Jesus Missing

The controversy surrounding a portrait of Jesus hanging in a main hallway at Bridgeport High School, in West Virginia, seems to have taken a new twist! Harrison County School Board members recently decided to fight a lawsuit brought by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and WVA ACLU representing two Bridgeport citizens in their challenge of the religious display on public property.

Board member Mike Queen, leading proponent of keeping the portrait in the school, said more than $150,000 in private funds had been raised to help the district pay for the legal challenge. The Associated Press reported that Queen told a cheering audience of 50 people, “This board is moving forward.” Many in the crowd wore T-shirts that read, "You can't take our Jesus down."

Well, it seems that someone has . . .

The AP is reporting this morning that:

Just before 4 a.m. today, an intruder snatched the contentious painting of Jesus Christ from the halls of Bridgeport High School.

The bandit took the portrait, but left behind the gilded frame and backing, said Schools Superintendent Carl Friebel.

"The picture was the only thing stolen, so the deliberate intent was to steal the picture and only the picture,'' Friebel said.

So much for "Thou shalt not steal."

The portrait raised serious church-state concerns. Should a public school be promoting one religious belief over all others? Should non-Christian students be made to feel like second-class citizens in their own school? And should school officials be sending a message to students that the First Amendment doesn't really matter?