John Whitehead's Commentary
A Notable Victory in a Time of War
An important battle for freedom was recently won. It slipped past the notice of most of the major news media, consumed as they are with their coverage of the war on terrorism and the threat of anthrax in the mail. Yet it is an important victory nonetheless, especially if the United States intends to show the rest of the world that this is a land of freedom for all people--in particular, a land of religious freedom.
After two long years of battling in court, two families in Littleton, Colo., have finally secured the right to remember their loved ones--victims of the April 20, 1999 shootings at Columbine High School (CHS)--with memorials expressing their religious faith.
Several months after two student gunmen shot and killed 12 students and one teacher, CHS officials invited families of the victims to participate in an art project to decorate and place 4-inch-square memorial tiles, in memory of those slain, above student lockers. These tiles were to contain messages from the families of the slain students and were intended to serve as a memorial to the deceased.
The tile project, started several years earlier by a CHS art teacher, was intended to provide students with a forum whereby they could express themselves by painting ceramic tiles and affixing them above lockers in the school hallways. However, when school officials invited family members and friends of those killed in the shootings to participate, they decided to place some limits on the tiles.
After the parties had gathered and the paintbrushes had been distributed, school officials informed the families that the tiles could not contain any names or dates. Religious messages as well were banned.
Brian Rohrbough, father of one of the slain students, objected to this prohibition of religion because his son Daniel was a devout Christian. To script a message on the school campus where his son was gunned down, without even mentioning Daniel or his faith, Rohrbough explained, was not possible. He was not alone in this belief. Other families were similarly upset that they could not recognize the faith of their loved ones--or express their own religious beliefs.
One student, for example, another Christian student gunned down at Columbine, was in the library on April 12 when the shooters entered. Holding a gun in his hand, one of them asked her, "Do you believe in God?" The student bravely replied, "Yes, I do believe in God." The gunman then pulled the trigger.
It would have been a travesty to honor this student with a hallway tile that had no mention of her faith. Other terrified children were undoubtedly praying for their own survival and the survival of their friends during those torturous hours. To ignore the power of the faith held by those students would have been, in essence, to ignore their existence.
Furthermore, by denying the families and relatives of the deceased Columbine students any chance to express their faith in remembrance of their lost loved ones, school officials would also be denying them their right to religious expression and freedom of speech.
After being confronted with such heartfelt pleas, school officials reversed their position and allowed religious messages to be painted on the tiles. However, the reprieve did not last long.
Citing a fear of violating what they thought to be the separation of church and state--and a fear of being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union--school officials reverted back to their initial stance. In addition to refusing to allow the creation or posting of any additional tiles with religious content, they went so far as to have all the tiles containing religious references torn down, leaving blank spaces where the slain children had been honored. One school official, appointed to carefully scrutinize and remove any "offensive" tiles, was so zealous in the screening process that she rejected a tile created by Nicole Petrone, Daniel Rohrbough's stepsister. Why? Because it showed a red heart with a red rose, her brother's name and a small, ¼-inch yellow cross.
As a result, for two years following the tragedy at Columbine, the halls of the school were void of any reference to the religious faith shared by the students who died in those hallways on that tragic day.
With his recent ruling that Columbine school officials violated the First Amendment when they removed the painted tiles, Judge Wiley Daniel of the federal district court in Colorado has restored compassion to the grieving process and common sense to the debate on the separation of church and state.
Judge Daniel stated that by inviting community members to create the tiles to "help the healing process and express themselves," school officials had created a limited public forum in which religious expression must be allowed. In accordance with the ruling, CHS officials must now display the tiles containing religious messages, which were created by Lisa Maurer, Brian Rohrbough, and Richard, Susan, and Nicole Petrone. Further, the school must allow a special tile-painting session for Donald and Diedra Fleming to create the "4/20/99 Jesus Wept" tile they had planned to place on the wall in memory of their daughter, Kelly.
Constitutionally and morally, religion should never have been excluded from the memorial tiles at Columbine High, especially since religion could not be separated from the students that those tiles were meant to honor.
Nonetheless, Columbine school officials continue to resist the Constitution and Judge Daniel's order. They recently filed an emergency appeal to the federal appeals court in Denver seeking a ruling that the tiles with religious messages not be posted.
However, despite the school official's continuing opposition to the simple expressions of faith and remembrance of the victims' families, Judge Daniel's ruling can be something of a consolation to these families. As they mourn the loss of their loved ones, this decision is at least a step in the right direction in honoring the faith that shaped those young lives.
After two long years of battling in court, two families in Littleton, Colo., have finally secured the right to remember their loved ones--victims of the April 20, 1999 shootings at Columbine High School (CHS)--with memorials expressing their religious faith.
Several months after two student gunmen shot and killed 12 students and one teacher, CHS officials invited families of the victims to participate in an art project to decorate and place 4-inch-square memorial tiles, in memory of those slain, above student lockers. These tiles were to contain messages from the families of the slain students and were intended to serve as a memorial to the deceased.
The tile project, started several years earlier by a CHS art teacher, was intended to provide students with a forum whereby they could express themselves by painting ceramic tiles and affixing them above lockers in the school hallways. However, when school officials invited family members and friends of those killed in the shootings to participate, they decided to place some limits on the tiles.
After the parties had gathered and the paintbrushes had been distributed, school officials informed the families that the tiles could not contain any names or dates. Religious messages as well were banned.
Brian Rohrbough, father of one of the slain students, objected to this prohibition of religion because his son Daniel was a devout Christian. To script a message on the school campus where his son was gunned down, without even mentioning Daniel or his faith, Rohrbough explained, was not possible. He was not alone in this belief. Other families were similarly upset that they could not recognize the faith of their loved ones--or express their own religious beliefs.
One student, for example, another Christian student gunned down at Columbine, was in the library on April 12 when the shooters entered. Holding a gun in his hand, one of them asked her, "Do you believe in God?" The student bravely replied, "Yes, I do believe in God." The gunman then pulled the trigger.
It would have been a travesty to honor this student with a hallway tile that had no mention of her faith. Other terrified children were undoubtedly praying for their own survival and the survival of their friends during those torturous hours. To ignore the power of the faith held by those students would have been, in essence, to ignore their existence.
Furthermore, by denying the families and relatives of the deceased Columbine students any chance to express their faith in remembrance of their lost loved ones, school officials would also be denying them their right to religious expression and freedom of speech.
After being confronted with such heartfelt pleas, school officials reversed their position and allowed religious messages to be painted on the tiles. However, the reprieve did not last long.
Citing a fear of violating what they thought to be the separation of church and state--and a fear of being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union--school officials reverted back to their initial stance. In addition to refusing to allow the creation or posting of any additional tiles with religious content, they went so far as to have all the tiles containing religious references torn down, leaving blank spaces where the slain children had been honored. One school official, appointed to carefully scrutinize and remove any "offensive" tiles, was so zealous in the screening process that she rejected a tile created by Nicole Petrone, Daniel Rohrbough's stepsister. Why? Because it showed a red heart with a red rose, her brother's name and a small, ¼-inch yellow cross.
As a result, for two years following the tragedy at Columbine, the halls of the school were void of any reference to the religious faith shared by the students who died in those hallways on that tragic day.
With his recent ruling that Columbine school officials violated the First Amendment when they removed the painted tiles, Judge Wiley Daniel of the federal district court in Colorado has restored compassion to the grieving process and common sense to the debate on the separation of church and state.
Judge Daniel stated that by inviting community members to create the tiles to "help the healing process and express themselves," school officials had created a limited public forum in which religious expression must be allowed. In accordance with the ruling, CHS officials must now display the tiles containing religious messages, which were created by Lisa Maurer, Brian Rohrbough, and Richard, Susan, and Nicole Petrone. Further, the school must allow a special tile-painting session for Donald and Diedra Fleming to create the "4/20/99 Jesus Wept" tile they had planned to place on the wall in memory of their daughter, Kelly.
Constitutionally and morally, religion should never have been excluded from the memorial tiles at Columbine High, especially since religion could not be separated from the students that those tiles were meant to honor.
Nonetheless, Columbine school officials continue to resist the Constitution and Judge Daniel's order. They recently filed an emergency appeal to the federal appeals court in Denver seeking a ruling that the tiles with religious messages not be posted.
However, despite the school official's continuing opposition to the simple expressions of faith and remembrance of the victims' families, Judge Daniel's ruling can be something of a consolation to these families. As they mourn the loss of their loved ones, this decision is at least a step in the right direction in honoring the faith that shaped those young lives.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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