When Lubbock County Independent School District in the state of Texas refused to display a man’s advertisement on a large-screen television during high school football games, depicting Jesus Christ with tattoos, he decided to take up the matter with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF.)
The ADF promptly filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of the Texas man, claiming that his rights to freedom of speech had been violated by the school district.
Although some might think that the Texas man, David L. Miller, was trying to belittle the Lord, he was actually trying to show how Jesus accepts those rejected by society as outcasts, by depicting him covered in tattoos. Mr. Miller is the founder of Little Pencil LLC, an organization whose aim is to promote Biblical teaching through the use of advertisements.
However, the school district rejected Miller’s request last October to show the public his version of how Christ would treat those less fortunate or cast out.
Jeremy Tedesco, senior legal counsel for the ADF, said that “No one deserves to be silenced simply for having a viewpoint that school officials don’t favor.” He continued “When a school creates an opportunity for community advertising, it cannot single out religious messages for censorship. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all people, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.”
However, the school district, in their defense, claims that they didn’t refuse Miller’s advertisement to deny his rights to free speech, but they did so because of the Establishment Clause in the Constitution. They added that the clause forbids government institutions from displaying any form of religious advertisement, whether Christian or not.
Mr. Miller claims that the advertisement is part a campaign by JesusTattoo.org. Apparently the aim of the campaign is to show how Jesus will accept those who others in society have dismissed by depicting him with tattoos showing the words “addicted” and “depressed.”
During a 30-day campaign the previous year, JesusTatoo.org was allowed to display 59 billboards in Lubbock County. Their website includes a video of a man, who is supposed to be Christ, working as a tattoo artist.
People wearing tattoos, in the video on the website, describing the helplessness of their situation, such as “rejected” or “outcast,” come to see “Jesus the tattoo artist,” who promptly removes their tattoos and replaces them with “accepted,” or words to that effect.
