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Atheists now want to hand out fliers in Orange County high schools

PORT ORANGE, Fla. — Local atheists now want their two minutes with Orange County high schools after the district allowed a Christian group to distribute Bibles in a dozen high schools to avoid a lawsuit.

The local chapter of Freedom From Religion will hand out fliers, which they said could be taken as offensive by some people.

David Williamson of the Florida Free Thought Community said the fliers have no business in schools, but he said neither does the Bible, which was just distributed at a dozen schools on Wednesday.

Orange County Public Schools' attorney has told the group that they, too, will be allowed to set up tables in the district's high schools as long as their materials fit within a federal judge's parameters to not cause a disruption.

One of the fliers criticizes Jesus while another talks about abortion being the more humane approach, Another is titled "X-rated: Sex and Obscenities in the Bible."

"I suspect people will be offended, but it is not our goal to offend," Williamson said.

Williamson said the goal is to illustrate that materials about religion don't belong in schools.

"Our goal is not to have a religious fair instead of a book fair each year, but I think that is what will happen if we have an open forum for religion in schools," said Williamson.

Some parents agree.

"It's not part of their education. They should be learning that at home," said parent Glenn Minehart.

Weikiva High School senior Daniel Koster started organizing the flier distribution after he found out Bibles would be given out at his school.

"I've seen Bibles before. I'm not offended by Bibles," said Koster. "However, it's frustrating that people come to my school to try and convert me. It's a public school."

If the fliers are approved by the district's legal department, the distribution method will be the same as the Bibles. The fliers would be placed on unmanned tables for students to take or leave.