Religious Freedom

In the news lately, they've been talking about this middle school up in Jackson, OH, where there's a lot of controversy over a portrait of Jesus that hangs in the school's "Hall of Honor". The portrait was donated by a student group back in 1937, and has hung there with no complaint ever since, but a couple weeks ago, a group called "Freedom from Religion" wrote a letter demanding it be taken down, and last week, the ACLU jumped in and called its display unconstitutional. The school board believes the portrait should stay since it was a student donation and a long-standing part of the school's history. So lawyers are preparing for battle, and it'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

A portrait similar to this hangs
at Jackson Middle School

On one hand, many see this as just one more example of the growing movement to eliminate Christianity from the public square, and that has a lot of people upset. When the school board held its first meeting to address the situation, hundreds of people showed up to voice their opinions - most in favor of keeping the portrait up. People are upset because they see this as an attack on their religion and traditions by outsiders. And a lot of people don't see why we should take something down if the majority wants it there - if there are really very few people who have seen it and been offended.

But on the other hand...

The right to choose when and how and whether and whom to worship is one of the main reasons why so many people came to America in the first place!

One lady I talked to yesterday said, "This nation was founded on Christian principles, and people who have other religions ought to know that, and if they don't like it, they should either learn to live with it or they should just go and live wherever their religion is the main thing."

Maybe a lot of people would agree with her, but if we're gonna say, "You have to be like us or you can't live here," then why don't we just establish Christianity as the National Religion? I mean, you can't deport people if they haven't broken the law, so we should just make it illegal to be anything but a Christian, right?

Now you have a whole criminal class of Muslims and Jews and atheists and a million other things, and they all have to stand trial and face the risk of deportation - even if they were born here. You've got border patrol checking the religious IDs of every immigrant, people being arrested because they didn't go to church this week, extremists who want to make the laws stricter so we can impose the death penalty for heretics... not to mention a whole legal battle over whether Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses and other sects can be considered "Christians" or not...

Where does it end?!

Do we really want America to be the "Christian" equivalent of one of those nations where being anything but the National Religion is illegal and converting people to anything else is a capital crime? If we do the same things, how will we be any better? If Jesus taught sacrificial love and respect for all, how is it "Christian" to persecute other faiths?

That's why I think it's such a blessing to live in a land where we are guaranteed freedom of religion. It's a blessing to know that I have the right to CHOOSE to worship (or not) as I see fit without worrying about whether or not I'll be arrested for it... and so do you... and so does your Jewish friend... and so does your Muslim neighbor... regardless of who's in the majority.

So should the portrait come down?

I'm torn.

Does seeing a picture of Jesus mean those who see it can't still practice non-Christian beliefs? Not that I can tell. Does it hurt them somehow? I don't think so. It's not like someone is using the portrait to physically beat people up. It's not like the school is forcing people to stop and pray when they pass it! And it's not like Jesus is doing something to put down another religion in the picture.

But what if you as a Christian were at work or school, and every day you had to pass a big portrait of Buddha or a Satanic pentagram? Would you be offended? If so - or if you know someone who would - maybe you can at least identify with those who want to remove our symbols from public spaces.

Then, does the fact that someone's offended mean it shouldn't be allowed? Don't we have both freedom of religion AND freedom of expression? If I can't hang a picture (or display a nativity or a cross) because it might offend someone, how long will it be before I'm also forbidden to speak about my faith? How long until you can't have a church because someone might drive past and realize that some people have different beliefs? Isn't there a difference between recognizing that something exists and forcing people to adopt it? Where is the line? Again I wonder...
 

Where does it end?!

Another blessing about living in this place and time is that we get to have these kinds of debates, because they're an opportunity to grow! What if - instead of just automatically dividing into "Conservatives vs. Liberals" or "Christians vs. Atheists" - what if we began to really listen to each other, to empathize with each other, and then we came to some understanding about how to best love and respect each other, whether we all agree or not?

I don't know what's gonna happen, but I hope the portrait DOES get to stay up. I hope it goes on to be an encouragement for those who see it and believe, as it reminds them that the Lord is with them and encourages them to do their best. And I hope if someone sees it who is not yet a Christian, maybe they'll begin to ask questions that lead them in a good direction.

But one more blessing I see is that even if the portrait comes down...

...and even if they eventually take down EVERY symbol of our faith...

...they can NEVER take Christ away!

"And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

- Jesus (Matt. 28:20b, NLT)