Demonic artwork okay. Scripture and cross – no way!

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April 15, 2008
Another Christian student has seen his religious freedom "erased"…this time for a drawing that depicted a Bible verse and cross.

This Wisconsin high school student – we'll call him Michael – drew a landscape picture as part of an assignment for a school art class. The picture featured a road, clouds, and mountains, as well as a cross in the background and the words "JOHN 3:16 – A sign of love."

Michael's teacher instructed him to remove the scriptural reference or cover it with a border, saying that it was a prohibited item. In fact, all the students had been required to sign a document at the beginning of the semester prohibiting depictions of "blood, violence, sexual connotations, [or] religious beliefs." You may surprised at the "company" religious beliefs keep in the eyes of school administrators, but such religious discrimination is becoming commonplace inside school walls.

Incredibly, while artwork including demonic illustrations was not penalized, Michael's teacher made a point of telling him that he had "signed away his First Amendment rights." Michael respectfully protested by tearing the signed document in half – and, because he refused to forfeit his rights, received a grade of zero for the assignment. Plus two detentions.

It's deplorable that a Bible verse seen at virtually every professional sporting event in America could cause such a stir in the classroom, but it did. But praise God, thanks to your prayerful support, we are doing something about it. ADF attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit against the Tomah Area School District.

"A public school cannot require students to sign away their constitutional right to free speech and religious expression," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. "Further, teachers are not permitted to censor Christian religious expression in artwork while at the same time allowing other types of religious depictions. Only our client was singled out."

The complaint is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/APComplaint.pdf.

A copy of the drawing created by the student is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/APDrawing.pdf. Copies of artwork depicting demonic images created by other students in the class are available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/DemonicDrawing1.pdf and www.telladf.org/UserDocs/DemonicDrawing2.pdf.