Mr. Witch of Endor here. Yes, yes, I know you’ve seen neither hide nor hair from me, but trust me, religion hasn’t been much on my mind these days.

This post on Daily Kos, however, deserved attention. Here are the basic facts of the case:

The Smalkowski family lives in a small Oklahoma town called Hardesty. They are atheists. The oldest daughter in the family played basketball at the public school in town. She refused to participate in pre-game prayers. Because of this, her teammates tormented her, with the encouragement of the coach, sometimes hiding her sneakers so she couldn’t play, sometimes just being verbally abusive. Mr. Smalkowski went to complain to the principal and wound up being charged with a felony after an altercation took place. Mr. Smalkowski did nothing wrong, but he was tried as a dangerous criminal, largely because he is Godless. The following is Mr. Smalkowski’s account of the day the verdict was read.

Mr. Smalkowski’s description of the courtroom scene leading up to the verdict is a must-read. In this age of increasing fanaticism, sometimes folks do the right thing.

D.