Courthouse Jesus portrait draws ire, support

Times-Picayune ^ | June 26, 2007 | Jenny Hurwitz

[BBell]

Standing in the shadow of the Slidell City Court, a swarm of protesters congregated Tuesday night for a rousing and at times revival-like demonstration, denouncing the American Civil Liberties Union and offering a show of unconditional support for the controversial portrait of Jesus that hangs on the wall just inside the courthouse.

More than 250 local residents packed the intersection of Bouscaren and Fourth streets in Slidell ­ which had been blocked off by authorities -- and spilled onto the grass that edges the courthouse to pray, cheer and hear speeches from several local pastors and State Rep. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, who organized the event.

Crowe seized on the opportunity to berate the ACLU, which has decried the portrait as a violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, saying it serves to advance a religious message using a public building.

"The people of Slidell are not going to sit back and take the stuff that got dished out," he said, eliciting a roar of applause from the crowd.

The picture, which shows Jesus holding an open book of scripture, was identified by a local priest as a 16th century Russian Orthodox icon. The scripture, written in Russian, includes a biblical quotation about judging correctly and wisely.

Beneath the portrait, a sign reads: "To know peace, obey these laws."

Attorneys with the ACLU believe that the display gives the impression that only those who believe in the law of Jesus Christ will receive justice in city court.

But protesters claimed that the portrait, which has been on display since the building opened in 1997, has never posed a problem and fairly represents the majority of residents in their largely Christian community.

[BBell]

This is a followup to a prvious thread. At the bottom of the article more ACLU antics in Louisiana are brought up.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1854193/posts

[FormerLib]

Attorneys with the ACLU believe that the display gives the impression that only those who believe in the law of Jesus Christ will receive justice in city court.

You'd have to be a Demonrat to buy into that sort of "reasoning."

[Deut28]

I went to the Kansas City Zoo this past week and saw several Buddha statues in the “Tiger Trail” section.

Strangely I didn’t end up believing that only Buddhists could enjoy looking at animals.

[DonaldC]

The law of Jesus...hmmm Let me think about that.

Love your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.

VS

The law of humanism...Survival of the fittest, kill or be killed you animal.

I just can’t decide which is better here. /sarc

[sirchtruth]

Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, saying it serves to advance a religious message using a public building.

Once again the evil and ignorant are trying to take the charateristics which stands for ALL that is "Good" by anyones standard, away from "we the people."

In no way does an interpretative portriat of the likeness of Jesus make a "law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..."

Anyone who interprets the establishment clause in a way to stifle all religious symbols or "speech" from gov't, or any public areana is trying to abridge "FREE SPEECH."

[sageb1]

Would this mean that any historical painting of an elected politician with his hand on the Bible could be banned because it must mean that the politician is “promoting Christianity?”

[Inwoodian]

If the portrait were of Socrates displaying identical thoughts it would be fine by the ACLU. Since when is religious thought less protected than secular.

[wayne_b24]

rules are rules ... pic of the pic?

[BBell]

I don’t know how to post pics but I found one here:

http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/small_jesus.JPG

Heres another:

http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl062507tpcourthousejesus.129fd3e3.html

[wayne_b24]

thanks!
those appear to be medieval, and they’re still offensive?
nothing like the Anti-Christian Liberals’ Union to rain on yer parade.

[AppyPappy]

How would a random person know that is Jesus?

[Obie Wan]

Here we go again with the “separation of church and state” red herring. While there is no sepration of church and state in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights there certainly is a First Amendment (article three) of the Bill of Rights insuring “freedom of speech” which includes religious freedom. Hopefully the court system in this country will learn that fact !!!