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A Portrait of
Jesus: What’s Wrong with This Picture?
In
Charleston, West Virginia, a portrait of the head of Jesus Christ
has hung on the wall in the hallway of Bridgeport High School
for over 30 years. Last week, school authorities were sued in
federal courts to have it removed because they believe its presence
represents the promotion of Christianity by the school. The American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) teamed up with Americans United for
Separation of Church and State (AU) to initiate the lawsuit. AU
executive director, the Rev. Barry Lynn, stated “This is
pretty clear constitutional law. Public schools cannot promote
specific religious ideas. Public schools must welcome children
of all religious beliefs. Display of a devotional portrait of
Jesus sends the unmistakable message that Bridgeport High is endorsing
Christianity. That leaves out students with other beliefs and
violates the Constitution.” The two agencies filed suit on
behalf of Harold Sklar and Jacqueline McKenzie. In many news reports,
it is not even clear if Mr. Sklar and Ms. McKenzie now have children
attending Bridgeport High School or not.
The 1941 painting, “Head of Christ” by Warner Sallman,
is one of the most famous household images of Christ in the twentieth
century. The number of prints of the painting ranges into the
tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, all over America.
However, the Harrison County School Board seriously considered
the threat and voted on its removal. After a 2 – 2 split,
the board decided to let the portrait remain on the wall. The
Center for Law and Policy, which is a legal arm of the American
Family Association, has indicated they would be willing to defend
the school board, but it remains to be seen how the federal courts
will rule.
Perhaps the saddest part of this story is that many born again
Christians will read about this issue and scratch their heads.
They will read the statements of these atheistic oriented entities
and ask themselves, “Could they be right? Should we allow
a portrait of Christ to hang in a public school? Should we not
maintain separation of church and state? After all it’s not
fair for Christianity to be promoted above Islam, or Hindu, or
Buddhism, etc. Or is it?” Many devoted Christians will, in
fact, decide that perhaps it is best to remove the picture, and
then walk around feeling guilty about it. Deep down, they know
something is wrong with such an opinion. Please indulge me as
I once again place my old broken record on the turntable.
It is true that many conservative and Bible believing men and
women of Christian faith take different sides on this issue. Many
will contend that there should, in fact, be separation of church
and state. Certainly we never want government mandated religion
of any kind. Certainly we never want to be forced to believe anything.
We are Americans, and we believe in the freedom to choose what
church we go to, what beliefs we espouse, and whether or not we
even go to church or believe in anything. God forbid that I would
disagree with these fundamental rights. However, a complete separation
of church and state would force a decree that the state remain
100% “religionless” or “neutral” with respect
to any kind of belief system. I contend that such a political
state is impossible. It cannot exist and will not exist, because
there is no such thing as individuals or political states that
don’t believe in any kind of “religious” system,
whether they admit it or not. This is where the entire idea of
separation of church and state falls apart. For example, when
a child is forced to learn evolution as a belief in the origin
of life, he is not adopting a “neutral” or “religionless”
point of view. He is forced to adopt a godless “naturalistic”
belief system. He is forced to believe that mankind evolved without
a supernatural creation process. Make no mistake, kids are definitely
forced to believe evolution in the majority of schools in our
nation. Evolution is not scientific fact, because it has never
been demonstrated or proven. It is simply another type of belief
system; in other words, it is another religion.
I won’t waste my time disproving the comments of Rev. Lynn.
There is absolutely nothing unconstitutional about a picture of
Jesus on the wall of a public school. It’s strange how that
painting has been there 30 years, and the school has never been
declared a promoter of Christianity. If we sit back and don’t
express indignation over such assaults against our religious faith,
one day, we will discover that secular authorities have gone the
whole distance and begun to prosecute Christianity in all manner
of public expressions. Again, please permit me to make my age
old plea: we should not have complete separation of church and
state, as is commonly believed! If we try, we will fail miserably,
and the nation will find itself in the throes of a religion far
less hospitable than Christianity. God give Christians the good
sense to stand up and fight for what is right. “Neither is
there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts
4:12).
James Sanders
Pastor,
sandersjc@yahoo.com
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