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The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claims 1,000 members in Ohio, sent the letters as word spread that LifeWise Academy, an evangelical Christian program that helps churches set up “released time” off-campus religious instruction programs for schoolchildren, was expanding its efforts this year.

The atheist group, LifeWise said, “did a wonderful job pointing out released time religious instruction as an entirely legal option for schools and families.”

Allowing students “released time” to attend such programs was ratified by the Supreme Court in 1952, with the court ruling that such excused absences did not violate the constitutional ban on a state-sponsored religion.

Under the high court’s decision, the released time programs must be off-campus, privately funded, and parents must individually consent to a child’s attendance.

The atheists also complained students who do not attend the released time programs “are inevitably singled out in the eyes of their peers.”