Court Rules Teacher Must Remove ‘In God We Trust’ Classroom Banners
- Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:20pm by
Billy Hallowell
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Bradley Johnson has been a mathematics teacher in California’s Poway Unified School District for decades. And for much of that time, he has prominently displayed patriotic and faith-themed banners in his classrooms — a move that has drawn intense criticism and removal mandates from school officials.
The banners, which touted messages like “In God We Trust,“ ”God Bless America,“ and ”God Shed His Grace on Thee,” were ordered taken down by a school principal back in 2007 when Johnson transferred to a new high school. But for years, the AP calculus teacher says that nobody saw any problem with them:
“Nobody thought there was anything wrong with them. Administrators, superintendents, school board people who had been in my room.”
After the banners came down, the veteran educator, feeling targeted over the Christian theme of the banners, filed a Free Speech lawsuit. The Los Angeles Times explains the reason for his legal challenge:
To Johnson, the banners were no more an assertion of a religious point of view than the Tibetan prayer flag, Dalai Lama poster and Malcolm X poster that other teachers had in their classrooms.
At first, Johnson was successful in his pursuits. Last year, Federal Judge Roger Benitez sided with him and ruled that his First Amendment rights had been infringed upon. But in a follow-up court ruling on Tuesday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected this claim.
The God-focused banners, which the teacher put back up after his previous court victory, were again ordered to be taken down. In this ruling, the three-judge panel claimed that the principal and the board have the right, just as any employer does, to place limits on employees’ speech. The Times continues:
The size of the banners — some 7 feet wide by 2 feet high — made them “a promotion of a particular viewpoint,” Principal Dawn Kastner is quoted as saying in the court’s 40-page opinion.
The Christian Science Monitor provides more information about the ruling:
The appeals court said Johnson was a government employee hired to teach math, not to “use his public position as a pulpit from which to preach his own views on the role of God in our nation’s history to the captive students in his mathematics classroom.”
In addition to removing the banners, the appeals court ordered Johnson to pay the school board’s legal expenses. Johnson, though, is undeterred. He says he’s willing to take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
(h/t The Los Angeles Times)
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Comments (227)
taxedout
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:04pmA little girl wanted to know what the United States looked like. Her Dad tore a map of the USA from a magazine and then cut it into small pieces. He told her to go to her room to see if she could put it together.
After some minutes she returned and handed the map correctly fitted and taped together.
The Dad was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly.
She said, “On the other side was a picture of Jesus and when I put him back then our country just came together”. … :).
Report Post »rvill0048
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:12pmBwahahahahahaha! Nice story coming from a person who has a little girl giving the finger as a profile picture. Well of course she put it back together…. Children see more pictures of Jesus than they do a map in a Christian household.
Report Post »bikerr
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:14pmGreat post!. Great story!. If only all U.S.A. citizens(and those living here) would take it to heart.
Report Post »Restored One
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:26pmAt my daughters school here in No. Cali, her class did the assembly performance this week in honor of Constitution Day (Friday) and it was a rap of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. I listened so carefully thinking that something would be tweaked or left out, and there wasn’t. I could not believe it. And thankfully these 5th graders could not get the rap thing going and pretty much just read it.
Report Post »Blackop
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:59pm“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”
Why is that so hard to understand?
Report Post »AnEasyChoice_MoreFreedom_or_Less
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:59pm@RVILL
What a great point. Except Catholic Schools perform better than public schools across the board. Must be all those Jesus pictures.
Report Post »AnEasyChoice_MoreFreedom_or_Less
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:10pm@BlackOp
I never realized that teacher was a member of congress and he was formalizing his religion as the national religion of the US. Looked to me like he was putting up a few signs in his classroom concerning his viewpoint of ‘gods’ stated role by the founders of the U.S.
Report Post »WeeDontNeedNoSteenkinFaggots
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:14pmTheBlaze Headline: “Court Rules Teacher Must Remove ‘In God We Trust’ Classroom Banners”
America’s Headline: “Americans Rule Court Must Be Removed ‘In God We Trust’ Treason”
(proof reader, signed -WeeDontNeedNoSteenkinFaggots)
Report Post »kaydeebeau
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:43pm@ Blackop…don’t forget the rest of the line ….Congress shall make no laws respecting the establishiment of religion or to PROHIBIT the free exercise thereof…..what’s so hard to understand….You can’t PROHIBIT either
Report Post »USMCRETIRED2001
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:09pmThats OK, Atheists are also welcome here on the Blaze, Jesus is coming, and you WONT be seeing him so, plan accordingly.
Report Post »signed, GOD
And in relation to this story, GOD forbid you actually QUOTE the Declaration of Independence or In God we Trust, which is on our currency. Go put on your “CHE” T-shirt and join the Obama Marxist movement. they are waiting….
tharpdevenport
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:12pmA dad asked his little girl if she knew her 112th Democrat Congress. She said “Yes”. “Okay,” so he took a couple group pictures from two different Congresses, the 112th and a random earlier one, from New York Times paper photo, and cut them up, hading her the pile.
She came back five minutes later, it all taped together. He looked it over, “Remarkable, you got it all right — how’d you do that?”
The little girl replied innocently, I found an I.R.S. ad warning they are in full force right now and pieced it back together. Turns out they were back-to-back.”
;-)
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:25pmAnd if the school had a banner reading “In allah we trust”?
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:32pmThe ACLU would be there in an instant appealing it.
Report Post »Chutz
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:38pm@Blackop “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”
Why is that so hard to understand?
BECAUSE A) congress did not place those banners nor sanctioned them. B) the school is not pushing a religion.
Report Post »If someone thinks that a sign being placed automatically transforms them into that religion….they need a helmet. People have a terrible understanding of separation of church and state. The separation of church and state is that the papal cannot make governmental law, nor can the government mandate a religion. This case breaks no constitutional laws nor separation of church and state. It will be so nice to get our schools back local and out from the federal tyranny.
Wayner
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:40pmBefore any court rules anything against religious free speech … The Supreme Court should remove all images of Moses and the Ten Commandments from the Supreme Court building… Judges feel that they are the exact replicas of Almighty God in the 1st place.
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 8:11pmthese judges will hang for their treason.
Report Post »TulsaYeeHaw
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 8:42pmDO IT ANYWAY. Make them arrest you. We are facing civil war, better stand now.
Report Post »holy ghostbuster
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 10:21pm“Isn’t that special” – The Church Lady
Report Post »Chazmcbri
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 10:59pmHow can a person have a profile picture of that and give a story about Jesus is beyond me. Your a very sick person!
taxedout
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 2:08amTo Chazmcbri and others since my profile pic which all of can not be seen upsets so many people I will gladly change it but just to let you no this is what is says beneath the photo which is a poster. “You’ve spent my lunch money, my alowance, my inheritance, 35 years of future paychecks, and my retirement.You a__hole.”
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 5:34am“Nobody thought there was anything wrong with them.” ?
Obviously, some one thinks there is some thing wrong with them. That some one is a communist, but that is still some one. Further, our government is moving toward communism inch by inch, millimeter by millimeter. I predict prison time for such ‘violations’ of government dogma within 25 years. In some perceptions, it has already happened.
Report Post »old white guy
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:26amtime to impeach that judge.
Report Post »loadingmyclips
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 8:47amThis is very good. I wish those in office would get the message as quick as the little firl.
Report Post »spirit of freedom
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 9:34am@ chuts
Report Post »for your information it was NEVER written as separation of church AND state! it was written as separation of Church FROM state. got it? so tired of all the people who miss quote this time and time again incorrectly. look it up.
cjmartel
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 10:09amAwesome, maybe the idiots in Kalifornia would pay attention!! Don’t let these people seperate us from our beliefs, remember, the founder’s had an incredibly strong belief, that was how we got our country. The more these fools seperate us from our beliefs, the less freedom we have. Do the math!
Report Post »The Giver
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 12:35pmToo bad you have a little girl giving the finger, but your post was touching. Mixed message? I guess the public schools won’t be taking and wasting anymore of our money since the money has “ In God We Trust” written on it. I don’t want political or religious doctrine in a math class. Unfortunately, the leftist teachers have their Global Warming religion and all their agendas plastered on their walls and infiltrated in ALL the subjects. This needs to stop. TEACH THE SUBJECT AND LEAVE THE CHILDREN ALONE! I almost lost it with the principal when I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE PLANET posters popped up in the hallways of my son’s middle school. WHAT? PLANET WORSHIPPERS?
Report Post »OVMAMA
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 4:56pm“wow, I love that”
Report Post »Chutz
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 12:06am@ Spirit of Freedom
“…I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.” Thomas Jefferson .
The purpose of this was to keep the church from making governmental rule and the government mandating a religion, the very reason the Puritans fled England . It has nothing to do with little Jimmy saying a prayer before class, nor carrying his Bible, it has nothing to do with “In God we trust” or placing a Christmas tree in the town square. Your inflammatory post is forgiven.
Report Post »If you believe someone has misquoted something, I think it would be more appropriate to point them to a source.
Here is my source and it states to show the letter , as it was written, to the Danbury Baptists, by Thomas Jefferson . http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html
Chutz
Posted on September 20, 2011 at 5:24pm@Spirit of Freedom
Report Post »Since you did not reply with a source I will take it that you read my source and stand corrected . It is good to learn something new each day.
Alan
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:03pmBusybody courts just have to poke their noses into everyone’s business. This is a freedom of speech issue, not a separation of state and religion. You have the right to disagree with his banners, you don’t have the right to deny him speech, even in the written word.
Report Post »taxedout
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:03pmA little girl wanted to know what the United States looked like. Her Dad tore a map of the USA from a magazine and then cut it into small pieces. He told her to go to her room to see if she could put it together.
After some minutes she returned and handed the map correctly fitted and taped together.
The Dad was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly.
She said, “On the other side was a picture of Jesus and when I put him back then our country just came together”. … :)
Report Post »Brents Torts
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 9:49amDon’t change your profile pic. Don’t let these idiots influence you.
Report Post »cessna152
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:00pmInteresting… a school told to remove a portion of the “Declaration of Independence” and the judge made an Unconstitutional ruling. Judges making up laws… very, very dangerous.
Report Post »The Third Archon
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:12pmJudges, by definition, cannot give an “unconstitutional ruling” because it is a judge’s ruling that determines what the constitution says. They can make rulings that are overturned in higher courts, and are therefore short-lived constitutional interpretations replaced by more authoritative opinions, however they are replaced not because they are unconstitutional, but because a higher court finds problems with the facts or, more likely, problems with the legal methodology and/or reasoning of the lower court.
Report Post »Abraham Young
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:33pmWho interpretst the Constitution? The Supreme Court. How do we know? Why, they told us so.
ROFL.
Whoever believes this nonsense hasn’t read or studied the Constitution for themselves, there are 3 EQUAL branches of the federal government, and the Supreme Court is not above the others, nor is it above the American people. It’s OUR Constitution, WE signed it, WE CREATED THEM, not the other way around.
Report Post »RA0725
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 2:10amThe ruling was from the 9th Circuit Court, the most appealed and overturned court in the nation. They are notorious for radical left wing rulings. I suppose they have lifetime appointments or they would have been removed long ago.
Report Post »Bill Rowland
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:19am9th Court of Appeals = most liberal court in USA.
Pictures I saw were either from our currency or were passages from songs IAmerica) that the children should be exposed to as part of the schools curriculum. The 9th circuit generally reflects what the ACLU and the atheists (or muslims) want. They would OK pictures of Che or Hugo or Fidel or posters showing Malcom X or Louis Farrican, or posters about La Raza but ban a T Shirt with the American flag because it might offend some minority.
Welcome too California – it is spreading to other parts of the country.
Stock up on food and ammo – lock and load
OMG – Psalm 109:8
Report Post »StonyBurk
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 12:35pmI agree-so much — I have written the Law Office that represented the teacher whose rights have been violated. SOO very happy I do not live in th eland of FRUITS and NUTS where Newdow trumps the laws and Americana that made this Country GREAT. It is th e9th Cicus Court of Schameels that ought ge their unlawful decision remanded and be required to pay the Court costs.
Report Post »Darren
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:59pm“At first, Johnson was successful in his pursuits. Last year, Federal Judge Roger Benitez sided with him and ruled that his First Amendment rights had been infringed upon. But in a follow-up court ruling on Tuesday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected this claim.”
The 9th Circuit has proven to be a powerfully reliable player to make atheism the official religion of the United States.
Report Post »AnEasyChoice_MoreFreedom_or_Less
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:53pmPretty much. As soon as I read 9th Circuit Court in the AP Story I already knew the ruling without having to read another word. Probably why they are by far the most overturned appeals court in the U.S.
Report Post »Canada_Goose
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:57pmWow! I would have never guessed Ms. Palin had a fling with one of the brothers and a basketball player to boot. You go girl!
AnEasyChoice_MoreFreedom_or_Less
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:54pmInteresting,
Tell me Canada_Goose, exactly when did you stop beating your spouse?
Report Post »let us prey
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:16pmcanada
Report Post »Word has it that you are into that sort of thing as well.
clockwatcher
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:54pmOnly the muslims are allowed to pray in school. Fact, just ask any teacher that has muslim students, they are allowed to leave class and go to a special room set aside for rmuslim prayer time. It happens in my friends school he teaches in a inner city school
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:05pmYes and special spots in the airports as well.. ONLY IN THE USA
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:53pmNO YOU DON’T! You teach AMERICAN students IN AMERICA. You keep those banners UP or teach those kids privately in another location.
Don’t you dare back down to this illegal, immoral court.
GOD is your judge, young man.
Stay strong. Stay HIS. And, stay OURS, WE THE PEOPLE!
Report Post »smitty1007
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:52pmCongress should impeach the Ninth Circuit Court Judges – They ALWAYS legislate from the bench.
Report Post »Cymry
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:48pm9th circus of appeals…….no further explanation for their ruling needed.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:59pmHas the 9th circuit ever made a decision based on actual laws? Don’t bother I already know the answer.
Report Post »FireWolf
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:09pmAgreed. The 9th circuit is a disgrace to reality based interpretation of the rule of law.
Report Post »This_Individual
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:47pmIt never bothered me. And I am not Christian.
Report Post »mikenleeds
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:42pmKING OBAMA and the liberals win another one to wipe out God from our country
Report Post »cessna152
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:54pmYes… they fear the truth… the truth that God shows his people that Obambi and company are evil , deceitful frauds! Tyranny can not be achieved over people that believe in a higher power and freedom!
Report Post »mental-indigestion
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:54pmI say we should quit sending tax dollars to the school. It has “In God We Trust” written on it.
Report Post »The Third Archon
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:14pmIt has “In God We Trust” written on it.
Funny that you should mention that–it wasn’t there until 1957.
Report Post »AnEasyChoice_MoreFreedom_or_Less
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:05pm@ThirdArchon
And adding that line pissed the commies off so much they came to America to have it removed. So how are you enjoying life Comrade?
Report Post »holy ghostbuster
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 10:31pm@ANEASYCHOICE_MOREFREEDOM_OR_LESS – E Pluribus Unum was changed to In God We Trust because of our fear of the commies. It‘s sad we as a nation couldn’t stand on our own against the Soviets and had to invoke superstition. We were able to defeat them anyway and a god had nothing to do with it.
Report Post »AnEasyChoice_MoreFreedom_or_Less
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 1:33am@HolyGhostBSer
Get your facts straight. It wasn’t fear. They were drawing a contrast between America
and an Evil Empire guilty of intentionally starving tens of millions of Ukrainians – in the name of the ‘collective good’.
America was great – BECAUSE it had religion and its people were moral. America didn’t suppress religion. At least not yet. Your ilk hadn’t quite gotten the foothold in the media and educational system in the 1950s.
Commies always want to do away with religion, whether its through laws, intimidation or mockery. They fear and loathe its presence in the public square because it limits their power.
You can‘t justify any and all actions on behalf of the ’collective good’ when the majority of citizens believe in a higher power and their God-given, irrevocable rights and responsibilities.
In the end, the society with no religious compass and an overspending, centralized government collapsed. Fellows like you would have us continue in those footsteps.
Report Post »RIGEL_ORION
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 4:49am@HOLYGHOSTBUSTER
Truly moronic statement. If you‘re going to take Pascal’s wager with God, you’d better be sure.
Report Post »smokegray
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:42amyeah but it is still there none the less!!!!
Report Post »last straw
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:40pm“Allahu Akbar” …… will be the only slogan allowed by the Department of Official Truth!
Report Post »Highland
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:43pmIt’s beginning to look that way. :(
Report Post »espnfx
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:39pmHe should make a poster-sized copy of the back of a dollar bill. It says “In God We Trust” on it, and since it’s a math class, he could pass the dollar off as a “teaching tool.” :)
Report Post »broker0101
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:38pmI suggest we also remove all teachers’ currency bearing the offending quotation.
Report Post »TH30PH1LUS
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:42pmHAHA!
love it
Report Post »momprayn
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:47pmI mean….removing the “offending quotation” from our currency………sorry – first thing that came to my mind……..8-(
Report Post »smokegray
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:47ambut it is in ALL 50 States preamble to their constitutions…so how can all 50 states be wrong…it is supposed to be separation of church and state..not separation of God and state..that is so the false prophets that claim to be churches can not interferer with the laws of the land.
Report Post »hecowe
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:35pmFunny — the words of the Constitution are too controversial to display in the classroom? Climb into the handbasket, friends — it‘s goin’ to get hot!
Report Post »Locked
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:45pm“Funny — the words of the Constitution are too controversial to display in the classroom? ”
Um… these are from the article:
” “In God We Trust,“ ”God Bless America,“ and ”God Shed His Grace on Thee,””
None of those are in the Constitution.
“In God We Trust” was adopted by Eisenhower in 1956 as the national motto.
“God Bless America” was written in 1918
“God Shed His Grave on Thee” is from America the Beautiful, originally a poem from 1895.
From the video (didn’t watch it, but it’s in the image):
“They are endowed by their Creator” is in the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.
“God” is not mentioned explicitly at all in the Constitution. Just FYI.
Report Post »meamerican
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:47pmI think this is a good example of where they are looking to take this country.
Report Post »qpwillie
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:55pmLocked,
Report Post »No, but “..or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” is in the constitution and it nowhere mentions that being done only in specified places and situations.
motherof18
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:56pm“God shed his grave on thee”, that’s a nice typo! It would make a good saying.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:00pm@Mother
““God shed his grave on thee”, that’s a nice typo! It would make a good saying.”
As the newest article is on the “coolest weapons in Uncle Sam’s arsenal,” I think my typo ended up being appropriate! :D
@QP
Report Post »Sorry, as said I didn’t watch the video; was that one of the banners? It’s not mentioned in the article.
TedsOfBeverlyHills
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:08pm“One nation under god” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance many years after it was originally written. I don’t remember well, but I’m thinking something like 50 YEARS later. Absolutely ridiculous and no value to teaching math. If you’re worried about teachers indoctrinating your kids with leftist propaganda you need to be equally worried about all indoctination.
Report Post »randy
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:09pmThe mistake modern secularists make is obvious. They take a twentieth century concept like “secularism” and read it back into the Constitution. They take a concept that didn’t even exist in the eighteenth century and attribute it to the framers of the Constitution. Unfortunately, this is a very common mistake. The fact that the word “God” does not appear in the Constitution means little. It is actually a rather shallow observation. The reality is “God” is in every word of the Constitution, including the punctuation. Below the surface of the words in the Constitution, there are a mountain of ideas that made its formation possible. The belief that God exists and that all nations of the world are subject to Him sits on the summit of that mountain. As the Supreme Court of Florida said in 1950: “Different species of democracy have existed for more than 2,000 years, but democracy as we know it has never existed among the unchurched. A people unschooled about the sovereignty of God, the ten commandments and the ethics of Jesus, could never have evolved the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. There is not one solitary fundamental principle of our democratic policy that did not stem directly from the basic moral concepts as embodied in the Decalog and the ethics of Jesus . . . No one knew this better than the Founding Fathers.
Report Post »scarebear83
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:11pm@ Locked “Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September in the *year of our Lord* one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven…”
Not year of THE Lord or year of A Lord but year of OUR Lord. It is a specific reference to Jesus Christ because they used the BC/AD dates. If they wanted to be secular they could have used CE BCE which were in use at that time.
Report Post »encinom
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:21pm@randy
Funny, the two places where religion is mentioned it is to limit its role in the Government, the Religious Test Clause and First Amenment. Even the phrase “so help me God” is not in the Oath of Office in the Constituition, but added afterwards.
The Constitiution is the blueprint for a secular nation, not a theocracy as many in the Tea Party seem to want.
Report Post »Abraham Young
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:52pmWhere religion is mentioned in the Constitution, it is expressly to NOT LIMIT it in the sense of depriving us of our ability to freely express it.
Thomas Jefferson was most proud of his Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, which is commemmorated on his grave. It states that no person shall have their rights diminished because of their religion. Seems pretty clear the court wants to do away with all religious expression – most likely because religion is a threat to the government of mere mortals and particularly those of a tyrannical bent.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:14pm@Scarebear
” “Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September in the *year of our Lord* one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven…”
Not year of THE Lord or year of A Lord but year of OUR Lord. It is a specific reference to Jesus Christ because they used the BC/AD dates. If they wanted to be secular they could have used CE BCE which were in use at that time.”
… and instead they went with the most common naming convention of the time? Again, I’m sorry if one of the banners said “In the year of OUR Lord;” I didn’t watch the video. It must, if you insist on defending the original post to this extent.
I think the problem is the original poster obviously had no idea what is in the Constitution and made an assumption that God is explicitly referred to. He’s not. “God” does not exist, and “Lord” only appears, as Scarebear said, in reference to the year.
Report Post »MHP
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 6:37pmIf this country is a secular nation, why it it going in the *******, with high violent crime, total disrespect of our socioety etc.
First amerndment guarantees freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion, which means if I want to put a nativity scene at the court house, I have every constitutional right to do that, even if you get offended.Sure people have a right to oppose it as indivual, but you have no right to force us to remove anything you disagree with, and we won’t do it.
To hell with the courts. People have the final word say in all this. We do what we want, and we always will.
You can’t catch everybody. Court Rulings are made to break.
encinom
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:21pm
@randy
Funny, the two places where religion is mentioned it is to limit its role in the Government, the Religious Test Clause and First Amenment. Even the phrase “so help me God” is not in the Oath of Office in the Constituition, but added afterwards.
The Constitiution is the blueprint for a secular nation, not a theocracy as many in the Tea Party seem to want.
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:34pmSo I guess no one on school property can have any money on them
Report Post »bubbie
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:32pmLiberals want to remove God from schools. After that you get failing schools and school shootings.
Report Post »firemanfrank
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:48pmYep
Report Post »Carol Ingian
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:31pmWhen those judges who are creating laws and passing out orders are now denouncing God , making it a crime to be christian or patriotic, they need to be removed from their positions.
Report Post »Mr. Johnson should indeed take this to the Supreme Court. I hope he also requests monetary compensation for the treatment he has endured.
Sy Kosys
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:31pmThe 9th shot him down…..S H O C K I N G
Do we even need to bother reading the brief as to why?
A) Infringes upon others’ freedom from religion
B) “Separation of Church and State”
Libtardia must be ratcheting up the Christmas attacks early, normally see this tripe around late October…..
Report Post »Wabbitseason
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:33pm“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Report Post »Locked
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:54pm“Do we even need to bother reading the brief as to why?
A) Infringes upon others’ freedom from religion
B) “Separation of Church and State””
Apparently, yes, you do.
“In this ruling, the three-judge panel claimed that the principal and the board have the right, just as any employer does, to place limits on employees’ speech. ”
Their ruling is that a boss can tell an employee what is or is not acceptable in the workplace.
Report Post »DJ in AZ
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:07pm“In this ruling, the three-judge panel claimed that the principal and the board have the right, just as any employer does, to place limits on employees’ speech. ”
Wait, wait, wait a minute! So does this mean that the principal and the board are objecting to the teacher’s banners? And that this now has nothing to do with being a separation of church and state issue?
That doesn’t put the principal and the board in a very good light, does it.
Report Post »Sy Kosys
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:14pm(sigh)
Isn’t the libtardia logic such that if there is no victim, there is no crime?
LOL keep trying guys…
Report Post »Abraham Young
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 5:47pmSo, an employer can deprive an employee of their natural rights? Is that what the circus court is saying? They are as bogus as a 3 dollar bill.
Report Post »Unbelievable
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:31pmI am a taxpayer so in reality I AM HIS BOSS and I GIVE HIM PERMISSION to display our patriotic sayings!
Report Post »encinom
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:57pmI am a tax payer to, and I say he needs to keep his religion out a a place a learning. He can pray all he wants on his own time.
Report Post »AnEasyChoice_MoreFreedom_or_Less
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:32pmWho are you to determine the time and place of a persons relationship with god? I‘d say you’re infringing upon his free exercise of religion by trying to regulate it to your timing
Report Post »encinom
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 8:26pm@AnEasyChoice_MoreFreedom_or_Less
Report Post »If I am a tax payer and paying his salary, I do not want him to waste my money with his religious beliefs. He is haired to teach math not theology. Let him preach when he is off the clock.
AnEasyChoice_MoreFreedom_or_Less
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 1:40amSo, you think you actually get to have control over what children are exposed to at school? I think parents opposing condom dispensers and other anti-abstinence programs will be happy to have you on their side.
Report Post »RIGEL_ORION
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 5:05am@ENCICOM
There wasn’t any mention of him preaching anything to his class, so the whole ‘wasting time’ argument is bogus. Are atheists so unable to defend their own viewpoints that they think mere sight of the word ‘God’ is going to irreparably scar a students thinking?
Would you also ban a Muslim teacher from his daily prayers during school hours?
School vouchers would eliminate this as an issue, giving parents the right to place their child in whatever atheistic or religious school they choose. Can’t have any choice though, there are too many people who have a vested interest in the current indoctrination system. All that hard work would go to waste as they wouldn’t be able to mold future generations of useful idiots.
Report Post »MHP
Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:36pmYou’d be blackballed as a Mason. We don’t allow athiests in . BTW we raise more charity money than all the churches in the US combined @ 3 million dollars PER DAY raising 1,095,000,000 PER YEAR
Plus we own all the Shriners Hospitals in the US and thru our dues, $70/year We pay all the medical bills for the patients
encinom
Report Post »Posted on September 14, 2011 at 8:26pm
@AnEasyChoice_MoreFreedom_or_Less
If I am a tax payer and paying his salary, I do not want him to waste my money with his religious beliefs. He is haired to teach math not theology. Let him preach when he is off the clock.
Chutz
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 12:42am@Encinom
Report Post »If you read the signs , they are all quotes from American writings or songs, so it would seem it’s not a preach but a quote. Our Pledge of Allegiance, the song “God Bless America”, the song “America the Beautiful”, our money “In God We Trust” , and finally we are endowed by our Creator in the “Declaration of Independence.” These all have value and are historical in nature. If he uses his classroom as a pulpit then I’d say it needs to stop ,but the signs are by no means a push of religion.
gramma b
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:30pmIf this was a civil rights lawsuit, then for the Ninth Circuit to order him to pay attorney fees is beyond outrageous. Losing civil rights plaintiffs almost never pay attorney fees. They are only required to pay if their lawsuit is deemed frivolous. That is a very hard standard to meet. Among other things, if the lower federal court agreed with him, then, by definition, his lawsuit could not have been frivolous.
Report Post »StonyBurk
Posted on September 16, 2011 at 3:18pmLBJ when he was a Senator wrote the law that has been used by the Communist dupes in the ACLU as their cash cow. by law to claim a right to Court costs all they need to do is claim the case was brought to advance civil rights–or to defend civil rights. Only recently have the Christians started to use this law and how the heathen rage. Congress needs to be encouraged to fix a problem Congress has caused when it passed LBJs law.
Report Post »WhatsYerProblem
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:29pm“The size of the banners — some 7 feet wide by 2 feet high — made them “a promotion of a particular viewpoint,” Principal Dawn Kastner is quoted as saying in the court’s 40-page opinion.”
So if the banners were smaller it would be okay? How small is appropriate for Ms. Kastner? There should be a law dictating how big a banner in a classroom should be…
Report Post »StandOnYourTwoFeet
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:27pmGod Will bless those who fight for him! Our Country is in a sad state God will protect those who stand up to whats is right an true! I am so sad that this man! GOD BLESS YOU BRAD JOHNSON!! WE WILL STAND BY YOU!!
Report Post »Texas Hills Patriot
Posted on September 14, 2011 at 4:25pmNow, just wait for the union to come to his defense … and wait … and wait … and wait.
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