Bible Verses Banned From Cheerleaders' Signs
The first amendment of the constitution is pretty important around our house. Even my five- and seven-year-olds understand that the government shouldn’t push any particular belief set on its citizenry. Not everyone gets that, however. “If it’s offensive to anyone, let them go watch another football game,” said Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, Mayor Ronnie Cobb. “Nobody’s forced to come there and nobody’s forced to read the signs.” Mayor Cobb was referring to banners held by cheerleaders at the start of high school football games that included bible verses encouraging players to “commit to the Lord”.
After a complaint was lodged, the school district reviewed the messages and determined that it is “a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution for signs with Bible verses to be displayed on the football field.” Unfortunately, the cheerleaders had prepared a full season’s worth of the huge banners for the football players to burst through at the start of each game. Still, it is clear that the district made the correct decision.
While the mayor seems to have the attitude that if you aren’t one of them, you can go elsewhere, Catoosa County Schools Superintendent Denia Reese understands the issue. “Personally,” she explained, “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.” The point is that public schools should be a welcome place for all members of the community, not just those who are a part of the majority.
What do you think? Should the cheerleaders be permitted to use quotes from the Bible, Qur’an, Book of Mormon, or other religious texts? Or should such matters be best left to parents and preachers?
Photo: Taliesin
Cheerleaders, I suppose not, technically, because they are “sanctioned” by the school, but I don’t know. Kids in the stands, sure…because they are individuals practicing free speech. And I would encourage them to do so.
I am a secular humanist and would just sort of roll my eyes at that sign. HOWEVER, I think the separation of church and state is very much misunderstood my so many people out there. The person who called in the complaint must be a very small person, indeed. The sign pictured is hardly offensive.
I would be horrified if this happened at my kid’s school and would absolutely complain. This is just one more reason for me to never live in the South.
The cheerleaders are representatives of the school, a public institution. If attendees to the game wanted to hold such signs (matter of fact, I see at least one person at every sporting event I have ever been to holding a John 3:16 sign), then that would be fine. But, as representatives of the school, the cheerleaders should not be allowed to hoist such banners. It is no different than the school posting a banner like that on the gym wall.
The sign pictured in the article, GP? I found it pretty heavy handed and religion-pushy. The first half is okay: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize…” they wouldn’t have gotten complaints for that; heck I wouldn’t have known it was a bible quote. It’s the “for which God has called me in Jesus Christ” that I would be bothered by.
Of course, e. Because the cheerleaders at this school are completely representative of every single person in the South- a monolithic block of ignorant, religious redneck nuts, right? I’d like to point out that the school did the RIGHT thing here, and told the kids to ditch the signs. Maybe that means that some people in the South aren’t so unenlightened…? Nah. I mean, they are still SOUTHERN, after all. *eye roll*
Of course the signs are unacceptable. The district made the right choice.
GP–Did you know that cheerleaders get more injuries per capita than foootball players? That’s why most schools these days all over the US consider cheerleading (at least competitive cheerleading and not dance teams) a sport, just like gymnastics is a sport. I have no idea how competitive these cheerleaders were, but given that the school is in GA, my guess is very. So all of that is to say that this sign being held up by “technically sanctioned” yet presumably uniformed members of a public school’s varsity sport team is the same as a public school’s soccer, baseball or basketball team competing in uniforms with bible verses stiched along the arm. And as an agnostic myself, I’d be pretty damn annoyed at that, no matter how harmless the quote seemed.
GP, why would you consider the person calling in the complaint as a ‘small’ person? Not all of the cheerleaders at this school are necessarily Christian and it’s possible that some felt uncomfortably pressured into displaying this message. School sanctioned cheerleaders carrying religious banners as part of their cheerleading activity is clearly crossing the line between church and state.
I totally get what GP is saying–your kids have to be at school during class, thus this would be totally inappropriate then. But no one has to join the cheerleading squad or attend football games, so the rights of those who do choose to participate in those things and express their religion MUST be respected. The First Ammendment protects the right to have or not have any religion and to express your faith or lack thereof. It does NOT protect you from being offended or annoyed or even outraged by anyone else’s expression of faith or lack thereof.
So, jenny tries too hard, I guess all those damn heathens should just find some other activity! No, students are not required to play sports or join the cheerleading squad, but those who want to should feel comfortable no matter what their religious beliefs are. It’s PUBLIC school. Anyone who wants to hold up banners about Jesus can go to a Christian school.
ah, so atheists can practice nonreligion during school activities, but Christians may not practice their religion during a 100% optional school event? If the other students don’t like it, they can make their own signs, or join the cheerleading squad and vote against these signs, not stop the cheerleadings or the basketball team or the chess club from putting what they want to on the signs they make with their own materials.
Jenny – I can only assume you’re being intentionally obtuse. Cheerleading and football at a public school are funded by our tax dollars. Spending those tax dollars on religious propaganda to be displayed at a football game is a violation of the separation between church and state. Period. Even if the cheerleaders paid for the materials they used to make the sign – nonreligious parents’ tax dollars pay the coach’s salary, the upkeep of the football field, football uniforms, whatever… either way, the nonreligious kids are entitled to go to that game and not be assaulted with religious messages.
Also, it’s very easy for those of the dominant religion (or those raised in it, but nonpracticing) to say that minorities would have to be “small people” to object to this. I experienced enough discrimination as a Jewish kid in public schools in the northeast – how bad would it be to be in a school in the South, and have the school actually sanction Christian propaganda? Appalling.
They aren’t assaulted…and if the atheists want to make signs, I’ll buy some brownies from their bakesale. Hell, I’ll buy the poster paint. The kids made a sign, and anyone else can make a sign saying the opposite–that’s where, I, the Catholic get to agree with the GP the humanist. That’s the point of the first ammendment.
Actually, you’re completely missing the point.
Bunny, I don’t think she’s being intentionally obtuse. I think that just comes naturally.
Good point Bunny. I think it’s completely inappropriate and the school took the right action. The idea that people aren’t forced to go to the after school events hints at the idea that unless they are Christians or willing to convert then they aren’t welcome at after school events. If the cheerleaders wish to hoist religious banners, I suggest they do so at their church, where it would be appropriate, or even on a street corner – not while representing their school at a public event.
yeah, it comes naturally to us super scary republicans.
Yeah, I have to agree with Jenny this time…holy over-cautious misrepresentation of the first amendment…nobody is teaching this stuff or pushing it…its cheerleaders for Chrissakes…are you looking for alternative counterculture at a football game?
The point is that the cheerleaders are representatives of the school. They wear the school uniform, cheer for the school’s team, and are representing their school at a school-sponsored and sanctioned event. Therefore, any media displayed by them which promotes anything should be subject to the policies of the school in general. The sign clearly promotes a single religious view, and is carried by school representatives. The school made the right choice. As an aside, it would also have been the right choice if the sign had said something like “Jesus was just some guy,” or “God is dead and science killed him.” And finally, I had to giggle about the comment that said “So, atheists can practice nonreligion during school activities, but…?” I mean, seriously…the very nature of being non-religious is that there is no “practice” of anything at all.
So atheism is the de facto religion of the state then, since its the only one that can be Constitutionally practiced, according to most of these interpretations? Oy vey!
GP, don’t you dare assault with me with that religious language! Don’t you know the first amendment means I am protected from any beliefs that are not my own?!
jenny tries too hard: Actually, the first amendment protects those who want to publicly express their religious views, and not just those who want to be “protected” from them. However, even the First Amendment falls within guidelines (i.e, the separation of church and state within public schools). As for your comment, G.P. that atheism is the de facto religion of the state because it is the only one that can be Constitutionally practiced, well….atheism is not a religion, and any “atheist” who says it is their “religion” is severely misguided.
Re–atheism not a religion—OK, point taken…but I guess I am of the mind that folks be allowed to express themselves as long as it is not at the exclusion of any one else expressing themselves…I don’t see the harm in this and I think its, yes, small to complain about it…
I take issue with any god that would permit the Holocaust to occur, but would use his Almighty Hand to assure the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School Warriors handily defeat the Ridgeland Panthers. The Ridgeland Panthers are totally more worthy of His divine intervention.
You don’t see the harm in it, unless you’re a cheerleader who isn’t Christian, and then suddenly you start wondering when America became a theocracy, and boy, you’d better keep silent for your own safety until you can escape to a free country.
“yeah, it comes naturally to us super scary republicans.”
I know you’re being sarcastic, but I actually do think it’s scary that anyone can think the way you do.
that’s the difference between you and me I guess…I don’t find free speech and democracy (I would be shocked and apalled if these cheerleaders didn’t take a vote on what to put on the banners) to be at all scary. I do find scary the thought that anyone, gay straight Christian Jewish Muslim atheist, etc. would be expected to check his or her First Ammendment right at the door before participating in any taxpayer funded event. And I’m a Libertarian, not a republican.
I wonder how jenny and GP would feel if the cheerleading squad and the school decided to put time and resources into making a gigantic sign that said something along the lines of “There is no god. I achieve what I achieve without the help of mythical sky daddies.” After all, no Christian would be forced to go to the game, right?
Comstock, I wouldn’t care. I said I was a humanist…and they’re a bunch of highschoolers with signs. Nobody is being oppressed by them. I agree w jenny and I am an independent…
I wonder when “independent” started meaning “wildly inconsistent.” And by the way, as a devout follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I too am offended by these cheerleaders and their pushy signs. May you all be touched by His noodly appendage. Ramen.
Obey your noodly master!
Oh come on…did I not just offer to buy the atheists poster paint? I support the right of anyone to make any sign expressing ANY belief about a deity, including the belief that none exists. It doesn’t prevent me from going to Mass and accepting communion if my poor innocent eyes see such a banner, any more than the cheerleaders’ sign prevents GP from sleeping in on Sundays. As far as how I would feel, though, about the mythical sky daddy poster, well I would be annoyed and offended. And that’s okay, the Constitution isn’t there to protect feelings, it is there to protect our rights. Really, the price of living in a free society is being offended from time to time.
It’s funny. The first thing oppressors always say is, “No one is being oppressed.”
you have got to be kidding flynn
I think oppressors generally start with “shut up” and “stop saying controversial things”
This kind of intolerance has many historical precedences…like when the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia and tried to wipe out Buddhism…part of the strategy was destroying their temples…wipe out all signs of religion…bad bad bad. Get over yourselves. This is crazy.
Independent means I think for myself on an issue per issue basis and don’t read from the liberal rulebook.
It’s amazing to think that this still goes on.
I say, sure, let them hold up signs with Christian sayings. BUT, they must rotate religions each game. Christianity one week, Islam the next, then Oprahism, then Pastafarianism, then Hinduism, and, though it’s not a religion, atheism.
I’d love to see a football team crashing through, “Religion Poisons Everything”.
jennytries, regarding flynn’s comment . . . as an atheist who works in an office (government-run, BTW), where Christian literature is frequently placed in the break room and signs advertising “special employee-and-family church prayer sessions” hosted by one of the higher-ups are put up in the hallways, yes, I’d say the hypothetical non-Christian cheerleader would indeed be oppressed, and would know that if she wants to keep her position, she’d do well to keep her beliefs to herself. Just as I do, so I can keep my job.
I think you are confusing “oppression” with peer pressure. Peer pressure in public schools goes both ways as far as Christians and atheists are concerned. Do you seriously think the “Jesus Freaks” don’t get peer pressure from the cool kids? Of course they do…I participated in it! Oppression would be the right word if the hypothetical atheist cheerleader were not permitted to be a cheerleader, or was required to recite a prayer, or was denied a vote in the process of choosing what to put on the signs because of her beliefs or the fact that no one had seen her in church. If the atheist cheerleader actually made it to high school still thinking that America is a theocracy, and that she was in danger of real persecution (not just feeling different) if she admitted she didn’t believe in God, then, well, I’d say the public school system has a much bigger problem, like failure to teach the meaning of the Constitution. Or for that matter, the definition of the word “Oppression”.
BTW, your coworkers inviting you to their church and leaving reading material around is not oppression either. It may well be bad manners, and it may be uncomfortable for you to feel different, but unless your supervisor is requiring you to go the prayer sessions or stopping you from putting up fliers for comparable events (like concerts, or craft workshops, or parent meetups) or leaving comparable literature in the break room, I don’t see what the problem is. Are you seriously saying that your coworkers should have to pretend they have no religion while at work? Do they ask you to pretend you have a religion? If you are seriously harassed, especially in a gov. workplace, there is recourse available.
CommentsThis is America Mayor and we follow something called the Constitution. America Mayor, love it or leave it !
Or an intelligent opposing team could mirror the idea and have their team burst through a huge banner saying things like “GOD IS DEAD IN THE 21ST CENTURY”
or “WE CAME FROM MONKEYS”
To be serious though I’m very glad the school came to their senses
The text of the first amendment says:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
It seems to me that by telling them they CAN’T hold up that sign, the school is encroaching on the cheerleaders’ Constitutional rights and I find it troubling that so many are too stupid to see that. I can’t even stand to read this anymore. And honestly, I am not a religious Republican. I have not been to church in years, I voted for Obama, I drink several times a week, I like gays, all that stuff…I’m just not an idiot.
GP: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” In other words, state-funded activities cannot express religious beliefs. Public schools are state-funded. DUH.
um…establishing a religion means forcing people to follow it. Abridging free speech means telling people they can’t say or write what they want. Duh.
oh dear jah are you an imbecile, bun
Nobody is trying to burn down or tear down or oppress their church. Or their right to hold up signs of Obama dressed like Hitler on the street corner (which I’m sure they do). No public institution has the right to endorse one religious point of view over another. End of story. Jenny, your offer to buy the atheists poster paint has nothing to do with it. This is not a Christian nation. It is a nation with a lot of Christians in it.
And if you honestly believe that a non-Christian cheerleader can join the squad in a Texas town and vote her way to a different banner you I think you are being hopelessly naive.
GP, I know you’re better than all of us put together, but please stop the insults. Yes, you have every right to call someone an imbecile, but it’s really not helpful to the discussion.
It is not an atheist nation, or an atheist school either. It is a school with rights-bearing individuals in it who should be allowed to make signs expressing themselves. If Bong Hits For Jesus is protected speech, I don’t see how this isn’t.
READ. THE. AMENDMENT.
Peace…out.
And, if you want to talk about non-Christian cheerleaders in Texas, (even though this story is from Georgia, but I guess all Southerners are bitter fools clinging to God and guns) I was a non-religious cheerleader in Texas, just eight years ago! I converted to Catholicism as an adult. An atheist could certainly vote for a different slogan to be put on the signs..it’s true that she might not win, but that’s, um, democracy. Or cheerocracy, I guess. The cheerleaders holding a sign doesn’t oppress anyone, and while blocking their free speech doesn’t endanger them and isn’t as heinous as burning a church (and I seriously doubt all these kids go to the same church) it’s still a violation of their rights to insist that they not speak their faith. Let’s put it this way…If a school bans “Heather Has Two Mommies” or insists that a kid not bring a sign saying “My Moms Have A Right To Be Married” to a football game it is still a violation of free speech, even though no one has tried to burn down the room or building where the local GLBTQ group meets.
Sorry about the TX vs. GA thing. It was an error, not a slam on the south. I know lots of nice people from there and a good chunk of my family is from and still resides in LA. I am also a Christian. That doesn’t change the law.
The point is not that some kid can’t bring a “My Moms Have a Right…” they are allowed to. They are also allowed to bring a sign that says “My God is better than yours” or any number of Christian slogans. The cheerleading squad does not. They are a part of the school. They are official representatives of the school. The kids and parents and whomever in the stands are not. And Bong Hits for Jesus is not protected speech. He lost the case. Schools are not supposed to take an anti-God position. They are supposed to take NO position. As is the DMV.
GP – Again. I know you’re much, much superior to me. I have read the amendment and several of the judicial rulings that interpret the amendment, which the constitution gives the judicial branch the responsibility to do. The establishment clause has been nearly universally interpreted to prohibit any public institution from furthering or promoting any religion. You are welcome to work to elect representatives that will change the constitution to clarify this your liking or to elect judges that will change the interpretation or to elect representatives that will appoint judges that will change the interpretation. Just because you don’t like it, doesn’t mean it’s not established law. Hurray for America, we get to change the laws here. You work on one side, I’ll work the other.
And atheism is a religion in the same way that not collecting stamps is a hobby.
Re: Bong Hits For Jesus: he lost the case because it was during class time, while the kids were compelled to be where they were, which was a parade, but the written opinion clearly stated that if it were not class time the banner would have been protected. This is not class time, the opinion of the cheerleaders as individuals standing together is being stated, thus Bong Hits For Jesus is an appropriate precedent. Atheism is a religion to me, at least, in that it is a belief set concerning a deity (in this case the belief that none exists) which affects the worldview of those who hold the set of beliefs.
Bettywu = smart.
That is all.
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Hear hear, Bunny! I can always count on bettywu to bring a clear and concise point.
As a practicing athiest, I say bettywu’s analogy as a descriptor of atheism is right on. As people who negate others’ right to self-determine by insisting that athiesm is a religion, jenny’s and GPs comments are outstanding in their steadfastness.
Thanks Bunny. That’s kind of you to say.
Jenny. The Bong Hits case is a perfect example of what you’re trying to deny. The kid would have been within his rights to carry the sign AS AN INDIVIDUAL, but since he was doing it as a part of a school sanctioned activity he was not allowed. It’s the exact same thing as the cheerleaders. I don’t know why you insist on skirting that fact, but you just seem incapable of or unwilling to grasping the difference between individual right of free speech and the prohibition on a government funded institution promoting a particular faith system. As I said above, not agreeing with it doesn’t make it not true.
Look, I don’t like the fact that people can carry handguns. I think that it’s a misinterpretation of the “well regulated militia” clause. But the courts disagree with me. I don’t like it, I have spent time trying to elect people who will support a reinterpretation of the amendment – but I don’t go around screaming at people who legally own guns that they’re violating the law or that the court opinions don’t say what they clearly say.
(thanks to puassmanda and M_Scorp as well. I started my comment earlier, but didn’t get to finish and post until now. Perhaps some of you have small children and can relate?
The cheerleaders, by putting on the school uniform, don’t agree to waive their first ammendment rights. In the Bong Hits case, maybe you don’t understand–the boy was not suspended because his banner misrepresented the school by promoting a bong-hitting religion. He was suspended because his banner disrupted the students around him and prevented them from benefiting from the trip to the parade, and that is what the ruling stated. The banner, because it was a disruption to the class would not have been permitted during mandatory class time (which in this case was spent at a parade) no matter what it said. The ruling did specify that it was protected speech, but that the school may limit protected speech during class hours, because it interferes with the students’ right to learn. A football game is not mandatory, cheerleaders are not paid employees of the school, and their free speech must remain. As far as what you said about the courts, it’s well and good—but this hasn’t gone to the court. If it did, I believe the court would find in favor of the cheerleaders. It has already been determined by the supreme court that a school is not “promoting” a religion or view if the students are the ones to express it, regardless of their position in the school. That is why students can arrange school clubs for Bible study, or Torah study or whatever. If a school official, a paid employee, were to put up a banner, it would be a different story.
As to the comment that Atheists are free to be Atheists without ever feeling oppressed by people of other faiths…well, that hasn’t been my experience. Also, it would be quite easy for an employer who didn’t like the faith of their employee to find some other way to get rid of them. And High School can be pretty rough for those who don’t conform to the norm, in any way, but with religion the ones in the “right” believe it is their duty to inform, convert, save or punish the ones who are in the “wrong”. This is not like wearing the wrong jeans, or having a bad haircut. I’d go so far as to say with banners like that, no non-christian would have made the cheer team. Open non-believers need not apply.
Here’s an example of religious peer pressure for ya.
http://tempestsmithfoundation.org/about.htm
jenny=smart
@ Marj an employer who didn’t like your *choice of shirts* could find a way to get rid of you in states that have “employment at will” (which are many)
we must not confuse things we don’t like or things that make us uncomfortable with things that violate our rights
Tempest’s story is very sad, but, I would say that there are just as many Christian kids that get given a hard time for being dorks…bullying shouldn’t be tolerated, but holding up signs is not bullying…
I am AMAZED at the brainlessness demonstrated here.
holding up *these* signs, that is, is not bullying…I could see how some signs might be
OK…I am sorry…I have got to stop being a dog with a bone…this thread is just like a wreck I can’t look away from…but I must…I’m done
Marj, no one has a right to be atheist Christian Muslim Jewish or worshippers of the flying spaghetti monster or for that matter Britney Spears fans without “feeling” oppressed, because other people have a right to express their own faith, thoughts, feelings, etc. regardless of others’ feelings. We do have a right to be atheist, Christian etc. without BEING oppressed. Oppression includes the silencing of an opinion, by authorities, the denial of employment or education, and targeted vandalism, i.e. burning a church or a meeting hall used by humanists or other interest groups. We all have a right to express ourselves on our own time (and the cheerleaders, not being paid or required to be there, were on their own time) I think everyone SHOULD follow the golden rule, which is why I haven’t called anyone else on this thread scary or obtuse…or a republican…but as I said before, the Constitution does not protect feelings. It protects, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Not the happiness, the pursuit.
Also…shirts or necklaces with pentagrams or inverted crosses certainly bother the heck out of Christian kids, esp. Evangelicals, but students are allowed to wear those during class, when the kids can’t avoid them…don’t you think those darn goody-goody abstinent (or trying to be) “fundies” feel a little oppressed?
Oh, and EEOC exists to stop your employer from getting rid of you over a religious or lifestyle issue. They’re not perfect, and some people fall through the cracks, but it does show the government has some protections in place.
And, thanks, GP, right back atcha.
Mistress, how can you be a practicing atheist if its not a religion? For that matter, I am a very avid noncollector of stamps.
I agree with Jenny. Cheerleaders are not paid faculty and football game in not class activity. I would say this if the cheerleaders held a Buddhist, Islamic, atheist sign..etc.
@ Scorpio Nobody can “negate your right to self-determine” by merely holding up a sign (you sound like that black guy comedian who strung together a bunch of big made up words to sound like he was really smart)…
and besides, I already conceded that atheism is not a “religion” (per se) “Re–atheism not a religion—OK, point taken”
Oh GP, you made my DAY with this comment! ROTFLMAO! I am INDEED stringing together “big made up words” to sound smart! I will endeavor… (oh no wait, that word is too big) I will TRY to use smaller words for you in the future. And I will try not to be such a black guy comedian. Oh, GP… YOU COMPLETE ME.
Jen, “practicing athiest” is an oxymoron.
sorry, your comment was incoherent, I couldn’t tell if it was incoherent and sarcastic.
I accept your apology. Try harder next time.