My apology on my comparison of a young atheist censor to Nazi Youth

Commentor Anonymous on my criticism of atheist Rhode Island high school student Jessica Ahlquist, who is suing her school district to force it to remove a small 50 year old prayer on a wall mural in the auditorium.

...And by the way - comparing a high school student who had the guts to stand for her principles with Nazi youth? You should be deeply, deeply ashamed of yourself. If you have an ounce of integrity, you need to apologize for this, as publicly as your initial comments were made...

Anonymous has a point. I concede.

Nazi Youth were German teens raised in pre-war and wartime Germany who were indoctrinated in Nazi ideology (such as censorship, centralized state power, and hatred of religious expression unacceptable to the state). The kids were organized in a system similar to the Boy Scouts (who were banned in Germany, just as atheists have tried to suppress Scouting in the United States). Many were conscripts, forced to join the organization under duress. They underwent strenuous physical and military training, and were subjected to intense social and ideological pressure to conform to Nazi ideology. Particular effort was made to sever sentimental ties to family and church and to inculcate a deep respect for the absolute power of the state. Failure to assent to Nazi ideology endangered their lives and the lives of their families.

Jessica Ahlquist is an American teen raised in the most prosperous and free nation on earth. She has been raised in a culture founded on respect for the rights and opinions of others. She has learned in school about the Constitutional guarantees of free exercise of religion and of freedom of speech. As an atheist who holds a minority view, she has been the beneficiary of the deep tolerance Americans have for diversity of opinion, respectful discourse, and the free exchange of ideas.

In her first public act as a young adult, Jessica initiated federal litigation against her classmates and neighbors in an effort to censor their expression of religious belief. She has asserted in court documents that the mere presence of a Christian prayer on a wall causes her such intense suffering as to warrant removal of the prayer by force, irrespective of the opinions of others. Her litigation is based on the principle of "a wall of separation between church and state", which is found nowhere in the Constitution, but is fundamental to jurisprudence advocated by nativists, anti-Catholic bigots, and the Ku Klux Klan.

But you're right, Anonymous. My comparison between the atheist high school student raised in a free society who sues her friends and neighbors to censor them and German children conscripted and indoctrinated in an odious totalitarian ideology in the midst of war is deeply unjust. I hope my apology is taken in the spirit in which I intend it.

My apologies to Nazi Youth.