Mariah Greene, a 2020 graduate of Bogan High School, alleged in her lawsuit she was forced to violate her Christian beliefs by participating in “meditation” rituals twice a day in a school classroom, according to a LifeSiteNews.com story.
The lawsuit named the David Lynch Foundation, which promotes Transcendental Meditation; the Chicago Board of Education; and the University of Chicago. In a settlement to the case, a federal judge granted a $150,000 judgement for Greene in an October 23 order.
Bogan High, which has approximately 1,000 students, has a 55% graduation rate. The number of students who score proficient in math, reading and science are in the single digits, according to school rankings compiled by U.S. News and World Report.
Judith Kott, an attorney with law firm Mauck & Baker, was one of the attorneys for Greene.
"She was told that she had to kneel in front of a statue, an image, that she knew was not Jesus Christ,” Kott says of her Christian client.
In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Greene described a pervasive environment in the high school in which every student was expected to participate in the mandatory meditation in order to receive a credit.
The school also sponsored a three-day class to teach students about meditation, where curtains were closed and candles were lit, but Greene said she avoided that instruction after attending the first day.
David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, tells AFN the Chicago public schools are failing students in math, science, and reading. So it is “absolutely ridiculous” to use classroom time to teach Hindu meditation, he says.
