The bottom line is that there was nothing offensive in this portrayal of art. If the project had portrayed some aspect of any religion in a negative or offensive manner, then I think that would be a cause for concern.

"majormojo" very christian of you, i can feel the love. peace be with you.

both

justsaynotomath, you are a sad and deprived individual. I will certainly pray for you.

the majority always blames the minority. i don't know any atheist that are violent, unloving, or uncaring. as a matter of fact atheist teach their children to not hate religion or the people who follow it and to have empathy for every human.you should not blame the problems at school on people you seem to know nothing about.

Once again, it is these anti-Christian minority that is trying to keep these kids as violent, uncaring and unloving as possible. Gee, I wonder why there are so many expulsions and fights and shootings in schools these days. Good job people, lets keep religion out of our lives and see how much more deviant our kids can be.

"hideousdwarf" Voltaire also said "those who can make you believe ABSURDITIES can make you comit ATROCITIES". you say "it's hard to be a christian". christians are the majority and the country is at war for your christian beliefs. so exactly how is it hard to be christian ? the only thing that makes it hard to be a christian that i can see, is their absolute inability to understand science or do simple math. nice try !

okay, this is ridiculous. One, almost every teacher I know would say that turning in an assignment is grounds for at least one point.
Two, he actually tore up the class policy for which he recieved two detentions.
Third, there is no conspiracy in this or prior intent, it is the sort of thing that happens all over.

I am Christian, but I dont care what religion you are for this type of event, I still support your FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT and all others
Voltaire once said "I may not agree with what you say but I will fight to the death for your right to say it."
That is quickly falling by the wayside, as a student I have experienced this CRAP almost every single day of my life for the past five years. Its bias, and IT IS UNCALLED FOR.
grrr..
And as for private schools, they are expensive. It is hard to be CHristian at a public school. If you disagree with me I have five years of insult and injury for you, and I was at a fairly conservative town
Also, In college now not five years of High school, harrasment started in eigth grade

Have you seen it, it is beuatifull.. Zero should be not handing something in.

For those who wondered what the drawing looked like....http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/279680

I am pondering the way our government has slowly abolished all the rights our fore fathers wrote. I am not a rigorous religious person but I believe the is something greater then myself thats shows me the way. Perhaps a spiritual person is my belief I do believe in God. I also believe in the amendments. If I say or do something to offend a person then I must be some powerful person to have that much control over their emotions.The 1st amendment has been slowly deminishing along with the rest of the amendments. No search warrant needed as to probable cause and illegal search and seizure is all but non existant as to I believe I saw,
Our constitution needs to be given back to the people it was written for and allow us the right to exercise it without punishment, I recall after 911 tragidy the immigrants in this country felt threatened by people with flags on their cars and flags flying on flagpoles at gov. buildings schools etc. Well that FLAG represents this country along with the constitutions and if you dont like or support them then go where dictatorship is accepted.

Why would a student who appears to be so passionate and knowledgeable about his rights sign the school policy regarding this issue at the beginning of the course? Maybe he should be taking remedial reading instead of art.

This was probably more of a set-up to be able to sue the school district than it was about religious beliefs.

good for him hope he wins

There is a huge difference between a Druid priest (or a Catholic priest, for that matter) coming in to say prayers and a student drawing a picture with religious overtones. One involves a non-student practicing religion and the other has a student expressing his own faith in an individual work of art (not preaching or taching others). If the student drew a picture depicting Muslim themes or Wiccan themes, I'd still be as adamant about his right to do so.

musixstrings: When I went to school we talked quite a bit about the crusades etc.... and briefly spoke about other religions but not to the extent where we learned them. We were not being taught the Koran, only that there are other religions out in the world. I guess I would say that you are incorrect in your statements about spending all this time learning about other religions in school. They learn "of" other religions, not about them, which is quite different. IMHO there is no place for this in the school system. I remember kids getting scolded for drawing pentagrams and such in art, this is no different.

dub190: Lack of religion is school's does not cause school violence. Parenting or lack therof causes school violence. It would be naive to assume that all the issues in schools or in the world for that matter,are because we bar religion from school. In fact, most wars in this world are fought because of religion.

Public school is simply not the place for any type of religion.

Has anyone seen the artwork? Is it possible that the "0" was not due to content but based on craftsmanship, creativity, effort etc.

Whatdidyousay....You said it all.. and correctly I might add.

The First Amendment protects student rights, including the right of students to express their religious beliefs in their schoolwork. School officials may not discriminate against a student due to the religious content of a particular student's assignment: "Students may express their beliefs about religion in the form of homework, artwork and other written and oral assignments free of discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions."

Religious Expression in Public Schools, Richard W. Riley. Full text of this document is available on the Web at http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/08-1995/relig....
2-20. Ibid.

This article appeared in Teachers in Focus magazine.

Jay Alan Sekulow is Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice. He has served as lead counsel in two significant United States Supreme Court cases regarding religious expression: Lamb's Chapel vs. Center Moriches School District and Westside Board of Education vs. Mergens.

I wonder where the idea came from that offending someone is a violation of their rights, because it isn't. What is a violation of someone's rights is to not allow them to practice their religion. This student can't make a simple art project with a Christian theme, yet our federal government gives every Guantanamo Bay detainee a Koran. Do you feel my frustration yet?

Since we teach foreign languauge in the schools, why not incorporate an understanding of the religions of the world-Let's become aware of others beliefs to help us understand, rather than forbade any knowledge to instill forms of prejudice with-in our future-I am not saying you have to convert but to understand-Knowledge is the key to survival.

What is happening to this world? It is really sad that these things are happening in our country. This is supposed to be the land of the free but it seems more and more of our freedoms are being taken away. If this keeps up will we end up like the Eastern countries? Fighting just because we all do not feel and think the same. We had better wake up before it is too late.

Does anyone know what the school's policy on what can be done in art class. If he was told he could not draw a cross, then he can't draw a cross. It is not a freedom of speech thing, it's following the rules.

I hope he wins big time!! Tomah has really gone PC. Last year they changed their nicknames from the Indians to the Timberwolves and now this. Good luck young man!

I'm not even close to being religious but i would rather deal with this then making all thease kids learn how to speak spanish because there the minority when i think where the minority

Would I be offended if Druid Priest came to the school and said a prayer? Or a Shawman?...

Interesting comments, because I would ask..."Who invited them?" certianly that situation mentioned goes beyond the scope of personal religious freedom.

It wouldn't be any more offense than asking a Baptist preacher to say a prayer before a pep rally.

I am an Atheist however I don't have a problem with the kid, his artwork, or prayer in school. But most of you sure have a problem with me. If a Druid Priest came and did a prayer there would be outrage or Shaman or anything else that didn't fit in your beliefs. There are plenty of private schools around where he can make his artwork and chances are if somebody had made a Budda in art class he would be sueing over that too.

That kid should win. The school district is way out of line... Oh yeah, have him draw a skull and cross bones, or maybe someone being killed, and theres an A :)

Typical. Take God away from our kids. Why do you think there are so many school shootings, and violent, criminal children?
The government is breaking away from the Constitution without any problems. They are slowly bending, and starting to break some of the Amendments held within the Bill of Rights.
Taking away our freedoms, and most people do nothing. They sure like to complain though...

It is interesting the comments people make about religion in schools.

Seems that when I was in school, we could learn about all the religions of the world. Yet when it came to Christianity, there was to be not discussion.

We learned there could not possibly be a God in science class. We learned in history all of the mythology of the acient Greeks and Romans. Yet we could not discuss the God of Abraham, or Jewish history. "Chistian" history was regulated to the inquisition in Spain. Subtle message there, eh?

We learned that we should keep our religion to ourselves, and embrass the values of those who chose to rebel against the values we held dear. "Tolerance" is the hyprocritcal word used quite often. Just as long as you agree with the offical party line...you are okay.

So to say religion should be KEPT out of "schools" is an oxymoron. Really it is who's relgion is going to get more playing time. There is so much made of the "seperation of church & state", that frankly I am quite bored with those who try to use it as their base argument, and find it rather hypocritical as it only seems to apply to Christians.

The state relgion (the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices, which "they" believe in and follow devotedly) of humanism & atheism is taught every day in school.

What I get from the article, was the kid was not get graded on his artistic ability (which is subjective anyway), but only on subject matter. What if he was a foreign exchange student from India or Japan. Would drawing a landscape picture with other relgious symbols offended anyone?

Just wondering....

proartist.........You are right on the money!

This is just another way that secular progressives want to do away with all religions. The precept of the idea of separation of church and state, was that the government would not sanction any particular religion, such as in England, when you had to be a member of the church. This country was founded on a lot of religious principals, but we now go overboard to try and disparage any mention of religion or religious symbols in any public place. It seems now that everyone has freedom of speech, except for people who practice any form of religious speech in public.

Read your constitution, folks. The phrase "Separation of Church and State" does not appear....anywhere. It is taken from a later writing by Thomas Jefferson and was applied by the Supreme Court in the mid 20th century.

------

Government exists to guarantee the free expression of religion and not to restrict such expression - 1st Ammendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." This is an example of governmebnt prohibiting the free exercise of religion. The government isn't sponsorisng or ordering this kid to make these things - but they are preventing him from doing so of his own free will.

-----

Drawing a cross with the numbers 3:16 or with the word "pray" is no the same as yelling "fire" in a crowded theater. The school has no compelling reason to prohibit this speech. "Someone might possibly be offended" is not a valid reason.

I wonder if those who strongly support the student's right to create Christian art in the public schools would be the first to loudly decry any student in a parochial school who created art with Islamic images to be promoting terrorism; an image with a pentagram as witch; etc. Am I wrong? I hope so!!! Would those who think it's good to introduce religion into the schools also welcome science (i.e. evolution and more) into their church worship service? These are issues upon which it is better to err "treading lightly" and keep a separation - especially when tax dollars are involved - than to jump in without very long and inclusionary deliberation considering the rights of everyone. Schools have long been granted the permission to censor the work of students (i.e., student newspaper items) and infringe on their privacy rights (i.e., locker searches). The school district policy is valid and should stand. The message board here demonstrates exactly why.

Interesting...

This kid isn't allowed to freely express himself in his art class... and when I was in high school... the "Christian Fellowship Club" could excuse students to leave school property during school hours to conduct their meetings and those kids would not get reprimanded or lose grade points OR attendance for missing class.

Nice.

The bill of rights was written to restrict the power of government and to affirm the freedom of the individual. We have a right to free speech and a right to practice our religion of choice, and, to speak about our religion, without interference, or regulation, from government. As individuals, we have a right not to listen to others when they exercise their free speech, but, we do not have a right not to be offended by what we hear. Yes, schools can interfere with speech rights that disrupt education. But, they must do so with great caution, so that they don't squelch speech that they simply do not favor.

School system is going to lose bad here. Separation of church and state means to not allow the state run organizations to push a belief system upon the masses. Not allowing a person in authority to cater to any religion in their teaching of the masses.

The 1st ammendment grants you your freedom of religion as stated previously. So a student or even a person has the right to depict things that matter to them. Now if its say a mural inside of a school that was drawn then yes you can't have that but a personal piece of work, get real. It not like its being framed and hung for public display with the government supporting it. Oh no maybe it going to be used in a student art show, well I hope it offends a judge that is not of the same religion and loses the competition. Should have picked a better piece that apealed to all people.

You can not rescind peoples rights from the time they walk into a building until the time they leave.

If your being paid by the government then you have to abide by the laws of not pushing religion on people, since your a government representitive or official.

And I'll bet the school has a halloween celebration disguised as "Autumn Fest" and a Christmas celebration called "winter fest".
Give me a break...!!!
Believing in the idea of separation of church and state doesn't make it exist. It doesn't.
And who is it insulting - other than the separationists?
Evidently the educrats at that school know absolutely nothing about the constitution.

If you allow his religious art than you have to allow all others as well. You can no longer draw a line where it stops. Either all religion or no religion.

clintongrad: I am sorry that this happened to you. However, I think that you are commenting on the wrong article. You may want to post it on the article it relates to.

Just to add my thoughts-so many are sure this act of art could insult other students, we must fight to keep religion out of schools-seperate from government. So, my thought is to then cancel all religious breaks-no more Spring break, Winter break etc., as some may find these offensive-people without children or those who do not like children-hypothetically speaking, is this not a fair comparison? Just curious how those defending the students treatment as fair, flip the coin. I always thought art was interpetation of the creator of the art as well as the interpetation of the viewer-how sad we want to stiffle creativity in any youth/or adult for that matter-we live in a Democratic society don't we, or did I miss the turn over to communism? Just wondering

I just wanted to add to this discussion because I also carry concern about this topic. I understand that he has not been proven guilty yet but I just want people to look back about 20 years ago in a similar case in Beloit with their school system and the school janitor. His name was Richard Deleu. He was a sick man who harmed several girls and the teachers knew about several acccounts and did nothing. Later when a student came forward several others came forward and Delue was sent to jail. He also took little kids but only girls to his janitor closet which he called the boiler room and gave candy and tried to build trust. Which later led to rape in a bathroom. The internet did not exist back them but he liked to bring dirty pictures to school and make disturbing comments. He was found guilty and the school system was also. Many teachers lost their pensions and the school district lost over a million dollars. Children don't usually make up stuff like that at that age and it can happen even in Clinton. I also want to add that as someone who was friends with his younger children family members......wierd stuff went on in that house. That is all I will say for now. Clinton School district needs to be careful because they cannot afford to lose the way Beloit did. And as far as anyone asking well how do you know so much about Beloit? I was the little 3rd grade girl who was the first to tell.

I have to agree with ladystardust. There needs to be a seperation of Church and State. I feel that this is not religious prosecution. There are plenty of religious schools to attend for that purpose. I think religion should stay out of the state regulated school system.

The modern legal concept of religious freedom as the union of freedom of belief and freedom of worship with the absence of any state-sponsored religion, originated in the United States of America.

This issue was addressed by Thomas Paine in his pamphlet, Common Sense (1776):

"As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of all government, to protect all conscientious professors thereof, and I know of no other business which government hath to do therewith… "

There could technically be some other student in the Tomah schools to sue the original suer for offending him by drawing a cross. Religion doesn't belong in public schools, whether someone is sueing because the school censored their cross drawing and bible verse, or censored a drawing of marilyn manson and some anti-christian lyrics. The policy was written to uphold attention in class without distractions and offensive material so our young people can concentrate on the state curriculum.

There is 2 sides to every story . Some kids have been kicked out or suspended for dying their hair green or wearing marilyn manson t-shirts, some for wearing a pentagram necklace or an inverted cross, so it is not like the art teacher is just picking on young christians/lutherans and catholics.

I hope the student has a victorius outcome in court. It does not sound as though he was forcing his belief on anyone else. Why would this be considered wrong or offensive? This is one of the reasons why I homeschool my children - it's very sad.

A persons right to free choice is his not anyone elses. In classes here we have to pay for materials and what we do with them is our choice. The 1st amendment is in violation of his right to freedom of religon and his right to free speech.In fact as written his rights as to the 1st amendment are being taken away.

I have a feeling the policy will be thrown out in court pretty quickly.