School Bans Bible Banners at Football Games

For three straight weeks, high school football players in a small southeast Texas town took the field by bolting through large red-and-white banners that hollered the praises of Jesus Christ.

Most people in Kountze viewed the banners as evidence of the students' admirable moral upbringing — Christianity and the Bible always had been fundamental to this town of 2,100.

But someone complained to a foundation that fights for the separation of church and state, and by Tuesday, a day after receiving a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the superintendent banned the banners, and the town became embroiled in a controversy that has touched other communities nationwide.

On Thursday, a judge granted a request by the nonprofit Liberty Institute law firm to temporarily bar the implementation of the ban. It also set a hearing for early October when the sides will be able to make their arguments. The cheerleaders planned to raise their 20-foot banners at Thursday evening's junior varsity football game.

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Evermyrtle

I would notify that school that once the ban was made legal I would stop payments, immediately.
- Evermyrtle
  
  That is if I had a child in that school, I would stop payments immediately if they banned the Christian banners
ounbbl

This may belong to the issue of a constitutional freedom of speech, the freedom which cannot be denied in this case.
…
However, from the Christian viewpoint, we have to know why we say something when we say it. A speech to give out to the world is to
proclaim the Gospel. This particular text on the banner is quoted from a
verse. Reading a verse in the Bible is something not to do. It should be read in context, a paragraph or so is a minimal unit to read. One may
study a verse, but quoting it for a purported use is dangerous, since
often it is not set in the sense of the very text. Indeed, this
particular verse is one of many which have been
misunderstood and quoted often. 'All things' in the text does not refer to anything one
has in mind to do but to the things God has set out for them to carry out – the
mission. Don't forget that the most of all the sayings in the Bible does
not say directly to the readers of the Bible, and this one is clearly to the
Apostle Paul, not us, or you. Such a deplorable practice of
pick-and-choose reading of the Scripture is rampant; even many come
up with their own dogmas and doctrines by employing such a devious self-serving approach.
- Michael G.
  
  Have you been a Bible/Scripture teacher in the past? For the life of me I don't know why anyone would disagree with what you said. Some people just can't seem to handle the Truth,and that's too bad. They have a major problem on their hands.
  When the founders of the US wanted free speech, they meant it. It is a much better thing to have 'free speech' and not shooting at each other than to have it the other way around. The UN can demand that people anywhere, anytime comply with what they want, but good luck trying to enforce it. Sure, we may one day have blue helmeted 'jokers' wandering around inside the US; but good luck to them. I hope they have their insurance paid up.
  I think your post is well thought out, and has a lot of information.
  Thank you for doing it.
mallen11

Phil 4:13 is a verse I use almost everyday and many others. There are over 7,000 promises in God's Word that are so comforting and God never goes back on His Word/promises or any thing else in His Word; the Bible.
Schools have allowed praying before their games and signs like the one above for many years and not a word was said against it. The problem today is the "falling away" of believers who no longer want to hear the Word of God taught and no longer are willing to accept the right of schools to portray God's Word in ways that it can be seen or heard.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/ keyboardshark

More liberal anti-Christian nonsense. They won't be happy until they control every aspect of our lives. All it takes is one atheist/liberal complainer to ruin it for everyone.
pcsrocky

The Foundation is based in WI. How do they get into all these lawsuits from everywhere else? Who is sending the info to them and why?
Why hasn't anyone countersued this group for infringing on the Right to Freedom of Speech? In this case if the school is not "pushing" the statements or ideas on the signs but students are choosing to paint the statements then the ban is certainly infringing on the RIGHTS OF THE STUDENTS! The students should sue the school, the judge, and definitely the foundation that started this. We, the Christian majority, need to start standing up for our right to Freedom of Religion and our right to Freedom of Speech. We have "turned the other cheek" so many times the liberal left feels they can run over us all of the time. Even Christ got angry and kicked the money changers out of His Father's house, physically. It is time we start fighting back.
- Public_Citizen
  
  So far they have gotten by on bluff and the unwillingness of local school boards to spend local funds to oppose this group.
  The tide is starting to turn and there are several districts that have made the hard decision to stand for liberty, partially because of the legal support offered by Liberty Institute.
  The Wisconsin group is not very large and when this sort of intimidation starts getting expensive they will probably fold. When people start having to repeatedly dig into their own pockets for legal fees the "fun" will be over and a lot of their supporters will find another way to express their faith in nothing at all.
http://www.facebook.com/arlette.gaffrey Arlette Gaffrey

Until the early 1960s when that crazy atheist Madeline Murray O'Hara convinced a very liberal Supreme Court headed by Justice Earl Warren to take God, the Ten Commandents and any reference to Jesus out of our schools we always honored our Christian hertiage.
I well remember when the Supreme Court made that ruling and I told my friends that we would live to regret it. I knew that without our Christian beliefs held firm in our lives we would lose our moral compass. We would see the break down of our society where murder, lying, stealing and all other types of moral decay would prevail. And guess what? I think I've been shown to be correct.
What makes me sick is when I see so many schools cave into the anti-Christian groups that will do what ever it takes to take God out of our country. Where are the parents? Why don't the parents band together and fight this nonsense? Since when do we have to be ashamed of our belief in God?
And I certainly agree with pcsrocky, The students and their parents should sue the school, the judge and for sure the crazy group who filed this complaint.
It would be great if everyone who feels strongly as I do about this anti-Christian nonsense would take just one minute out of their busy day, say around 6:00 P.M. or there abouts, bow your head and ask our Father God and His Son Jesus to heal our Nation. I do this every day. Will you join me?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004047180339 John Adams

What has happened to the constitution guarantee of free speech? Does it apply to everyone but Christians?
fatal42

Do like Univ. of Tenn. have some balls and tell them to shove it where the sun don't shine !!
If the kids are happy with it , how does it hurt anyone ???