Usually, cheerleaders are not known for being very religious, but a group of cheerleaders put on a public display of their faith. In a news story that is quickly gaining national attention, cheerleaders in Georgia painted Christian scriptures on large banners for their school football team. The banners were painted off school property, with private funds, and during the summer when school was not in session. However, the banners were displayed at public high school football games.
The Cheerleaders at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School efforts were foiled when a lone objector filed a complaint. Hundreds of parents, students, and friends gathered at a rally in support of the cheerleaders. The school superintendent remarked,
“Personally, I appreciate this expression of their Christian values. However, as superintendent I have the responsibility of protecting the school district from legal action by groups who do not support their beliefs.”
What’s the big deal? Why can’t these cheerleaders do this? Is this about the government taking away people’s right to free speech or religious freedom?
Though it is great that these young people are proclaiming a positive message, these type of faith statements on public school property do create create legal problems.
Supporters claim free speech, but supports fail to realize one crucial fact. This is on public school property. The Supreme Court has ruled that students, in public schools, do not always have freedom of expression because it can disrupt the learning environment. However, if a group of students wanted to pray on school property the courts have found that student prayer falls within federal law concerning expression of religion. It becomes a legal issue if students are using school property.
Even a politician got involved. Georgia state Representative Jay Neal said, “Our Founding Fathers had one thing in mind when they founded this country and it was a Christian nation built upon the principles of Jesus Christ.”
One cheerleader expressed her disappointment: “Our freedom of speech and freedom of religion is being taken away.”
A local youth pastor supporting the cheerleaders concluded:
“The cheerleaders are not trying to push a religious cause, to shove religion down someone’s throat. [The] cheerleaders are just using Scripture to show motivation and inspiration to the players and the fans.”
A local Georgia lawyer, John Cavett who is familiar with the issue said, “There is a point where mixing religion with public gatherings becomes unconstitutional…”
Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, got it right when he said:
“Religious freedom is a fundamental right, and public-school students have many opportunities to express their religious views. Public schools, however, must refrain from sponsoring religious exercises or otherwise promoting religion.”
No matter how proud I’m of these young people or how much I agree with their message, having a giant banner proclaiming Jesus Christ at a school sponsored event is promoting religion (as opposed to educating about religions, different topic). As Baptists, we have behind religious separation movements from the government since this country was formed. People like Roger Williams fought for the freedom that people have to express their faith, but also freedom from religion. I would love to proclaim the Christian message in all places, but in this country we respect the right that people have to choose other religions. What if that cheerleadering team started painting verses from the Koran on banners? People would flip out.
Regardless how Christian you think the founding fathers were, they wanted to create a country where people were free from government sponsoring any type of religious expression. Yes, the founders used words like “creator” and “God” in their governing documents, but they did not desire to have a world where the government would allow a connection to be draw between the state (a public school, in this instance) and any religion.
By the mere fact that these cheerleaders want to publicly express their faith, as a school sponsored group, during a government funded school activity prohibits them from displaying religious messages.
What do you think?
4 Comments
Really? You think the government established a clause in our Constitution for freedom “from” religion? That wasn’t part of the Constitution or any of its redactions actually. We do have a right to publicly say what we as individuals believe; that’s the law. As a Christian, I think my responsibility to the faith far outweighs my responsibilities to the Constitution regardless. And I would like to think as a Christian I should support those types of things worldwide. For instance, I support the house churches in India and China where it is illegal to be a Christian. I support the Christians in North Korea and Vietnam that are enslaved in concentration camps because they refuse to recant their faith. And, I support cheerleaders in Georgia who proudly profess their faith as well. Would I be upset and expect people to “flip out” if the cheerleaders wrote verses from the Koran? No, and do you know why? Because they have the freedom to do so. Our freedom of religion means the government does not tell us what to believe, but it should not be misinterpreted as the government should not allow us to proclaim what we believe. Sadly, that is the leaning too many Christians in our country are choosing, and I think our declining numbers are representative of that. By this rationale, a Christian teacher with Christian tattoos cannot teach in a public school, or hold a public office; similarly a Jewish teacher who chooses to wear a Star of David necklace shouldn’t be allowed to do either of those things, or a Muslim teacher who chooses not to eat during Ramadan in the school cafeteria should be reprimanded. The irony of what our Constitution allows for religiously is what the government is now trying to strip from us as Americans who are religious; our religious freedom. By not allowing such things as expression, we have become like the aforementioned governments who want to squash all religions that aren’t “their own.” I truly think it’s a sad day in Mudville, because Casey has gone down swinging, and now they’ve outlawed baseball!
I never said that we cannot proclaim what we believe through our faith, but the government/government funded agencies cannot. I think you misunderstood me.
The government established a clause for freedom of and from religion: Amendment 1: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” That means people are free not to be oppressed by belief… in any form. Thomas Jefferson wrote: “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer…” The founders made it clear that people have the right to practice what they believe, and have the right not to have government endorse a religion by various means. The courts have ruled that endorsement takes many forms.
I think there is a difference between individual expression of religion in a public context, and school/government sponsored expressions of religion. Clearly, private expression is not the issue. It is when you act as an agent of a government funded organization and you make a statement of faith in your government capacity that represents the expression of that organization (rather than a private expression).
By the way, the high courts have ruled that teachers can wear religious symbols. State rulings have been over turned by federal law.
Where did my last reply go?
I think you replied to me on facebook? We were running two conversations.