Are Biblical banners at football games free speech or school-sponsored religion?
Is it private speech or school-sponsored religion if a public high school football team bursts through a sign made by the cheerleaders that reads:
“But thanks be to God, which gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Kevin Weldon, the superintendent of the 1,300-student school district in Kountze, Texas, northeast of Houston, banned such signs after a complaint from someone who attended a game.
Weldon is a Christian but based the ban on advice from lawyers and the Supreme Court ruling in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, which established that prayers led by students at high school football games were unconstitutional.
“After consulting with lawyers, Mr. Weldon banned the district’s cheerleaders from putting Bible verses on the banners they hoist at the beginning of football games, out of concern that the signs were unlawful and amounted to school-sanctioned religious expression. A group of cheerleaders and their parents sued Mr. Weldon and the district, prompting a legal battle that has outraged and inspired Christians across the country. Last week, a judge issued a temporary injunction, barring the district from prohibiting the banners for the rest of the football season while the case proceeds to trial.”
“Mr. Weldon, a Protestant and former football coach, has said he supports the cheerleaders and their message, but feels he must uphold the law. Though he has taken a stand that pleases the Anti-Defamation League and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, he is not their ally. Though his action upset the Liberty Institute, a Christian legal group representing the cheerleaders, he is not their opponent. He is caught somewhere in between….”
“The cheerleaders’ case centers on whether the banners amount to private speech protected by state and federal law, or government-sponsored speech that can be regulated and censored. Lawyers for the students argued that because the cheerleaders created the messages after school without guidance or financial assistance from administrators, their banners were private speech. District lawyers said the banners were in no way akin to someone waving a John 3:16 sign in the stands and could be regulated, because the cheerleaders were school representatives.”
So what do you think: Should the Biblical banners be allowed at games? Is it the students’ free speech or the school promoting a particular religion?
Does your high school have similar banners at sporting events?
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76 comments Add your comment
ATL Born and Raised
October 22nd, 2012
12:20 pm
@Denise Christians are forced to hide their beliefs? Seriously? Feel free to bring your own sign with a Bible verse on it and hold it up in the stands. That is free speech. No one is going to stop you. However, students in school uniforms holding it up on the field is a different matter. But let’s flip it around; if that had been a verse from the Koran the cheerleaders were holding I’m sure you’d be singing a very different tune.
mary
October 22nd, 2012
12:24 pm
FCM – That’s exactly what I said. Take your own signs, don’t just fuss about it on a blog. We all have the choice.
motherjanegoose
October 22nd, 2012
12:24 pm
Wow….a a lot of opinions flying around here. This somewhat relates to my comment on stepping out of your own yard. Some areas of the country lean strongly towards spirituality. Many areas in TX are very accepting of Christian values. I have never been to this small town ( which has Farm to Market 1293 as one of the roads to get to it) but I have been to Beaumont, which is about 30 minutes away. There are also still places that put a nativity scene in front of their courthouse at Christmas and there are other places that would not consider it. Things are NOT always the same all across the US and if anyone thinks they are…you need to get out more. On that note…I love Halloween Fun but some people consider it to be very evil….particularly in the south. I am in New Mexico today and am certain it will be a new adventure.
Here is a question I have: If this banner were hung on the fence, along with dozens of other banners that advertise various products…would that be o.k.? Was it simply that the cheerleaders carried it out? What if some cheerleaders carried their own signs and some carried other signs that displayed their faith? Would that be o.k.? Just wondering out loud.
I think God IS interested in us, if we are his children. I know that there have been times I have been in a pickle, over little things like lost keys, and prayed…only to find them in the next 5 minutes. As a parent, I am interested in most things my kids are up to and my power is vastly limited compared to the power I believe God has.
The thing about competition ( to me) is that someone will win and someone will lose. No matter what. If you enter the competition…know your potential to lose. God may be very interested in the other team too!
mary
October 22nd, 2012
12:27 pm
ATL Born – the parents are the ones buying the uniforms. It cost over $800 a year to cover the cost of cheerleading.
ATL Born and Raised
October 22nd, 2012
12:32 pm
@mary So that means you get to do whatever you want in that uniform? Many police officers have to buy and maintain their own uniforms but they sure don’t get to act any way they want in them as they are representing the state while in uniform. Apply this to everyone who wears a uniform for anything.
Denise
October 22nd, 2012
12:53 pm
@Mayhem – you are correct. No one is forcing me to say Happy Holiday and I usually do just say Merry Christmas. It is just a big deal at my job where we get the Happy Holidays discussions.
@ATL Born and Raised – I already said that just because I disagreed with the law that it should be upheld in this instance so your point is moot. And I personally do not care what other people believe. I am not “afraid ” of Muslims or their beliefs. I have Muslims in my family. They have never attempted to force their beliefs on us nor have we attempted to force our beliefs on them. I have Jehovah’s Witnesses in my family. I don’t understand some of their practices or some of their beliefs but as long as they don’t attempt to infringe upon my beliefs and vice versa, we are fine, too. If the students agreed to run through a sign with a scripture from the Koran or another holy work, that is on them. I believe children’s beliefs should be shaped at home and they should not be so easily swayed by a verse from another holy work. And yes, I do consider them all holy works…to those who believe in the contents.
DB
October 22nd, 2012
1:37 pm
@Mary: The “regulars” are carrying on a respectful debate. There are a few “irregulars” who feel they have to mouth off and be ugly, but they are pretty much being ignored. Anyone who starts calling someone a “retard” because they don’t agree with them is pretty much labeling themselves, anyway, and aren’t worthy of discourse.
IMO, one should not castigate someone else for a differing opinion. You can say why YOU feel the way you do, and present evidence to back it up, but to tell someone else that they are “wrong”, unless it is a matter of “fact” and not “opinion”, is fairly narrow. The Presidential debates aside (if you can call them ‘debates’) one does not debate a point by pointing a finger and saying, “YOU’RE WRONG!” One debates by presenting a persuasive argument. Being told one is “wrong” is not “persuasive” — it just puts their back up :-)
FCM
October 22nd, 2012
1:51 pm
@ Aquagirl…so what is to stop a Jewish Cheerio from shaking her b@@bs & holding a sign up? “But thanks be to God, the one Abraham, Issac, Jacob and David which gives us victory!”
I am the one advocating the Flying Spagetti Monster sign which is a very well known “diety” at GA Tech. This shows that I am not saying ONLY Christian beliefs and signs. (I know I risk tokenism with that statement).
IF someone wants “equal” time for their belief make the sign and hold it up.
Mjp
October 22nd, 2012
2:28 pm
Does anyone really remember and support the constitution of the United States? You know, the document that gives us the right to simply post here or shout from the rooftops opinions each of us hold.
The constitution guarantees both free speech and our freedom of religion… But it only states; with regard to religion that the government will not establish a religion. No where does it prohibit any religion or freedom to profess it… If you don’t agree with a speech or religion don’t listen to the speech or simply make your own sign… Don’t ever try to take someone els’s right to make a sign.
mary
October 22nd, 2012
2:31 pm
DB – I have not said that anyone was wrong for their beliefs. I do however belive it’s wrong of them to point fingers as you say which is why I responded. Expressing one’s beliefs is a right that we have in this country. As I said, if it bothers the other party so much, take your sign and show it…that’s all and the only point I’m making. I see many political opinions written and thrown at us but they won’t sway me one way or the other. It’s the rights these girls have to wave their banners. Let them do so and if yours is different, wave a bigger banner. Use your own pursuation if you so see fit. @Denise, well said!
mary
October 22nd, 2012
2:33 pm
@ATL Born, I know a lot of officers and none of them have to buy their own uniforms. Also, they take a oath to protect and serve but a cheerleader does not. A very big difference.
HB
October 22nd, 2012
3:34 pm
The cheerleaders are representing the school and creating a banner for use on the field in pre-game activities by the school football team. It is NOT their personal banner. To me, saying they have the right to promote whatever they believe on the banner the team runs through just because they made it is like saying that anyone who volunteers to help repaint the school has a right to paint whatever words they wish on the walls. If expressing their beliefs at the game is that important to them, the cheerleaders can quit the squad, make personal banners, and wave them from their seats in the stands.
stupidisasstupiddoes
October 22nd, 2012
3:49 pm
Interestingly – there is nothing stopping fans in the stands from holding up the same banner as the teenagers. That is not a school sponsored sign. People are stupid (yes that includes me) to argue about this stuff. There is always a way around it. Stop trying to get your way or the highway and find a way to get the word out there. Those that are old enough will remember the old John 3:16 signs fans used to hold up. Forget the schools and teenagers – do it yourself adults – it’ll be a much better example.
really?
October 22nd, 2012
3:51 pm
Here here HB!
ATL Born and Raised
October 22nd, 2012
3:56 pm
@mary A cheerleader agrees to represent her school, not a faith, on the field. End of story. NCAA told Tim Tebow he had to stop writing Bible verses on his eye black for this very same reason. They actually banned eye black messages altogether.
Well said @HB and @stupidisasstupiddoes
Tiffany
October 22nd, 2012
3:58 pm
The banners that the football team runs through are huge…and they are on the football field held by all of the cheerleaders. They are not like the small ones that hang on the fence. Those could possibly be viewed differently. The problem here is that the cheerleaders are representing the entire school and the team with their run- through banner. They can’t be allowed to put a religious message on a banner no matter how well intended it was. They must represent the whole student body who is made up of many different religions. This is not a free speech issue here- the cheerleaders are school representatives.
mary
October 22nd, 2012
4:20 pm
ATL Born, we can agree to disagree. That’s our right as well.
Derp
October 22nd, 2012
5:33 pm
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!
Ethan.V
October 22nd, 2012
5:39 pm
I mainly say that plastering biblical quotes is a clearly offencive due to the fact that not all students who attend the school, mainly the other cheerleaders or football players do not follow christian beliefs. Additionally, if it were any other religion, such a Judism, or anything else, it is simply the seperation of church and state. It’s not like they’re praying to some dark gods, it’s only that they are dragging their beliefs in and impossing them as a representation of the school, thus bringing the two together.
jarvis
October 22nd, 2012
7:47 pm
For those of you claiming that Christianity is being singled out.
http://www.ajc.com/news/ap/education/parents-considering-legal-action-over-school-yoga/nSjx7/
MeatAndGreet
October 22nd, 2012
8:04 pm
To all those FOR separation of church and state, [and against the cheerleaders doing the 'christian thing'] what do y’all think about this – http://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/education/parents-considering-legal-action-over-school-yoga/nSjx7/ ?
Just Another day
October 22nd, 2012
8:12 pm
I live in Habersham and our team says a prayer at every game after they run through the banner, I never really even noticed it before we started playing the teams in Gwinnett. Maybe it is because we are a one high school county or maybe because we haven’t gotten so big that we have forgotten who we need to thank for beng here. Our team has been through a lot of personal stuff and prayer is something the boys do together, no matter what church they go to ( and YES…..they ALL go to church)
jarvis
October 22nd, 2012
8:17 pm
@Just Another, the ACLU will be in touch in the AM.
Extra
October 23rd, 2012
3:37 am
Nice post you can see in Banners calgary
Joel Ramirez
October 23rd, 2012
11:35 am
*sighs* “And there will be a great falling away…”
Does it really matter that they bursted through a banner with god’s name on it? I mean really people? You cry over the most miniscule things. So what the banner said what it said? Why can’t you just leave them alone? If the players and the coach were ok with running through it then who cares? Just because it’s religous doesn’t mean its wrong. I don’t see people complaining about the “I’m a mormon..” commercials. I mean come on people. It seems like anything that is christian related nowadays is automatically a hinderance to society. It is freedom of speech. You don’t like what the banner says? Then stop looking at it…
Gene Bryant
October 24th, 2012
1:08 pm
http://biblefunmentionables.com/2012/10/20/the-preachy-cheerleader-banners-wed-like-to-see/