Censorship of religious art fails educational and First Amendment tests

Religion has been a major theme of artwork ever since humans gained the ability to express themselves through drawing and sculpture. To remove religion from art is like removing the saxophone from a jazz band; it can be done, but the sound will contain considerably less richness and texture.

That’s the problem with the grading policy of a Tomah High School art class that says, “Art work that has any violence, blood, sexual connotations, religious beliefs will not be accepted.” It’s a policy that should be reversed before it’s struck down in federal court.

The Tomah School District last month was slapped with a lawsuit over a drawing that displayed a cross and the words “John 3:16. A sign of love.” The student received a zero for the landscape assignment, and the family contacted the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed suit in federal court.

Had the student simply gotten a zero for including an extraneous object on a landscape drawing, the grade would have been appropriate. However, the grading policy prohibits any religious expression in artwork done anytime during the course. The policy makes no sense, either from a constitutional or educational standpoint. The Alliance Defense Fund cited a 1969 U.S. Supreme Court case that said neither teachers nor students “shed their constitutional rights to free expression at the schoolhouse gate,” and Tomah’s grading policy is clearly censorship based on religious belief.

But it’s not just a First Amendment issue.....