One of the biggest issues on politics from 2013 was the introduction of Senate Bill 2633 or “The Mississippi Student Religious Liberties Act of 2013”. In March, it was signed by Governor Phil Bryant, and was enacted for this school year 2013-2014. Despite this victory, many would still differ and consider the legislation as highly discriminatory.

Motivation for the Signing

Bryant wanted the open prayer to be part of public school activities. In Mississippi politics, it was commonplace to talk about the passing a bill that allows this. 2013 was a good year, since the SB 2633 was enacted. The Act prohibits any form of discrimination in terms of religious practice occurring inside the school premises. In a more specific manner:

• Any group or individual religious prayers or congregations can now happen inside the school
• Anyone is granted freedom to wearing religious emblems, from crucifixes to hijabs
• If students are not part of the religious group conducting public expression of beliefs, they can only “leave the room” but not discriminate.

All of these practices should be respected by students and the administration of any public schools. Public schools cannot prohibit any student from practising his or her religious freedom.

This bill was highly supported by conservative Christian camps all over the country, especially those from Mississippi. In politics, many Christian senators were in utmost approval of the bill, considering that the Mississippi constituent is comprised mostly of Christians. But that’s where the tendency for discrimination arises.

Unintended But Obvious Effects

The majority of Christians in public schools pose a certain detriment. Consider if the members of the student governing body or student councils are Christians. Whenever there would be a school event concerning them, any representative from the student council can pray “Our Father” over a loudspeaker before the event commences. Non-Christians who might be offended are left with the option to not listen. If they fail to not listen, they are not allowed to conduct any protests, as that could be a ground for discriminative practice against Christianity.

For this bill to level off, the non-Christians should also practice their religion as vocally as the Christians. The problem is if the non-Christians in Mississippi are the minority, the propensity for a leveled playing field is low. In any case, the stench of discrimination would be everywhere.

The “Public”

The Act might have sounded well, but the context should always be considered. This should be the case for every action concerning politics, especially with a democratic system. In this case, if discrimination is perpetuated by the bill, with public school as the context, then it’s better not to pass it.