WND 11/10/2023
Settlement-like 'resolution' avoided formal jury determination of liabilityA Christian student who accused her public school of forcing her into idol worship has been awarded $150,000 in a religious discrimination lawsuit.
The student, Mariyah Green, explained to Fox News Digital that she was ordered, by Chicago Public School staff members, to meditate during a required "quiet time," bow to a "deity" she didn't recognize and internalize mantras to reach "zen."
Such rituals are common in Hinduism.
But she told Fox News, "I'm a very strong Christian."
She explained her surprise, and concern, over the instructions.
"Like, I'm in school right now, why is we learning how to meditate in this way? I just knew it wasn't right. So that's what made me take the initiative and go home to tell my parent and my auntie, who was my pastor at the time, that I didn't feel comfortable with what they was enforcing on me at school," she explained.
The lawsuit against the school charged that the required rituals violated her faith.
The district said it did not violate any student's constitutional rights, but it abruptly ended the program in 2020.
It did admit using a "meditation-based social-emotional learning tool" called Quiet Time.
More:
https://www.wnd.com/2023/11/150000-penalty-school-accused-forcing-student-worship-idols/
