The Church Versus State: Putnam City School district in the Crossfire.
Husband and wife, Adam and Kelsey Daniels on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Putnam City school district and staff for alleged harassment and defamation of character. In the law suit, the two, claim that they have consistently been stressed and harassed by the school’s staff because of their religious practices.
According to Adam and his wife, their troubles began in 2013 when the school became aware that the Daniels practice a religion called Anramainyu. Anramainyu is described as the worship of Ahriman who is also known as the destroyer of good, god of darkness and the creator of evil. For those who practice this religion, it is not ‘Satanism.’ Adam says they worship a being that ‘predates’ Satan. The complainants claim that the indifferent treatment they have received from the school because of their religious practices is a violation of their civil rights.
The family says that, within a few years, they have been visited more than 30 times by officers from both Child Protective Service and the DHS. Apparently, all the visits were necessitated by falsified information provided by the school’s district staff. The family also added that both teachers and students bullied their children. In as much as the District officials were aware, no action was taken.
The plaintiffs also claim that their special needs daughter was subjected to strip searches by the school’s nurse on several occasions. From Adam’s perspective, “We believe that the strip searches were to check for abuse because of what they believe we do and how we practice our faith.” The same child is also said to have returned home with injuries. When asked, the school could not provide satisfactory information.
The family hopes that the lawsuit will stop the school district from using the DHS and CPS to mount pressure on them because of their religion. The lawsuit is also seeking an amount of USD 300,000 as compensation for mistreatment and defamation of character by the school district. The Daniels believe that the law suit will help them protect their special needs daughter.
