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| The portrait of Jesus in main area of the school |
Since I am researching religion in public schools for my junior theme, this story dealing with religious expression caught my eye. Recently, an Ohio public school had decided to take down a portrait of Jesus that has been hanging in the school since 1947. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Ohio and the Freedom from Religion Foundation were in the process of suing the school district after a student and his/her parents brought up that it was unconstitutional for this display of religion to be in a public school. Because of this, the student Christian service club at the school, who owns the portrait, was asked to take it down. Superintendent Phil Howard told the Associated Press, "At the end of the day, we just couldn't roll the dice with taxpayer money. When you get into these kinds of legal battles, you're not talking about money you can raise with bake sales and car washes. It's not fair to take those resources from our kids' education." This decision was made by the school to sidestep any legal issues, because the ACLU stated at a federal court hearing that they would wait to see if the portrait was willingly taken down by the school before they took any action.
Do you agree that the portrait should've been taken down? Why do you think this portrait has been hanging for almost 70 years even though it isn't constitutional? What does it say about the willingness of our communities to abide by the constitutional religion laws that this portrait has been hanging since 1947?
