Let’s talk about the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes)
Yes, FCA usually meets before or after school. That does not make this okay. It never has.
FCA is a national Christian ministry with an explicitly evangelistic mission. And too often, the line between a student’s right to participate in FCA and public-school adults helping FCA recruit students gets treated like it doesn’t exist.
Look at Elmwood:
📖 Bring a Bible to school.
🎟️ Get a ticket from a named adult at school.
🎁 Want a chance at a prize? Show up at FCA.
Now ask the obvious question:
What incentive does the student who doesn’t participate in this Christian activity receive?
Religious freedom protects the Christian student who brings a Bible.
It also protects every student who doesn’t.
Public-school employees should not be running an incentive pipeline into a Christian ministry.
What people are saying:
- Facebook User: well if it isnt the original offender, FCA.
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User YEP.
- Facebook User: This is disgusting
- Facebook User: No, no, no!!!
- Facebook User: Imagine the school promoting an Islam program and handing out appropriate books. This is ridiculous…again..you are free to participate in whatever faith you choose…you are just not entitled to use my money to assist.
- Facebook User: What’s the next step when this happens? Parent outrage? Lawsuits?
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User That’s the hard part — there isn’t one automatic “next step.”
Parents can and should raise it with the district and school board and demand an explanation of how this was approved. Records requests can tell us who organized it, who funded the prizes, and what involvement the district and FCA had behind the scenes. Depending on what those records show, there may also be grounds for a formal complaint or legal challenge.
But this is part of the larger problem: FCA continually pushes the boundary between protected student religious activity and public-school involvement in religious activity, and too often everyone waits for a lawsuit to decide where the line is.
We need to start challenging these practices before they become accepted as normal.
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User That’s the hard part — there isn’t one automatic “next step.”
- Facebook User: Schools must remain neutral towards religion.
They can’t be hostile nor promote!
Either its student led or its not.- Secular Education Association: Facebook User it’s not. But we already know that don’t we?
- Facebook User: Secular Education Association we do
- Facebook User: Facebook User is FCA similar to First Priority?
- Facebook User: Facebook User what’s FP?
- Facebook User: Facebook User https://firstprioritymuskegon231.org/
- Facebook User: Facebook User but I guess it was founded in Irving Texas
- Facebook User: Facebook User Schools should teach the truth – religion is mythology. All of it.
- Facebook User: Facebook User that would also violate the constitution. Neutral- not hostile or promotional.
- Facebook User: Facebook User Pointing out that religion is mythology is neither hostile nor promotional. Kids need to learn that it’s not “inerrant truth”.
- Facebook User: Facebook User teaching that there is no evidentiary basis for any religious mythology is *hardly* hostile towards religion.
- Facebook User: Facebook User FCA is explicitly focused on ministry through sports programs; community or school, camps, etc.
- Facebook User: Facebook User its not the job of the school to disprove religion or teach kids to believe or not. You used the word mythology to describe it. That’s derogatory.
- Facebook User: Facebook User LOL no its not. thats *your* bias rearing its ugly head. i *TOOK* a “mythology” course in HS, *TWO* actually: “mythology” and “gods and heroes”. guess what they both taught? *RELIGIOUS MYTHOLOGY*. but because they focused on pre-christian religions (specifically greek and roman) its suddenly ok to call it mythology?
- Facebook User: Facebook User as a reminder the Secular Education Association is ALSO not hostile towards religion.
- Facebook User: Facebook User Thank-you. It must be very similar to FP
- Facebook User: This is so funny to me. If the GSA at a school hosted a “bring your pride flag to school” day and students got tickets from a teacher, they’d be immediately shut down and the teachers would be attacked for grooming.
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User Exactly. And that’s the neutrality problem. Imagine school employees handing students tickets for bringing Pride flags, then telling them the ticket could win them a prize — but only if they showed up to the GSA meeting the next morning.
People would immediately understand that the adults weren’t merely allowing a student club to exist. They were actively incentivizing students to participate in something connected to it.
The rules don’t change because the organization is Christian. 💁♀️
- Facebook User: Facebook User true
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User Exactly. And that’s the neutrality problem. Imagine school employees handing students tickets for bringing Pride flags, then telling them the ticket could win them a prize — but only if they showed up to the GSA meeting the next morning.
- Facebook User: Ok bring your Origin of Species by Charles Darwin to church Sunday!
- Facebook User: Give me 1 good reason why you would prevent someone from receiving this absolute free gift of God – not your opinion but a reason.
- Facebook User: Facebook User Public schools must remain neutral with regard to religion. Religion and God are beliefs. Public schools teach evidence-based standards. They may teach ABOUT faith in historical and cultural contexts, but must not give any faith preference over another. There are plenty of religious schools that are happy to do this.
- Facebook User: Facebook User that’s not religion – religion is a regimented way in which you live your life. Belief in Jesus as your Savior is Love – Hope – life everlasting with our God. Who doesn’t want that for your kids.
- Facebook User: Facebook User How do you know that belief in Jesus promises eternal life? What do I get if I don’t believe in Jesus? Eternal hellfire? Eternal life, but in a smaller room with a shared bathroom?
- Facebook User: Facebook User You are assuming everyone believes that Jesus is the Lord and Savior sent to Earth to be born by a virgin… Religious freedom and the option to choose to NOT follow a religious path is also an option and none should be part of a school day. And if that is what you really want for your child, you have the option to send your child to a faith-based school not a public school.
- Facebook User: They’d get more valuable life lessons by reading The Bhagavad Gita…
- Facebook User: I just hope the kids can read and comprehend it
- Facebook User: This group has access prior to the school day for their activities, absent school personnel, which would be proselytizing and illegal. It does stand to reason that this would be crossing the line, and seems to be a nod towards Christian nationalism, which is detrimental to our society, which is intended to be pluralistic, yet have a common goal. I’m sure FCA leadership will see this and “back off” from this misstep.
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