An administrator at a Utah County high school told students that laziness is a “sin” in a video shared with students, drawing criticism from a national group that argues the “overtly” religious message was unconstitutional.
On Monday, the Freedom From Religion Foundation — a nonprofit that advocates for the separation of church and state — sent a letter to Alpine School District officials, citing the video apparently presented to the student body at Cedar Valley High School in Eagle Mountain.
The three-minute video featured Scott Mansfield, assistant principal at Cedar Valley, making several biblical references and insinuating that laziness is synonymous with sinfulness, according to the letter.
The letter said the video was shown to students on Nov. 17 and later posted to the school A/V group’s Instagram account, as well as on the school’s main Instagram page.
The video had remained online as of at least 6:30 p.m. Tuesday before it was apparently removed.
“It is unconstitutional for a public high school to film a video of a teacher preaching his personal religious beliefs and then require students to watch said video before posting and promoting the video on official school social media,” the letter states.
A relative of a student reported the presentation to the foundation, according to the letter.
“Our complainant expressed concern over what students at the school ‘had to endure’ because of this video that promotes Christianity and the erroneous and disturbing myth that those suffering from mental health problems are lazy or sinful,” the letter reads.
The organization demanded the video be removed from all social media accounts associated with the district or school.
In a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune late Tuesday, Alpine School District officials said they had received the foundation’s letter and were reviewing the video.
“Our educators look for opportunities to guide, mentor, and motivate students every day,” the statement said. “We trust them to use their judgment and communicate in ways that are consistent with our Vision for Leaning. When educators fall short of that standard, we take opportunities to learn from those moments.”
What did the administrator say?
The video featured Mansfield telling students that “if there is a heaven,” his work ethic could essentially gain him entry, despite his many “weaknesses.”
“The strength that I will have that might save me will be that I know how to work hard,” Mansfield said. “In other words, I will not have the sin of laziness.”
He continued: “That sounds a little arrogant, but there’s a truth about it. I can work with the best of them, and I know that for this reason: I have two full time jobs, and I’m successful at both.”
Mansfield then drew an allegory between hard work and the process of purifying gold, in which the metal is heated to extreme temperatures to remove impurities.
“That’s a process we call going through the refiner’s fire,” Mansfield said.
“Refiner’s Fire” is a metaphor found in the Book of Malachi, in the Old Testament, which describes God’s process of purifying people, cleansing them of their sins like a refiner purifies gold.
Mansfield added that his hard work has helped him “overcome” his weaknesses and flaws.
“You guys,” he said, addressing students directly, ”You need to work hard. It will cover up almost all your weaknesses. If you ever go to bed depressed or sad, guess what? You probably haven’t worked hard enough. … If other people don’t think you’re awesome, that’s probably because you haven’t worked hard enough. In summation, if you want to start fixing yourself, the easiest way to do so is to get out and do something.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the video had garnered around 1,500 views, and the few who commented expressed disappointment with the message.
One commenter, who said they go to Cedar Valley High, wrote it “was the worst possible way to address this.”
“So many people in my class when we had watched this looked around like, ‘What the heck?’” they said.
Another commenter said, “In case you need a reminder: You don’t need to fix yourself, your worth isn’t based upon what others think of you.” The commenter added that Mansfield “can save his testimony for church.”
Other commenters expressed concern that the assistant principal’s remarks suggested mental health struggles are a sign of laziness or sin.
“Saying going to bed depressed is because you didn’t try hard enough is a really bad way to address mental health,” another commenter said. “I don’t know how this was approved or why it ever got posted or shared.”
Demanding an apology
In a Tuesday news release, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freedom From Religion’s co-president, called for an immediate apology from the Alpine School District for allowing the high school to show the “offensive video” to students.
Gaylor argued officials should have “reined in” Mansfield instead of “endorsing” his “proselytizing message.”
The foundation’s letter added that public schools should “not show favoritism toward nor coerce belief in religion,” arguing that the school’s actions “needlessly marginalized all students who do not subscribe to Christianity.”
The foundation is asking the district not to present messages to students that promote religion and to outline in writing the steps it will take to address the situation.