A public school let a Christian illusionist trick kids into attending a religious rally
South Carolina's Socastee High School let Christian performer Bryan Drake speak to students. He told them to meet him off-campus in order to convert them.
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Bryan Drake is an illusionist who has spent years performing in front of audiences, including children. He’s popular at middle and high schools, where he can theoretically deliver a positive message while dazzling kids with magic.
The problem is that he only has one message and that message is Jesus.
The Bryan Drake Show is driven by one clear and overriding passion, to share the Gospel with this generation.
Bryan and Karla Drake have performed for hundreds of thousands of people over the past 10 years. They have witnessed the amazing grace of God first hand as thousands of people at their shows have surrendered their lives to follow Jesus.
In theory, there’s nothing wrong with any of that. Just as there are stand-up comedians on the Christian circuit, who travel from church to church, there are Christian magicians/illusionists who do the same. They get paid to do what they love, the churches can use the event as a fundraiser, etc. It’s a win-win.
But why the hell was Drake invited to perform at Socastee High School in Conway, South Carolina, last week? The public school had to know that Drake was a Christian first and an illusionist second.
When the Freedom From Religion Foundation found out about his invitation, they warned the Horry County Schools that the event needed to remain secular. FFRF has had plenty of experience dealing with Christian speakers who hijack school assemblies and turn them into recruiting events. Even if they don’t directly proselytize at the schools, they also can’t tell the students to attend an evening event where religious conversions will occur.
We write to ask that the District cancel this presentation immediately and cease allowing Christian evangelizers to target its students. If the District allows this event to occur, it must ensure that Drake does not proselytize, discuss religion, or use the event to invite students to a more explicitly religious event held outside of the school. District administrators and staff cannot be allowed to push religion onto students, or allow outside religious speakers to use its schools to evangelize and recruit students for religious events.
In addition to the warning, FFRF also requested public records that might explain how and why Drake was invited in the first place.
And wouldn’t you know it, when the assembly occurred, Drake told those children to attend an evening event where he could more openly try to convert them.
As FFRF predicted, Drake used the event to promote GroundZero, a religious ministry that promotes cultivating the lives of teenagers through faith as well as a “free to attend” event held the next day. Drake repeatedly directed students to come to this religious event and handed out tickets to students. Religious representatives from GroundZero were at the school during the assembly. At the off-campus event, Drake attempted to convert students and delivered “a clear presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
This is the sort of bait-and-switch that Christians—and only Christians—can get away with, especially in conservative areas. If it’s not an illusionist, it may be a speaker who tells kids not to do drugs… while sneaking in a religious alternative. Or it may be an invited “expert” to talk to kids about sex education… while telling them to abstain and not be gay.
Other guest speakers may be vetted to make sure they’re not preaching to the children while Christian performers often lie about their true intentions in order to get access to little kids. Once they’re in the door, the goal is to get the kids to tell their parents they want to attend the evening off-campus event that’s more like a religious rally. It’s deceptive. It would generate huge outcries if non-Christians ever pulled the same stunt. And it’s just accepted as normal in certain conservative circles.
Drake himself admits this is the game plan. He has said repeatedly on social media that he offers “100% public school friendly” shows… that include invitations for the audience to get converted later at night.
Our school assemblies are 100% public school friendly by design…
We have a passion for reaching communities through the schools. We always want to point the students to a nighttime event where we can share the Gospel with them. We never want to do ‘just a show.’ We wouldn’t travel with our girls if it was just about performing and entertaining.
In the nighttime show I always ask, “How many of you only came tonight because you saw us in your school today?” So many hands go up each time. And I also ask, “How many of you came tonight for the first time?” Many of the same hands go up.
They want to reach communities “through the schools”!
More recently, he’s said that he books the two events together: public school in the day, church-sponsored event at night.
Typically after our assemblies, a local church hosts an event with us where they invite their community. We do another mind blowing show. Then we get the opportunity to share the rest of the story. “Yes we live in a beat up, broken world, and here’s why—“
It’s such a creepy way to lure kids into seeing a second show where he can lie to them about how “sin,” and not choices made by the sort of ignorant people conservative Christians typically vote for, is the blame for any problems in society.
Unfortunately, there may not be much FFRF can do if the district pretends it had no clue this would happen. Because the deceitful performers aren’t telling kids to buy into Jesus during the school day, there’s a plausible deniability routine that everyone around them performs, suggesting they were following the spirit of the law, which is why they waited until night to target the kids with more precision.
“The district will likely try to create the illusion that it wasn’t aware of, or complicit in, Drake’s ruse to convert students to his brand of Christianity,” states FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “But FFRF isn’t fooled, and neither will be district parents whose children were targeted.”
The best thing to do for now, then, may just be to let people know this is happening.
Parents have every right to complain when their local public schools are inviting speakers who offer no educational content but only want the gig in order to notch some more tally marks for Jesus. There are plenty of secular options for school officials who want outside experts to address students on important topics.
When they choose people like Drake, they’re doing it because they value preaching over teaching.
“Yes we live in a beat up, broken world“
To the extent that's true, people like you had a lot to do with breaking it, dumbass.
I like that every time he does one it’s the first time for most of the folks coming from the schools, it likely is also the last time as well. I doubt he’s going to different schools every year.
That’s my positive spin on this day of existential threat. I am in line right now to cast my ballot.