Cheerleaders for God

Fort Oglethorpe is a small town in the northern part of Georgia near the border between Georgia and Tennessee. Many residents of Fort Oglethorpe work in nearby Chattanooga, Tennessee. For more than 20 years, the cheerleaders at a public high school in Fort Oglethorpe have prepared huge paper banners containing Bible verses prior to each football game. The football players would crash through the banners as they ran onto the field prior to each game. The tradition of more than 20 years ended last week when the Superintendent of Schools in Fort Oglethorpe ordered that the religious banners could no longer be used at football games.

In 1934, the Veterans of Foreign Wars erected a cross in San Bernardino County, California to honor those who were killed in World War I. The cross was built on public land in the Mojave National Preserve. For more than 70 years, Easter sunrise services have been held at the foot of the cross. In 2001, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of the cross on the ground that it violated the clause in the Constitution that prevents Congress from passing laws establishing a religion. After a lower court ruled that the cross violated the Constitution, Congress transferred the property on which the cross stands to a private veterans’ group in exchange for other property. This did not satisfy the ACLU, which continues to argue the cross violates the Constitution. This case has now reached the United States Supreme Court where oral arguments are being held today.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …..” Like other provisions of the Constitution, the language is ambiguous. It can mean whatever you want it to mean.

It is fairly clear the founders of our country were not hostile to religion. In fact, most of them were very religious. There are many religious symbols on public property, including the building where the United States Supreme Court is located. The phrase “In God We Trust” appears on our currency. Crosses appear on gravesites at Arlington Memorial Cemetery and other public cemeteries.

The question is where do you draw the line. I don’t know the answer, but here is what I think. The Constitution is designed to provide freedom of religion—not freedom from religion. As Ted Cruz and Kelly Shackelford wrote in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, “The Constitution prohibits government from favoring one religion over another, but it does not compel hostility to faith.” Mr. Cruz and Ms. Shackelford represent the Veterans of Foreign Wars and have filed an amicus brief in the case being argued today before the United States Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, we are living in an increasingly secular society. Religion does not play as important a role in the lives of many people as it once did. It is clear that many liberals are much more hostile to Christianity than they are to other religions. They are much more willing to accommodate Muslins in the expression of their beliefs than they are Christians. A war against Christianity is clearly underway.

In the case of the Fort Oglethorpe cheerleaders, the Superintendent of Schools has taken tremendous heat for her decision to ban the religious banners, but I believe she made the correct decision. Despite their long tradition, the banners had a clearly Christian message, which is inappropriate for a public school. A public school should not be favoring one religion over another or promoting a religious message at a school-sponsored event.

Although I think the Superintendent of Schools in Fort Oglethorpe made the correct decision, I love the way the cheerleaders and their supporters responded to the decision. First, the cheerleaders complied with the Superintendent’s instructions, as they should have done. Next, hundreds of supporters for the cheerleaders showed up at last Friday night’s football game wearing t-shirts or carrying homemade signs containing scripture verses. High school officials said they sold more tickets to last Friday night’s game than ever before. These supporters for the cheerleaders were engaged in the “free exercise” of religion as clearly permitted by the Constitution. In another sign of support for the cheerleaders, a youth pastor organized a rally at a local Chick-Fil-A restaurant. The rally had to be moved when approximately 1,000 supporters showed up to cheer the cheerleaders, who have become local celebrities.

In the case of the cross in the Mojave National Preserve, I don’t know how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule. My guess is the Court will dodge the issue by holding the plaintiff in the case did not have standing to file the lawsuit because he had not been injured, or it may rule that Congress cured the problem by transferring the property on which the cross is located to a private group. If the Court orders the removal of the cross, however, it will be opening a Pandora’s box that will lead to increased litigation and will likely result in the removal of numerous historical religious symbols from public property. These symbols are an important part of the heritage of our country.

Conflicts such at the one in Fort Oglethorpe and the one involving the cross in the Mojave National Preserve bring out heated emotions on both sides. In my opinion, these conflicts are as much about tradition as they are about religion. Most people want to preserve traditions that have continued for many years. Other people get great pleasure out of finding ways to complain about how things have always been done. They love to agitate, even when they are not being adversely affected by whatever it is they are trying to change. Those on both sides demonstrate a lack of tolerance for those with an opposing view.

The conflicts involving the cheerleaders and the cross also reflect the public’s growing resentment against the government’s domineering presence in all aspects of our lives. Rightly or wrongly, there is a perception we are losing our rights and our freedoms to politicians and judges who want to change and control everything. My guess is that many of those who showed up to support the cheerleaders at the football game and the rally in Fort Oglethorpe were more interested in protesting against authority than they were in advancing their own religious beliefs. They were exercising their right to free speech in order to deliver the message that enough is enough. They were simply using a controversy over religion in the public schools as an opportunity to rebel against authority.

The language of the Constitution does not specifically require the separation of church and state. It simply prohibits Congress from passing laws establishing a religion or favoring one religion over another one. It also prohibits Congress from passing laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion. As the cases involving the cheerleaders and the cross demonstrate, it’s not easy to know how to comply with these somewhat conflicting principles. One thing is clear. The language of the First Amendment to the Constitution has not changed since it was ratified in 1791, but the way the language is interpreted has changed dramatically. As a result, many long-standing and cherished traditions have fallen by the wayside, and many more are likely to fall during the years ahead.