Religion & American Law

Ra, Ra, Zis Boom Bah! Praise Jesus!

The recent demolition of Texas Stadium saddened me for reasons I could not explain. What I can admit, though, is that now I have football in my mind. As I now live in Georgia, I reflect on Georgia football—specifically the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School football program and its cheerleaders. Located somewhere in north Georgia (I admit I have not bothered to look it up), this high school endured public scrutiny last October, 2009 when someone complained about the cheerleader practice of holding up large signs decorated with Scripture for the team’s break-through on the field. A Ph. D. education student at Liberty University alerted the school about possible Constitutional problems associated with this practice. The school principal mused about the “flap and the amount of attention it’s gotten nation wide.” Apparently, this practice is not new and has been going on for six years. The cheerleading coach, Susan Bradley, mentioned her familiarity of the practice from as far back as 2001 in response to 9/11 and the nation’s efforts to rally toward God. The community definitely rallied behind the school. Nearly 12,000 supporters signed a Facebook page created by a local youth pastor. Students attending games peppered the stands with Scripture-bearing signs, some students painted Bible verses on their bodies and players gathered at midfield to pray. One cheerleader commented that this practice seemed so benign when compared to the cheerleaders in one Atlanta suburb who were recently accused of licentiously provocative dancing in front of football players at a pep rally.

Just how benign is a 30 X 15 foot sign painted with Scripture for the football team to burst through on their way to brutal and violent play? Bradley offered that this could not be illegal because the girls fundraised the money for the signs and it was a student-led activity. The school class president declared that the cheerleaders just wanted to inspire and motivate the players and the fans. The Lemon test, hard to die since it is so simple to apply, might allow that (1) the secular purpose is as the class president claims—motivation and inspiration for players and fans; (2) it apparently does inspire and motivate the fans—they attend games—and maybe the players, it is difficult to say since they seem to lose a lot; and (3) the girls did raise the money for the signs, but then they displayed the signs on school district property lit up by lights paid for by the school district (read taxpayers). Or we could stick to O’Connor’s Endorsement test: Is this an invocation of religion and does it cause outsiders discomfort? Has the school been neutral to religion? What is a reasonable accommodation of religion for this community? In a small north Georgia community of less than 10,000, a community that most likely has a long history of religion in the public school despite Supreme Court rulings may very well want their boys to punch through a Scriptural blessing on their way to possible glory. There may be a newcomer in town that may feel uncomfortable with this overtly obvious public display of religion. People interviewed admitted that only Christian verses would be acceptable and other religion’s philosophies would not be received well. Is it, under this circumstance, possible for the school district to be neutral? There seems to be two realities here. First, I cannot see how this practice could be declared Constitutional as it fails every Supreme Court test. Second, taking something endeared by this community, something clean and wholesome (if slightly sacrilegious), and something important to the students away to be replaced by something safely secular is profoundly sad. Whether a matter of state endorsement of religion or of free exercise of religion, the people of this community lose something fundamental to their community’s identity. Too much and too obvious religion may be bad, but to a certain extent, too much and too obvious secularism may be bad too.

About : Raja CRN

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