The Conservative Cave
Current Events => General Discussion => Topic started by: guest on April 01, 2008, 03:12:46 PM
-
Student Sues Wisconsin School After Getting a Zero for Religious Drawing
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
AP
MADISON, Wis. — A Tomah High School student has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his art teacher censored his drawing because it featured a cross and a biblical reference.
The lawsuit alleges other students were allowed to draw "demonic" images and asks a judge to declare a class policy prohibiting religion in art unconstitutional.
"We hear so much today about tolerance," said David Cortman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group representing the student. "But where is the tolerance for religious beliefs? The whole purpose of art is to reflect your own personal experience. To tell a student his religious beliefs can legally be censored sends the wrong message."
Link (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,344350,00.html)
Most people I know would say that kid did violate rules, but if you read the second paragraph, it may be what he needs to prove the school wrong. I don't see anything wrong with what he did (then again, I'm not easily offended like his classmates are, even though they are apparently hypocrites :whatever:).
If you want to see the drawing, go to the link.
Feel free to move it to the Religious forum, if that's where it should be. I posted it here on the grounds that it is a First Amendment issue.
-
The lawsuit also alleges school officials allow other religious items and artwork to be displayed on campus.
A Buddha and Hindu figurines are on display in a social studies classroom, the lawsuit claims, adding the teacher passionately teaches Hindu principles to students.
In addition, a replica of Michaelangelo's "The Creation of Man" is displayed at the school's entrance, a picture of a six-limbed Hindu deity is in the school's hallway and a drawing of a robed sorcerer hangs on a hallway bulletin board.
Drawings of Medusa, the Grim Reaper with a scythe and a being with a horned head and protruding tongue hang in the art room and demonic masks are displayed in the metals room, the lawsuit alleges.
A.P. suffered unequal treatment because of his religion even though student expression is protected by the First Amendment, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Friday.
Yeah, you can see that a cross would have been totally offensive. :mental:
-
I saw the drawing and it looks good. As an artist, I would give it an A.
-
Zero-tolerance policies always seem to lead to zero-brain results, they are unfortunately the favorite refuge of school administrations that want to be relieved of the burden of having any responsibility for actually making decisions.
:fuelfire:
-
Obviously the lack of religious symbols obviously stops with Christianity.
-
Zero-tolerance policies always seem to lead to zero-brain results, they are unfortunately the favorite refuge of school administrations that want to be relieved of the burden of having any responsibility for actually making decisions.
:fuelfire:
Except that it's NOT zero tolerance of religion per se, it's zero tolerance of Christianity.
-
Zero-tolerance policies always seem to lead to zero-brain results, they are unfortunately the favorite refuge of school administrations that want to be relieved of the burden of having any responsibility for actually making decisions.
:fuelfire:
Except that it's NOT zero tolerance of religion per se, it's zero tolerance of Christianity.
It was a broader observation, concerning repetitive PR disasters schools seem have with 'Zero tolerance' policies leading to stupid results for weapons (sandwiches chewed into gun shapes, pro-Second Amendment publications confiscated as 'promoting violence'), touching (7 year olds expelled for trying to hug or kiss a classmate), or what have you.
In this particular case, the policy immediately involved seems to have been one that was actually just for the art class which may make the social studies artifacts kind of irrelevant, though the school seems to have had similar policies of broader application too.
I doubt the little bozos making the demon masks and pics had any actual religious belief in them, which will be the school's obvious attempt to weasel out of ownership of their own actions now that they've been called on it. However, since the basis of this policy and the related ones in the other classes and the school generally seems to be all about the effect on the viewer -- rather than the intent of the maker -- they really ought to end up sucking wind on that defense, since all it takes is one Evangelical Christian who finds the demon stuff offensive (as many honestly do) to stomp all over their piss-poor execution of those policies and their discriminatory treatment in meting out penalties under them.
-
Vlad the Impaler should be brought back from the dead to deal with PC'ers. He would impale his opponents. :evillaugh: