COMMENTER UPDATE: The preamble now says (presumably an update):
“I’d like to thank everyone for their support. I never imagined that the petition would gain so much attention. However, this whole situation has been a large misunderstanding between myself and the administration. I never meant to shed Paradise Valley in a negative light. PV is an accepting community of diverse students and staff. I have met with my principal and this situation has been resolved. The misunderstanding was completely on my end of things. Again, thank you all for your activism and support.”
That doesn’t sound coerced at all, but whatever.
Ugh. I know how incredibly awful it is to say that someone is “asking for it”, in light of how often that canard is used to excuse horrible violence against women, but really… these guys are asking for it.
The administration at Paradise Valley High School in Arizona has apparently asked students wanting to start a secular club to get signatures in support before they’ll allow the club.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/allow-the-secular-student-alliance-at-paradise-valley-h.html
This is, of course, illegal as all hell. Under the Equal Access Act, if your school is an open forum (a status achieved by having a single non-academic club) you must allow all clubs. The signatures are irrelevant.
So fly, my moderate number of minions! Sign the petition and teach the administrators what it means to fuck with the godless. Show them that young atheists seeking to organize have a shit-ton of backup, even if they live in Arizona. Show them that this kind of stuff can’t be swept under the rug anymore.
Dear Arizona: We see you.
Signed, people you DON’T want to fuck with
Like this article? Follow me on Twitter!
Signed.
Done.
Signer # 78.
I think we should try to get some of the other bloggers to encourage their minions to sign – like PZ Myers.
PZ knows about it. His tentacled ways are mysterious. He may have something up about it later. If not, I’ll prod him. I’ve asked r/atheism to pay the petition a visit as well. We’ll see how effective I am at rousing rabble.
What lordshipmayhem said. Also: maybe folks, if they feel like it, could send the petition author an email of support? I get the feeling the manure is about to hit the rotating blades on this one and the group as a whole might be able to use some pre-emptive emotional support.
Well, that’s what I get for posting before refreshing the page.
Up to #126 now.
[Mr. Burns mode]:Excellent. [/Mr. Burns Mode]
Posted a link to this article up on the Jessica Ahlquist support Facebook group, “Support the Removal of the Cranston High School West Prayer Banner”. That group has almost 4,700 members; hopefully that’ll draw in a few more signatures.
I think instead of a petition, they need to call the local ACLU and have a nice letter sent to the school administration.
A nice letter is always the first step. The second step is usually the nasty letter that mentions lawsuits….. =)
I know some lawyers in Az. (my homestate.)
Hrm. I tried doing a search for more information on this, but couldn’t find anything. I’d prefer to know more about the situation before signing a petition.
Singed.
Also signed. The song was to the goddess Tpyos.
I thought you signed it so fast that the friction singed it
Signed
Signed, and I let them know that I am a former teacher and mentor of a GSA group.
Signed.
#1033 now. Not bad, but could be better. Especially if PZ gets in on it. Maybe he doesn’t want arguments of petition tampering to be possible, though.
I’m with fastlane, #6 though. This is exactly the kind of thing the ACLU was made to fight.
Signed #1089. Not that it’s clear to me why my or anyone else’s opinion should matter. It’s a settled issue in the courts.
What is it with Arizona? It seems the only intelligent thing to come out of the state is Gabrielle Giffords (and maybe fastlane, although I don’t know her/im well.)
My guess is that they’ll ignore the petition. I’m sure they thought that having a petition as a requirement will dissuade them. Now that they got a lot of signatures, I’m sure they’ll come up with something else (I’ll bet they’ll say on US or Arizona signatures count).
Signed. I bet their lawyers are having a stroke.
I’ve signed, too.
There are currently 1,322 signatures.
1,013 of them are in the US (76.6%).
120 of them are in Arizona (9.1%).
(See http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/allow-the-secular-student-alliance-at-paradise-valley-h/signature-map.html , zoom in.)
I’m heading to Arizona on a speaking tour next week and I’ll be certain to publicize this widely as I go through Flagstaff, Phoenix and Prescott! Indeed, any students form Paradise Valley are warmly invited to my talk in Phoenix – details to follow shortly.
Signed
There’s plenty of smart people in Az. But, like anywhere else, there’s also lots of stoopid, and even more of the scared.
I’ve lived in a lot of different places around the US, and around the world, and it’s all just a matter of degrees. There are plenty of smart people in the US midwest, but ignorance and fear hold sway. Even in the more enlightened places, there are plenty of ignorant, scared, or just lazy and stoopid, they just don’t have the majority.
I’m familiar with the area, although I never went to that particular high school, and it’s probably one of the more conservative parts of Phoenix. I suspect a letter from the ACLU would have the intended effect.
The preamble now says (presumably an update):
“I’d like to thank everyone for their support. I never imagined that the petition would gain so much attention. However, this whole situation has been a large misunderstanding between myself and the administration.
I never meant to shed Paradise Valley in a negative light. PV is an accepting community of diverse students and staff. I have met with my principal and this situation has been resolved.
The misunderstanding was completely on my end of things. Again, thank you all for your activism and support.”