As to disbanding religion-based scholarships, I’m on the same page as Bad and Mike.

No offense to her, but unless I’m missing something, the religious scholarships are being offered by religious organizations, who have the right to set their own terms. If she can find scholarships without such restrictions, or who will honor her activism, great, but the tone of her deserving a scholarship seems little off.

I agree with Bad. If it’s a private organization then they have the right to offer a scholarship for whatever criterion they want. There were hundreds (probably thousands) of scholarships I wasn’t eligible for because I wasn’t a minority, a female, a child of a veteran, born in Delaware, spoke a foreign language, a person with a disability, willing to commit to one career before even entering college, willing to sign my life away to the military, etc.

If she is applying to a state school and they are offering religious based scholarships that is a different story, but I find it highly unlikely that this is the case. And if she is applying to a private religious college, well, again, they have a right to offer scholarships based on whatever they want. There are many denominationally supported schools that give scholarships to members of their denomination and that’s their perogative. If you want to go to a religious school then don’t complain when they encourage religious involvement.

I was yelled at and humiliated by a teacher to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance. When I refused, and the Pledge finished, the teacher took me into another room and questioned my Americanism.

I applaud her courage, but it seems like this had more to do with the teacher being a Republican than with religion. I don’t say the pledge either for religious reasons, so I probably would have gotten chewed out by that teacher too for being un-American (which I wouldn’t deny).