Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog posted more than 400 comments on a new, donated, rock-like monument featuring Bible verses at the Madison County High School field house. Football players touch the rock on their way to the field. The monument has sparked legal notices of protest from the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the American Humanist Association. Here is a sampling of reader comments:
Star: Religion should be irrelevant to football, and football should be irrelevant to high school.
Boca: Someone from a Wisconsin humanist group is offended. How many in Madison County are offended? It is time for the majority to stand up and tell these liberal atheists to kiss off. If you want to go to hell, please do it quietly.
Lizzie: If a player doesn't want to touch the monument, they don't have to. Geesh. This society needs to lighten the heck up. It's no wonder people are dying from heart disease; they let the littlest things get to them.
Cobalt: All the arguments for retaining this ridiculous, stone "luck charm" are as weak as a newborn colt. Already, it is costing the school district lots of lawyer dollars. The course to take is obvious. Avoid any costly litigation and just admit that it was ill-advised and not in the best interest of the school's policy of being neutral when it comes to religion.
DB: It's a rock. There are folks offended by a rock. No one is asking anyone to bow down, kiss, worship or even read the rock. The rock isn't reaching up and grabbing them by the throat and saying, "Pay attention to me!" You are free to ignore the rock; no one will care. No one will look at you sideways, no one will tease you, no one will decide you don't get to be on the team if you don't worship the rock. The only one giving this rock such importance are the very people who claim to be offended by it.
Cmader: So the monument quotes Romans 8:31: "If God be for us, who can be against us?" If both teams use the same prayer, does God flip a coin?
Madison County Teacher: The placement of this monument on school grounds is a clear violation of the law. While currently unpopular with many, the law also protects the rights of future Christians from being required by law to attend schools where other religions may possess a majority and decide to display monuments to their own faiths. Our constitutional government means much more than "majority rule"; it also includes a protection of the rights of all individuals regardless of their beliefs. Contrary to what some have stated, the student body never voted on this issue, nor should it have been allowed to do so. That land does not belong to just the football team, and if the football team held a vote behind closed doors, I cannot help but wonder about the circumstances of the vote. Any player who would have spoken out against the monument's placement would have been ostracized by his teammates and would have had to worry about retaliation. Similarly, any teacher who speaks out against it now will face disrespect from many students and a lack of support from many parents. I don't normally put much stock in anonymous letters, but if I put my real name here, I would have a real cause to worry about my ability to effectively do my job, as demonstrated by several of the comments that have been made in this forum.
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