An attorney with Liberty Institute says it's ironic a school would prefer students display derogatory messages on banners at football games instead of ones that are inspiring and uplifting.
A judge has issued a temporary restraining order allowing a Texas high school cheerleading team to continue making banners displaying religious messages. Rather than the typical bullying remarks such as "Pound the Panthers" or "Beat the Bears," the cheerleaders at Kountze Independent School District wanted to put Bible verses on their banners.
Mike Johnson of the Liberty Institute is helping the cheerleaders retain their right to do so.
"They bought the materials with their own money; they came up with the messages completely on their own; and they did it on their own time," the attorney tells OneNewsNow. "And yet somebody got offended, somebody complained, and the school district made a knee-jerk reaction and said You can't do that on school property and at this setting - and that's, of course, complete wrong."
Johnson says this is a typical case of unnecessary censorship being imposed by uninformed officials.
"The great irony about this is that here are some student leaders who wanted to do something positive, say something inspiring and uplifting - and they're being threatened with punishment as if what they did was somehow shameful," he laments. "It's much better than the derogatory messages that are always traditionally on those banners. It's something that they should applauded for and not punished for - and that's the sad thing about this case."
If the school chooses to oppose the temporary injunction, Johnson says he is confident they will wind up losing in court.