Atheist Mom Forced Into Court-Ordered Christian Counseling

[Atman]

122. I got out of it simply by refusing to attend and wearing them down.

Seriously. It was a long, long time ago in the days of my misspent youth, but I was no more religious then than I am now. I was mandated to attend something like twenty AA meetings, get the card signed, all of that shit. I went to exactly ONE meeting, and when they told me to stand up and hold hands and pray I said "Fuck this shit" and left. I went to hearing after hearing (couldn't afford a lawyer at the time) and told them the same thing -- I'm not religious, I don't believe in your god, I cannot see how it is constitutional for you to mandate that I attend church. I came armed with all the statistics; Doing NOTHING is just as effective as AA in terms of quitting drinking. Look it up, it's true. AA can cite no scientific study that proves it is more effective than meditating. None. But courts keep mandating that people attend these thinly veiled church services. They kept trying to send me back, but I chose not to drive rather than go to a government-ordered church service. Finally, at one hearing, one magistrate at least had the decency to be honest about it. He said "We don't care what you believe. This is your punishment." That put the nail in the coffin. By the time I was done with the appeals my license was re-instated anyway. Not one signature on an index card.