Posted on 09/21/2012 12:57:41 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
....during the past three Kountze High football games,the players in the 2,100-resident town stormed the field through large banners referencing Bible passages,...
The banners raised questions of religious freedom and the First Amendment. On Thursday,the cheerleaders scored a victory when a judge overturned,for now,school Superintendent Kevin Weldon's order forbidding the religious-themed signs.....
....A hearing on the cheerleaders' parents' request for a temporary injunction has been scheduled for Oct. 4. Until then,the cheerleaders will be allowed to display the banners at games....
....The Texas Association of School Boards recommended that the school district enforce the ban, arguing that school- sponsored speech must not endorse any particular religion.....
....Annie Laurie Gaylor,..co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation,said she was surprised that Thomas had granted the restraining order. She declared the law is clear on the issue.
"It may be there is a climate that has evolved here where people are growing up in the school district and not learning why we have a First Amendment,"Gaylor said. "We need to go back to civics 101...
....the cheerleaders' lawyer, said the signs were created through an activity that was initiated and led by students. He said the girls raised their own money and used their own materials to make the signs.
...He noted a U.S. Supreme Court case,Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District,that determined students did not shed their constitutional rights when they were on campus.
...business owners have placed signs in shop windows supporting the religious signs.....
....A Facebook group that was created after the ban,Support Kountze Kids Faith,had more than 36,000 members as of Thursday evening.
[Coti Matthews]"To that person that complained,I would say, 'Thank you.' If they wouldn't have complained,it wouldn't have reached all the people it has reached.....
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
“High School Cheerleaders For Christ”
This brings forth so many images, emotions and assumptions that are positive or negative and, of course, ironic—the subjective eye of the beholder determining which.
I remember how Detroit Lions coach Monty Clarke appeared to be praying for a field goal on the sideline at the end of a game back in the ‘80’s. Most people saw it as a mere expression of how badly the Lions needed those three points! They lost.
Would the players be allowed to display Bible verses on their eye black like Tebow did at Florida? I cannot believe the suppression of Christianity in America. I never imagined it could happen here.
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