Lake Hamilton School Board Stops Opening Meetings With Prayer After Atheist Group Complains

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Updated at 4:39 PM on April 1, 2022:

Based on articles in The Sentinel Record and The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as well as conversations with individuals in Garland County, it seems that the Lake Hamilton School Board members have continued to pray before their meetings, but prayer is not part of the board’s official agenda.

Below is our original article from March 28.

Earlier this month the Freedom From Religion Foundation reported it had successfully stopped the Lake Hamilton School District in Garland County from opening school board meetings with prayer.

In an article dated March 2, the atheist organization wrote,

A concerned parent from Lake Hamilton School District in Arkansas contacted FFRF regarding prayer at school board meetings; a subsequent review of board meeting minutes confirmed that board meetings were consistently opened with prayer.

Board members are free to pray privately or to worship on their own time in their own way, Heineman wrote to the legal counsel for the school board a few weeks ago. However, by praying at official meetings, the school board lends its power and prestige to religion, amounting to a governmental endorsement. And, FFRF pointed out, prayer also alienates nonreligious Americans who make up the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population by religious identification — 35 percent of Americans are non-Christians, including more than one in four Americans who identify as religiously unaffiliated.

The board has quickly responded to FFRF’s missive. Counsel for the board replied that “prayer has been removed from the standard agenda.”

Unfortunately, this is not the first time the Freedom From Religion Foundation has bullied a school district in Arkansas.

In March of 2017 the organization threatened to sue the Harrison School Board for opening board meetings with prayer. School board members voted unanimously to keep praying despite the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s threat.

In December of 2019 Pea Ridge Public Schools suspended public prayer at school board meetings and ballgames following a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

More generally, in 2013 the group threatened legal action against Conway public schools who were letting local youth ministers visit members of their youth groups during lunch at school, and the foundation has complained repeatedly about the fact that Arkansas law lets public schools offer academic courses on the Bible.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation also is one of the groups suing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the Arkansas Capitol lawn.

As we have said before, the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts have ruled time and time again that it is constitutional for public meetings to begin with prayer.

It’s worth noting that across the board, groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation tend to threaten lawsuits. If people stand their ground, these organizations rarely follow through by filing lawsuits.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Atheist Group Chides Governor Hutchinson for Quoting Bible Verses on Facebook

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Above: Governor Hutchinson signs the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law in this file photo from 2015.

Recently the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent a letter to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson chiding him for posting Bible verses on his official Facebook page every Sunday.

The group posted a soundbite on social media, saying, “Freedom of religion is freedom WITHOUT Favor. Our government represents ALL citizens, regardless of faith or belief.”

Governor Hutchinson has routinely shared verses of scripture on his official Facebook page since he was inaugurated in 2015.

Here’s an example of one of the passages that he posted recently from the Psalms:

Unfortunately, atheist organizations have a long history of saber rattling in Arkansas.

In 2017 the atheist group the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to Governor Hutchinson asking him to stop posting scripture every Sunday, but Governor Hutchinson has continued to do so. To date, no one has sued the governor for sharing Bible verses online each week.

In 2016 Americans United for Separation of Church and State unsuccessfully opposed a 40 Days of Prayer event in in El Dorado.

And in 2011 Americans United for Separation of Church and State fought to remove a Nativity scene from a bulletin board at a school in Paragould.

The truth is that elected officials don’t lose their First Amendment freedoms.

By most accounts, the Bible is the single most widely-read book in the history of human civilization, and public speakers, writers, and elected officials have quoted it routinely for centuries.

The President of the United States typically takes the Oath of Office on a Bible.

Elected officials often share well-known, popular, or inspirational quotes via their official social media accounts.

In light of that, why shouldn’t an elected official be able to post a Bible verse on Facebook?

It’s ridiculous to suggest that posting Bible verses on Facebook violates the U.S. Constitution. However, that seems to be what Americans United for Separation of Church and State is doing.

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Trial Over Arkansas’ Ten Commandments Monument Delayed

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A trial over Arkansas’ monument of the Ten Commandments has been postponed due to COVID-19.

In 2015 Sen. Jason Rapert (R – Conway) sponsored a law authorizing a monument of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas State Capitol Grounds.

The monument was paid for with private funds, and it was placed on the Capitol lawn on June 27, 2017.

Less than 24 hours later, a man plowed a vehicle into the monument, completely destroying it.

The monument was rebuilt and replaced on the Capitol grounds in April of 2018.

Shortly afterward, the American Humanist Association, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the Satanic Temple all filed legal challenges to have the monument removed.

The lawsuit was set to go to trial this month, but due to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, the trial is being delayed 60 – 90 days.

As we have written before, Arkansas’ monument of the Ten Commandments is identical to one the U.S. Supreme Court ruled constitutional in Texas in 2005.

Frankly, there just shouldn’t be anything controversial about a monument honoring the significance of the Ten Commandments.

Historians have long recognized the Ten Commandments as one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they have helped shape the laws in countries around the world.

Arkansas’ monument simply honors that legacy.

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