Jesus Christ is not welcome in this part of America. And so are His angels.
A directive has been issued by the school district in Henry County, Georgia, ordering school administrators to remove pictures and other representations of Jesus Christ, angels and anything remotely religious from all public school buildings, Charisma News reports.
Hence, in all probability there would be no Nativity scene in the public schools of this county in Georgia this Christmas.
"You are hereby directed to remove all items which contain religious symbols, such as crosses, printed Bibles, angels, Bible verses, printed prayers, and biblical quotations from the common areas, hallways, classrooms and office of East Lake Elementary School," the edict read.
"Further ... religious and biblical references should not be included in notes to parents, email signature lines or any other correspondence sent on behalf of East Lake Elementary School," it added.
That's not all. "Finally, please remember that all references to holiday parties should comply with the Henry County School District's Policy, Procedure and Practices for Holidays," the edict concluded.
District spokesman J.D. Hardin confirmed that the directive was authentic and was sent to school administrators on Monday.
"The Establishment Clause stipulates that the government may not promote or affiliate itself with any religious doctrine or organisation," Hardin said in defence of the directive. "Henry County Schools is a government entity."
Hardin stressed that the edict covers all religions. However, there was no mention of banning Muslim prayer rugs or any of the things used by other religions.
Hardin said Bibles and Bible verses are definitely banned. "[Teachers] cannot have a Bible sitting on top of their desk or they cannot have some other type of religious doctrine sitting on their desk," he said.
Hardin was asked if the schools would also ban the Bible from their libraries.
"I don't know that we have any Bibles within our libraries," he replied.
Dr. Emir Caner, president of Truett-McConnell University, blasted the directive. "Edicts like this remind me of how my wife used to live under the persecution of Communism, how they used to stifle any religious expression whatsoever," he said.
"It seems like the school system wishes to eradicate any form of religious expression except for (its) own atheist and secular views," Caner told columnist Todd Starnes of Charisma News.
