Demon art? Pass. Christian art? Fail!
The Alliance Defense Fund exposes the latest religious double standards case in our government schools. First, check out these three pieces of student art:
A)
B)
C)
They are all similar in quality, so why did B) and C) get passing marks while the student who drew A) failed?
Couldn’t have anything to do with the Biblical passage, could it? Why, yes. Yes, it did:
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the Tomah Area School District over an unconstitutional policy that bars religious free speech. Citing a policy prohibiting depictions of “blood, violence, sexual connotations, [or] religious beliefs,” officials penalized a Christian student for his artwork depicting a Bible verse and a cross but did not penalize students who included demonic illustrations in their artwork.
“Christian students shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs. It is unconstitutional for the school to punish students simply because they choose to exercise their First Amendment rights,” 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.”
A student at Tomah High School drew a landscape picture for an art class containing a road, clouds, and mountains with a cross in the background and the words “JOHN 3:16 – A sign of love” written in the sky. The teacher of the class told the student to either remove the scriptural reference or cover it up with a border.
The teacher cited a document that the student and all other students in the class had been required to sign at the beginning of the semester which prevented them from creating artwork with the prohibited depictions. After the teacher said that the student had “signed away his First Amendment rights,” the student respectfully protested by tearing the signed document in half.
“The student was correct. A public school cannot require students to sign away their constitutional right to free speech and religious expression,” Cortman explained. “Furthermore, other students created artwork in violation of this illegitimate policy, but no action was taken against them. Only our client was singled out.”
The teacher gave the student a grade of zero for the assignment. The student also received two detentions.
Here’s the complaint. Will keep an eye on this one.
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- Zero Tolerance at School - No Religious Art Permitted : Conservative247
- TOMAH STUDENT FIGHTS RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY « Texas Hold ‘Em Blogger
- I’m not surprised again… | Billoblog ®
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- Government school gives passing grade for Satanic artwork, “F” for Christian artwork « Crush Liberalism
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- Religious Freedom Doesnt Just Mean Freedom FROM Religion, Douche... - Political Fever - The Political Debate Forums
- Demon art? Pass. Christian art? Fail! « Sola Dei Gloria
- April, 2008 Archive « Right Minded Online
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Why am I not surprised.
I guess picture “A” should have been in a jar of urine then it would qualify for a Federal funding grant and media acclaim instead of earning a zero from a mindless liberal drone of the NEA.
Guess which kids will end up working in comic book stores hosting Magic tournaments and talking about how bad a$$ they were in their black trenchcoats in high school.
That’s from my homestate of Wisconsin. Man, am I proud of our school system - especially when the biggest public school system in the state (MPS) has an abysmal graduation rate (something like 40%).
One cannot fail to notice that their may be a correlation between this religious bigotry and these kind of stories.
Without God, all things are permissible. You take free religious expression out of schools (or create policies against it) and you reap what you sow.
Wow! if only he had been a member or the RoP and depicted a beheading - straight A’s, without any doubt.
of not or - my bad
Put on a friggin’ burka and draw a suicide vest….they’ll pass that!!
I am going to start adding to my prayers everyday a thanks be to God that my kids are no longer in school. You know, when you are younger, you have this ideal that your child will graduate top of his/her class and go on to college to continue learning. Wow, what a shattered dream that has become.
The Nazi’s were quite good at indoctrinating their youth also. This is where we have come to in our so-called educational system. The teachers from high school on down in greater and greater numbers have become the propagandist tools of the left. They are attempting to, and sadly, succeeding in many cases, to shape our children’s world-view into the mold of the Godless leftist agenda. God help us.
There is a church of satan so the other works are religious in nature. The 9th circuit court also rulled witchcraft is a religion. These are slam dunk cases with a little research.
I’m surprised the ACLU hasn’t sued with regards to their typical separation of church and state so-called argument yet.
I hope they sue a gazillion dollars out of this school district.
The artist will come out ahead. Put the artwork on Ebay!
I’m forty years old. I own a house (that I actually pay the mortgage on) and hold a professional job. I’m a veteran of the navy who served honorably during the waning days of the Cold War and in Desert Storm. And a lot of those values of work, responsibility and the obligation to stand up to evil I learned in the comic books I’ve been reading for 35 years now.
The comic shop I’ve been going to for the last 12 years is owned and operated by a small businessman succeeding in the free market. He’s also a veteran, having served in Bosnia.
The people who patronize the shop are overwhelmingly literate, polite and well behaved. Among the younger patrons I’d bet next month’s pay that their average GPA is a good deal better than the average of the football players’.
Say what you want about this knuckleheaded, bigoted teacher. But when you start talking random trash about comics and comic shops you do little more than betray how ignorant and bigoted you are.
Well, I’m all set and ready to go! When do we riot? Heck if the moslems can get whole countries to apologize and grovel at their feet, maybe we can get the same results.?. We can get the banners made up (don’t forget to misspell words) and waving. We can gather and yell, “Death to the Infidels!”. Maybe the school district will immediately apologize, fire the teacher, and give an A+++ to the student. They might if we can get about 4-5 guys with hoods on, waving their hunting rifles on YouTube, yelling, “G–D– America!”.
Student got detention. I hope it’s not lines with a special quill.
I’m dying to know the religious affiliation (if any) of the teacher.
appears the child can’t follow directions and is a brat……but he’s a Christ worshiper….let’s give him a pass
How do you surmise the child is a brat?
And how can you justify it ever being Constitutional to have a student sign away his First Amendment rights?
Exactly.
I’m still trying to find Freedom From Religion in my copy of the Constitution.
Liberal art teacher. Typical.
If the student has stripped naked and applied paint with his rear end=acceptable, passing grade. Had he gripped the pencil in his clenched butt cheeks and rendered some unintelligible picture=acceptable, passing grade showing great creativity. Portraying the sign of the cross…heretic.
The public school is a breeding ground of liberalism and weak-minded progressives who live in their own little libby eco-system, free from the realities that life otherwise imposes.
The teacher needs a good talking to.
This is happening across the globe. Christianty bad, anything elce good.
The days of calling bad good, and good bad are here after 35 years of turning our backs on G-d.
Hard to tell from the case filing since the child is presented as angelic, I do suspect there is another side to that.
I don’t, however courts have imposed several limitations on the free speech of students in school. I say lock him and his artwork in a cage on the school grounds. We could call it a “free speech zone”.
yt1300inHtown, #3
Hey, there are some, normal, well adjusted, conservative, MtG players that read MM too! Don’t lump us in with the crazies.
I have this picture of lgm in my head and I’ll be dog if C isn’t exactly how I imagined our troll.
I’m thinking I would not get along with scooter56 over a cold one…
How about we just allow free speech in schools…
Tried that…..courts ruled against “Bong Hits 4 Jesus”
scooter56:
Tell me that’s an April Fool’s joke.
What?
How do you get a fail in art class? never heard of that one, before. I call that extreme prejudice on the part of the teacher/admin. And, their bias is very, very transparent.
So, demonic illustrations are good. Biblical illustrations are bad. I think Cale Jackson, Julie Millin and Margi Genrich are prejudice against students who are religious. They should not be allowed to impose their prejudice on to students in their official capacity as faculty members. Fire them today.
Oh Zorro, First we can all read the names in the court filings (except for the plaintiff and his mommy they are protected and rightly should be). But when you start printing them on a blog like this one it is only a short goggle hop till some is crazy posting addresses,phone #s, emails, and camping outside in their bushes.
Second, if A.P. had printed something bad about Mr. Baby Jesus on his artwork, and the same instructions given, would your position be the same?
I really agree with James Felix #14. I collect comics, mostly older ones; first they make a lot more sense than most of the stuff being published today, they’re an art form, they’re entertaining, relaxing, and to me, they are very imaginative and very absorbing. I can’t speak for myself, but I do know some extremely intelligent people who also read comics, discuss comics, and read some very intelligent websites about comics. One such website is hosted by a Ph.D. in math.
This seems to me like it’s a clear-cut case of discrimination. Slam-dunk all the way.
So now we know how a scooter rolls.
When I was in school, no-one failed in Art…or music either. Worse you could get was a “D”. I got all “A”s in music, but art…the Lord forgot to put any talent there. But, I got a “c” for effort. Failure wasn’t there for a student. We didn’t have prejudiced and narrow-minded teachers either.
What’s up scooter, the document is already in the public domain.
Government schools! KRYKEE!!
VOTE SCHOOL VOUCHERS! - VOTE SCHOOL CHOICE!
After all, who could be opposed to choice? I mean besides the big government nanny staters, like the NEA - one of the biggest lobbies in D.C. - with a vested interest in keeping your tax dollars in their pocket!
As stated.
I’ve known plenty of military people who read comic books when they were kids and played pac man as well. They’re all pretty normal, well adjusted people and do fine with their lives, pay their bills and mortgages or rents on time, car notes, etc. You can’t lump a few birdbrains into a whole group (well trolls-that’s another story for another day;))
I think the teacher deserves two detentions.
For the record-I hate the NEA-never joined them (always worked in a right to work state where we didn’t have to-also by choice).
BlameAmericaLast said:
Hello? ACLU? Freedom of expression case. Hello?
hadsil said:
I take umbridge at your artfully making light of this situation!
I’m just trying to imagine the Louvre devoid of all depictions of “religious beliefs.”
He should have brought a gun to school. They would have gave him an A+ and gave him a scholarship to Harvard. I swear the second they took God out of public schools shootings became the norm.
Maybe I ought to run of Prez someday because I’ll make everything right again.
I think everyone gets the Christian bashing part… also deserving outrage is the notion that the public school, being an instrument of the state, would seek to place students (as citizens although being minors) in the position of having “signed away his First Amendment rights,”.
And doing so without parental consent and/or access to legal counsel at that.
What is the age of consent in Tomah?
You’ve got to be kidding me. How can you consider them even remotely ’similar in quality’??
B) and C) are far superior in terms of detail and composition.
I hate inequity w.r.t. treatment of Christianity vs. other religions as much as the rest of you (even though I’m not religious myself), but if you were to base this on actual artistic talent, you’d have a hard time making a case for the statement that these three pieces are ’similar in quality’.
Another comic book reader checking in!
The student was unwise to put a cross and John 3:16 in his artwork. He should’ve written “Behead those who mock Islam” instead. Something tells me his moron teacher would’ve gave him an A++ out of “cultural sensitivity.”
I find it most interesting that the school is essentially saying that not being offended is a right, whereas our constitutional protections can be voided at will.
And so, this student learns an important lesson: teachers are local government brought small. And while small, they are like gods. Don’t screw with them because they’ll screw you up.
Home schooling?
PS. Aside from its Christian signifiers, his picture is pretty lousy. At best one might make the case that the elements a depictions of ideas — cloud, sky, road, stream. But they’re neither attractive nor well-seen. Much of that page contains the monomania of coloring in fields. Pretty grim, I think; make sure that one is decently socialized. But mostly I’d flunk the teacher for not teaching how to draw.
PS. I flunked drawing once. It was, however, a wonderful truck based rocket launcher. Too bad my fat art teacher couldn’t see past her nose.
oops. a = are
It comes down to one thing and one thing only. You are free to practice your religion and expect the utmost “tolerance” from all others, regardlesss of personal beliefs, except if you are Christian (especially if you are a white male). And that’s the bottom line.
Yashmak said:
I’m pretty sure the first drawing is from a different assignment, 20% objects 80% landscape. The other two drawings were examples of artwork in the halls of the school. I’m not sure what’s going on with the mountains in the background, but that’s why I’m not an art major.
Anyway, I just wanted to say how much this kid rocks for knowing his rights and not being afraid to stand up for himself.
For you art critics demeaning student a’s work…your entitled to your opinion as is the teacher, that said, anyone with an open and by all means tolerant mind would surely not come to the failing conclusion of the teacher(really a teacher?), would they?
Interesting how you libs with the open and tolerant minds are so fascist in your words and actions.
There are all differnt levels of talent. Not everyone is an artist, and you can not teach everyone to be an artist. The point is not weather the example a is as good as b or c , the point is he failed because of what he drew, whereas the other two examples depicting devious charters were acceptable. I fully agree that no one should get a failing grade in art unless they dont do anything
Regardless of the outcome of the case, the teacher is going to answer to a higher court that will expose the teacher’s rejection of the greatest act of love ever demonstrated to mankind.
Michelle hit this one exactly.
A cross to bear, so WHO WILL BEAR IT?
Please count me in.
If there is anything, ANYTHING that I can do for anyone taking this on, let me know.
Michelle, please contact me and/or forward my info to anyone truly willing to help bear this ‘burden’.
Well, I’m not an art teacher, I’m a science teacher, but I wouldn’t flunk a kid for putting religion on his/her work–as long as it isn’t gang-related. It happens now and again, doesn’t bother me. And I can’t imagine asking a kid to agree to not use religious symbolism in an art class.
Things have changed a great deal since my son was in school. He is 20 now and in the Navy. But from grade school to being a senior in HS, he wrote and spoke out about God and Jesus and always was it well recieved. He disputed the big bang theory as a child.
I don’t know what would happen today if he was in school. I believe I’d be there defending him and being darn upset consistently.
As a teacher and seeing those devil pictures, I would consider calling parents in and showing them what their children are drawing. I would think that those pictures signify a big red flag. I wonder do the parents know that their children are drawing the devil and maybe even worshipping the devil? It’s not far fetched. I think years ago a parent would be called in out of concern for the child, it looks like in this crazy world their artwork is rewarded and parents aren’t even made aware.
Kudos to this student for standing up for what he believes in. That is the only way that we will retain religious liberty in this country.
BTW, regardless of whether A is = to B or C, the student did not deserve two zeros for his work.
and I can surmise that you are fat and ugly..
wanna slow dance later?
Another Comic book reader here.
I wonder if the kid would have tried to draw a Seraphim or a Cherubim without any reference along side a demon if that would have been okay?
and isn’t B) a cover for a ‘Megadeath’ album?
Our Founding Fathers warned us that if we lose our Christian morals and values, we’ll lose the country. You can now see every day on the news and on the streets. “What’s in it for me?” attitude, and “I’ll do what I want, and if it’s wrong, I’m a victim.”I’m grateful my grown kids keep Christian values/morals and abhor that type of behavior. My wife can tell you all about persecution of Christians, being from Indonesia. We’re heading that way in this country.
Speaking as someone who came through the “media” side of university education I can say that, if you took away the cross and the scripture reference, this particular piece would be getting plaudits left right and centre for its content. Never mind the technical skill (which is actually higher than some of you are giving credit, particularly in the subtle use of shading on the mountains), the content is what matters to these people.
Here’s the sort of thing they’d say, were the cross not there:
That’s the sort of thing they’d say… if the cross wasn’t there, if they weren’t prevented from assessing the content through their own world view by the presence of a christian symbol completely altering the contextual meaning of the content. But with the cross there it’s “ooo yuck christian get it away!”
Folks read the article again.
The kid didn’t fail for what he drew, but because he refused to put a border around the Christian (religous aspect) of his drawing. For you trolls, we call this viewpoint discrimination since the church of satan has simuliar images in their literature (drawings b and c).
GSP
PS I used to be a member of the new age, and tm and those satanic images looked very simuliar to what I was reading and studying in the late ’80’s/early 90’s.
This is true. Here’s what the Apostle Paul had to say about it:
The NIV says this, which I really like:
“The point is not weather the example a is as good as b or c , the point is he failed because of what he drew, whereas the other two examples depicting devious charters were acceptable.” - ciceroskip
That, I can agree with. I just take issue with the ’similar quality’ comment . .because they’re not.
You beat me to it. But I’m sure you’ll find the provision you seek right next to the one establishing the (liberals’) right not to be “offended”.
Actually I’d say they are. The middle one superficially looks very detailed and skillful but if you actually look at it in detail you’ll see that it’s pretty crap. Frankly. There’s a lot of bad lighting, outlines where there shouldn’t be outlines, no real understanding of solidity and depth or anything like that. It’s pretty obviously copied from an illustration of some sort. The bottom one is good, sure, in terms of composition and skill but, again, it’s not particularly adventurous. An art teacher worth his salt would have considered these things in grading the pieces.
The thing is, in terms of content it’s not really fair to judge these pieces together. The first image is surrealist and stylised. It’s not a classical composition, it’s designed to provoke reactions rather than be “pleasing” to look at. In that sense it’s very much a post-modern artwork rather than traditionalist fine art, far moreso than the other two, which lack that creative flair.
If it hadn’t been for the cross I can bet you the art teacher would have given it a higher grade than either of the other two pieces, simply for the “adventurous” composition. Replace the cross with a pentacle or a crescent and star and it would have been in danger of becoming a new Pollock from all the drool…
Woudn’t it be wonderful if their was a document that was established for the country that granted the freedom OF religion and protected that right for even Christians to the fullest???
You know, something like let’s say the US Constitution..and that right was considered so important that it was put in the very First Amendment to that Constitution.
Evidently I dreamed that existed, and I must have been mistaken.
If I were them, I woudl want that teacher fired and their teaching certificate pulled as terms of settlement. Someone with fascist tendencies should not be allowed to teach our children.
Yet another example of Liberal Fascism.
Well, I guess there’s not really much else I can add. It doesn’t surprise me that all the liberal posters on here are no doubt in their bunker since it involves a free speech attack on Christianity.
But boy oh boy if it were paganism or Islam, they’d be out here a hootin’ and a hollerin!
Freedom of religion has two parts: the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.
Secular progressives only seem to be aware of the Establishment Clause.
Imagine the nerve of that teacher, actually demanding that his students sign away their right to the free exercise of religious expression!