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Dear John,
As you and I enjoy the blessings of religious liberty this holiday season, it’s worth remembering that gifts with a big meaning often come wrapped in small packages.
Here at First Liberty, we call these our “1 for All” cases.
Can I briefly share one of them with you, John?
It’s the story of Hannah Allen, a 15-year-old middle-school student who lives in a small town in Texas (pop: 1,900), but whose courage and bravery to live out her faith is an enormous example of why we fight for our first freedom.
You probably never heard much about Hannah. Her legal matter never made it before a judge...it never gained national attention from the media...it never made it to a federal court or much less, the Supreme Court.
Nonetheless, Hannah’s resolve to live it out stands out in a BIG way.
It all started when Hannah wanted to pray for a fellow classmate who’d been in an accident. To hear Hannah tell it, about 50 of the 100 students joined together in her school’s lunchroom one afternoon to pray.
Incredibly, the principal told them to stop praying.
Being the caring and exceptional young woman that she is, Hannah decided to continue living out her faith by praying for someone in need—as she has the legal right to do. Sadly, the school administration responded to Hannah’s heartfelt expression of faith by telling her to go pray behind a curtain, outside or in an empty gym.
That’s when First Liberty joined the fight. After learning Hannah’s rights had been violated, we sent a demand letter to school officials reminding them what the law and the Constitution say:
Hannah and all public-school students don’t shed their rights when they enter the schoolhouse gates, and they have every right to pray.
Within a matter of a few weeks, the school responded, issued an apology to Hannah and her classmates and reversed its policy. The best part, Hannah was even allowed to say the following prayer at her school’s graduation ceremony:
As you can see, Hannah’s courage to stand strong for her faith is not just a win for students in this small town...it’s a win for ALL students across our country.
Thanks to your donations, we can continually fight for people of faith like Hannah, each and every single day. People whose rights come under attack in the “unseen places” and have nowhere else to turn for help without ever having to pay a single penny.
Schools are ground zero for attacks on religious liberty.
Will YOU go ALL IN with First Liberty to defend our students?
GIVE NOW and maximize your impact thanks to our Year-End $300,000 Challenge Grant.
Hannah’s is just one of hundreds of “untold” stories from 2019, a historic “Year of Firsts” that YOU helped make possible because of your timely, ongoing support of First Liberty.
That’s why were so hopeful that 2020 will mark a new dawn of religious prosperity unlike anything we’ve ever witnessed in our lifetimes.
With new Supreme Court cases ahead, we can achieve more landmark victories that will forever change decades of bad precedent and hostility to religious expression. At the same time, your continued financial support is also helping First Liberty litigate—and win—hundreds of smaller, yet monumentally significant legal matters that also have a profound impact in the everyday lives of millions of Americans.
That’s why I’m convinced the future of our first freedom is brighter than ever before.
Will you, John, go ALL IN with us to reclaim religious liberty in 2020?
Thanks to God’s favor, giving to First Liberty is still one of the best returns on your investment.
Because you give, First Liberty can stay in the fight and secure a future with more religious freedom. Together we can usher in a new era of constitutional prosperity to be enjoyed by Hannah...as well as by our children and grandchildren.
Please consider donating at this critical moment and help us achieve our $2.8M year-end goal.
Yes, I will make a financial contribution today.
Gratefully,
Kelly
Kelly Shackelford, Esq.
President, CEO & Chief Counsel
First Liberty Institute
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