Bible Verses Allowed on School Banners, Judge Says

"The cheerleaders of Kountze High School are free to wave their Bible verse banners at football games, at least for the rest of the school year, after a judge granted a temporary injunction Thursday preventing school officials from enforcing a ban on the signs.

In a case that has ignited a national controversy over religious freedom, Hardin County District Judge Steve Thomas said the cheerleaders had "raised some relatively complex issues."

Thomas said he decided to "preserve the status quo" pending a jury trial June 24, in effect allowing the cheerleaders to keep displaying their banners for the rest of the school year, including a big football game Friday night.

The Lions have a 5-1 record, the best in recent memory. Among the verses on the "breakaway" banners that players have run through to burst onto the field this season: "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens! Phil 4:13" and "If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31."

In an order granting the injunction, the judge wrote that if he did not act, the district's "unlawful policy prohibiting private religious expression will remain in effect" and the cheerleaders "will be prohibited from exercising their constitutional and statutory rights."* Ana Kasparian, John Iadarola (TYT University), and Jayar Jackson break down what it means to allow religious verse in school and whether this would be allowable for other religions.