Portrait of Jesus removed from US school over religious freedom complaint

 Freedom from Religion Foundation

Public school officials in the small Kansas town of Chanute are trying to find a new home for a portrait of Jesus Christ after a civil liberties group demanded its removal from the town's middle school.

Local churches and other groups are offering to house the portrait, which had hung in the school since at least the 1950s, and community leaders have been working to defuse anger over its removal.

The district's new superintendent ordered it taken down Thursday from Royster Middle School after the Freedom From Religion Foundation notified him that the display in a public school amounted to an "egregious violation of the First Amendment."

"I conferred with legal counsel and both of them told me to be in compliance with state and federal law that we had to have it removed," said Chanute Public Schools Superintendent Richard Proffitt.

Proffitt said he has been fending off complaints from around the country since the portrait's removal from Royster, which has about 400 students.

"I'm sick of this," said Jack Lynch, 53, who grew up in Chanute and remembers the Christ picture at Royster. "This country was founded on Christian beliefs. In God we trust. Now people want to come in and change all that. If they don't like it let them leave."

The school district is now trying to determine how it came to possess the portrait in the first place. If the original owners or donors to not want the portrait back, the district will find another home for the artwork, said Proffitt.

Ryan Jayne, law clerk at the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said the group was pleased that Chanute acted so quickly. Jayne said a "local community member" had complained to the organization and sought its help in seeking removal of the portrait.

"They were afraid to bring it up themselves so they came to us. In areas that are predominantly Christian, the backlash that non-Christians receive when they speak out against government endorsement of religion can be very severe," said Jayne.

Chanute, located in southeast Kansas, has a population of roughly 9,200 people, including about 1,800 children in the school district.

News
Church of England's parliament backs new law to support Armed Forces chaplains
Church of England's parliament backs new law to support Armed Forces chaplains

On Saturday, as many were watching the men’s doubles players battle it out on Centre Court at Wimbledon, the General Synod of the Church of England sat down to discuss a Measure (or law) to regularise the ministry of Church of England’s Chaplains to the Armed Forces.   

Church of England approves £1.6 billion funding package for next three years
Church of England approves £1.6 billion funding package for next three years

The Church of England's parliamentary body has approved a spending package for the next three years to the tune of £1.6 billion. 

Low birth rate and soaring abortions are a sign of 'cultural rot', says pro-life group
Low birth rate and soaring abortions are a sign of 'cultural rot', says pro-life group

In some parts of the country, nearly half of pregnancies end in abortion

Pentecostal Church demolished by Sudanese forces
Pentecostal Church demolished by Sudanese forces

It's not the first time a church has been targeted in Sudan