Islam, Buddha, Homosexuality OK, but no God Allowed in Classroom

The communist Left’s campaign to drive every hint of God from our nation’s classrooms continues. In case you missed the story from a couple of weeks ago, the latest twist in the case of the assault on one teacher’s freedom of speech has been a blow dealt by the notoriously leftist 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled that school district authorities did not violate the teacher’s right to freedom of speech when they ordered him to remove patriotic banners from his classroom that included the name of God.

This ordeal began back in 2007 when Brad Johnson, a math teacher in San Diego’s Westview High School of the Poway Unified School District, was ordered by the schools principal to remove the banners.

WorldNetDaily reported that Johnson did not take the attack lying down and filed suit against the school district.

“A math teacher sued his school district after the principal told him the words ‘In God We Trust’ and ‘All Men Are Created Equal, They Are Endowed By Their Creator’ must be removed from his homeroom wall because they convey a Judeo-Christian viewpoint.

In January, Principal Dawn Kastner told Westview High School math teacher Bradley Johnson that a banner he had posted in his classroom for 25 years, and another that was posted for 17 years, needed to come down.

The older banner, measuring 7 feet by 2 feet, contained the words ‘In God We Trust,’ ‘One Nation Under God,’ ‘God Bless America’ and ‘God Shed His Grace On Thee.’ The second banner quoted the Declaration of Independence by including the phrase, ‘All Men Are Created Equal, They Are Endowed By Their Creator.’

Even though 4,000 students have passed through Johnson’s classroom without a single complaint in 25 years, the principal told Johnson the banners were now impermissible because of their religious content.”

From the beginning of this case, Brad Johnson has had the representation of the Thomas More Law Center whose members are champions for the rights of people of faith. They achieved an initial victory last year when a clear-minded federal judge in California ruled against the school district.

As WorldNetDaily reported,

“A federal judge in California has handed down a scathing ruling against a school that required one of its teachers to remove signs celebrating the role of God in American history from his classroom walls.

… ‘May a school district censor a high school teacher’s expression because it refers to Judeo-Christian views, while allowing other teachers to express views on a number of controversial subjects, including religion and anti-religion?’ posited U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez in his judgment. ‘On undisputed evidence, this court holds that it may not.’

He continued, ‘That God places prominently in our nation’s history does not create an Establishment Clause violation requiring curettage and disinfectant for Johnson’s public high school classroom walls. It is a matter of historical fact that our institutions and government actors have in past and present times given place to a supreme God.’

The judge further reprimanded the school, stating that while teachers at the district ‘encourage students to celebrate diversity and value thinking for one’s self, [they] apparently fear their students are incapable of dealing with diverse viewpoints that include God’s place in American history and culture.’”

What made this case even worse was the fact that the oh-so-tolerant diversity pushers of the school district allowed just about every other religious and leftwing persuasion to be displayed in classrooms but not messages containing any mention of the God of creation.

Last year’s ruling was certainly a great moment for freedom in America, but the anti-Christian members of the school board were outraged and voted to appeal it, and on September 13^th, a 3-judge panel of the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Judge Benitez’s ruling. Who could have seen that coming from that hard-left leaning court?

The first line of the decision drips with hypocrisy, as I will explain,

“We consider whether a public school district infringes the First Amendment liberties of one of its teachers when it orders him 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. The answer is clear: it does not.”

These godless justices apparently do not see the double standard they display in this ruling. This ruling leaves teachers in the district free to “preach their own views” about every other anti-Christian philosophy in the world. These justices certainly do not mind that the radical homosexual agenda is being forced on captive students by legislative mandate in California. Oh, certainly not! It is only the one, true God that so deeply offends them.

In an announcement after the ruling, Richard Thompson of the Thomas More Law Center wrote,

“Last week a 3-judge panel of the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held it was okay for teachers to acclaim Buda and pro-gay rights, but not God.

The Court’s decision ridiculed the historical fact of ‘the role of God in our Nation’s history.’

… Get this. The School District admitted that Brad never attempted to proselytize his students; that he was one of the best math teachers in the District.”

This hypocritical court’s ruling left in place the school district’s permitting of every other classroom display besides Johnson’s, including, as stated in the latest WorldNetDaily report,

“… a 35-to-40 foot string of Tibetan prayer flags with images of Buddha, a poster with the lyrics from John Lennon’s anti-religion song ‘Imagine’ (which begins, ‘Imagine there’s no Heaven’), a poster with Hindu leader Mahatma Gandhi’s ’7 Social Sins,’ a poster of Muslim leader Malcolm X and another of Buddhist leader Dalai Lama..”

This world is currently ruled by the forces of Satan. Satan and his minions despise the one, true God, and they work ceaselessly to destroy and suppress His Word, but God’s Word will not be bound by the pathetic forces of darkness. It should be no surprise that we see ever-increasing court rulings such as this, because the people who align themselves against God are necessarily on the side of Satan, and they have in them a satanically inspired hatred for even the name of the Lord.

The vigilant members of the Thomas More Law Centerare going to appeal this faulty ruling to the entire 9^th Circuit Court for a rehearing, and if that is unsuccessful they are prepared to appeal to the United States Supreme Court to hear the case.

This is an extremely expensive legal battle, and they are representing Brad Johnson without charge. The Law Center is appealing for financial support to continue the invaluable work they do on behalf of Brad Johnson and many other people who are fighting for their constitutionally guaranteed right to live their Christian faith.

Most of us, as individuals, do not have the financial means to undertake such legal battles in the federal courts, and without the help of selfless groups like the Thomas More Law Center, we would be without recourse. Please consider becoming a contributor to the Thomas More Law Center.

As valuable as money contributions are, prayers are also priceless and powerful. Please pray for the Law Center warriors and for Brad Johnson who is standing in for so many of us.

Gina Miller, a native of Texas, is a radio commentator. She also works with her husband installing and repairing residential irrigation systems and doing landscaping on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.