Spiritual spirit squad squelched
Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 10/1/2009 6:00:00 AM
Since September 11, 2001, the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School cheerleading team in Catoosa County, Georgia, has been displaying banners with scripture verses during football games. One recent banner displayed Timothy 1:7 -- "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."
Now, however, the school has banned the use of the banners since receiving a complaint from a parent.
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Why would a school - based on one complaint - prevent these students
from doing what has become an accepted school tradition?
Brad Scott is a local youth pastor and president of the LFO class of 2004. He is leading the effort to get the banners restored, and says the use of banners with scripture verses is a student-led initiative and therefore does not violate separation of church and state.
"We've collected petitions; we have over 1,200 names," he says. "We had a rally [Tuesday night] with over a thousand people showing up in support of the cheerleaders. [And] we plan to go to the school board meeting [next] Tuesday night with our petitions and voice our concern."
Legal issues are also part of the mix, Scott adds. "We're talking to legal groups for Christian rights, national groups for support on this, and we have a few local attorneys as well who are helping us with advice," he shares. Scott has also started a Facebook page in support of the cheerleaders.
The youth pastor adds that parents and students will show their support at the upcoming Friday night football game by wearing shirts and holding signs with scripture verses. According to Scott, the school has sold a record-breaking number of tickets to the game.
