Jesus Not Allowed In Public School?

A while back I watched a segment on Fox's Hannity and Colmes on a controversy in a West Virginia high school regarding its display of a portrait of Jesus in a main hallway. A lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of Harold Sklar, parent of an ex-student of Bridgeport High, after the local school board voted 2-2 to keep the picture. At issue here, of course, is the matter of separation of church and state.

My first reaction upon hearing this was: what's the big deal with a picture of Jesus hanging on a school wall? I support the separation of church and state. I don't think it's government's job to force ANY religion upon its people, nor to promote one church or belief over others. The job of educating religious beliefs is best left to individuals and places of worship.

Now that I got that out of the way, let me reiterate: What's the big deal with a picture of Jesus hanging on a school wall? By displaying a devotional portrait of Jesus, is the school actively promoting Christianity? This can be argued from a technical perspective all day long and I don't think we'd ever reach agreement.

But let's think about this rationally. Let's approach this from a common-sense point of view.

Clarksburg, West Virginia is a town of about 7500 people in an area which can safely be considered an extension of the Bible Belt. I could understand the concern if the picture was displayed in a high school in more diverse areas such as South Florida. But in an area where the vast majority of people are Christian? It didn't escape me that the local school board was split, so even in Clarksburg there appears to be some difference in opinion on this matter. But if you look at the ACLU's main argument here, there's the impression that the portrait is actually hindering students' rights to freely express their religious beliefs.

"The Constitution's ban on government endorsement of religion is good for both government and religion. It keeps religion free and allows government to represent us all," said Andrew Schneider, Executive Director of the ACLU of West Virginia. "In violating that ban, Bridgeport High School is interfering with the right of all students to freely express their religious beliefs." (emphasis mine)

Is that what's really happening at Bridgeport High? Is the portrait a goverment endorsement of religion, or is it just a carry-over of a tradition that has been carried over at the school for over 30 years? Common sense tells me the school is merely continuing a tradition and not pushing Christianity at the expense of other religions. Then, of course, there's the issue of Bridgeport High's own right to freely express a religious belief, something the ACLU is fighting here against their own supposed beliefs and the First Amendment which they so vehemently defend.

I'm pretty sure that the Founding Fathers were sharp, reasonable men who possessed greater-than-average common sense. The Amendments were written to be interpreted wisely, not to be used to promote personal agendas or to be misinterpreted at the expense of someone else's liberties. Perhaps they would side with the ACLU in this case, but a hunch tells me otherwise.

Some argue that the picture, as a devotional piece of art, is in fact "preaching" and "evangelizing", and as such should be removed. I find that highly questionable. The same unreasonable argument can be made when public schools cover subjects pertaining to other religions. My public high school Sociology class spent an entire quarter-year covering all of the world's major religions. Is that a form of "preaching"? I don't think so, and neither is a picture of Jesus on the wall whose purpose, by all accounts, is not to convert anyone.

The ACLU and other groups have already succeeded in removing prayer from public schools (even the watered-down general kind) as well as removing other religious displays from public places. These groups claim to be simply promoting tolerance and respect of other religious views. They are willing to apply this even to cases such as in Bridgeport High where there is no apparent intent to inhibit or ban other religious views.

Tolerance of different beliefs is wonderful. But let's make sure we respect and tolerate ALL beliefs, not just those that are perceived to be oppressed or victimized by that of the majority.

I'll finish with this thought: if perhaps the picture of Jesus at Bridgeport High can subtely serve to promote or enhance a teenager's religious views, is that a BAD thing for our society? Maybe that's what bothers the ACLU so much.