An atheist group is preparing to sue a West Virginia middle school after a memorial of a teacher who has passed away has angels etched in its stone.
While the school officials decided to remove the crosses on Joan Christy’s memorial site, the school is refusing to remove the angels despite what the atheist group says.
Christy has been an educator for 26 years at Ravenswood Middle School, before she passed in 2004 after a tragic car accident. Her coworkers and students loved her and that is why the memorial was put up to remember her.
The atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation is preparing to sue because they feel that their constitutional rights are being ignored. They feel that the display is promoting religion and infringing the student’s rights.
Tracy Sadecky, a family friend told WCHSTV, “There’s so many kids that came through this school that were affected by her death, that were affected by her teachings, and now we’re just trying to keep her memory alive here.”
Christy collected angel figurines, and her family is trying to keep some of her memory alive with the memorial. That is why they agreed to remove the crosses but is pushing to keep the angels in place.
A Wisconsin lawyer says that if the angels represent Christy and not religion then there may be nothing wrong with the display and there may not be any type of legal issue. The pastor at Christy’s church stated, “It is a remembrance of who Joann Christy was, and it is hard to separate the good that she did and her devotion to her Christian faith.”
Religion and atheist groups appear to have been involved in numerous confrontations more and more these days over what is appropriate and what is constitutionally right to display.
Photo By: WCHSTV.com
