Source: AJC.com
The disqualification of a high school runner because he wore a head band with a Bible verse has triggered legislation about religious expression on sports uniforms.
The Georgia High School Association opposes House Bill 870, saying that if it becomes law, the organization would be compelled to break the rules of its national governing body.
Lawmakers, reacting to the ejection of a cross-country runner who finished third in a state championship race last year, said they were merely trying to protect freedom of religious expression.
The West Forsyth High School runner “was just expressing his belief in his Creator,” said Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, the lead co-sponsor of companion legislation, Senate Bill 309. “I found that a little bit troubling.”
Rep. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, the lead co-sponsor of HB 870, said the legislation was aimed at the possibility of discrimination. If the association ever undoes its ban on any individual expression on team uniforms, he said, the bill would prohibit discrimination against the religious kind.
Gary Phillips, the executive director of the Association, doesn’t read it that way. The language would compel his organization to allow religious expression on uniforms, he said. That would place his group at odds with the National Federation of State High School Associations’ prohibition against individual expression — “illegal adornments” — on team uniforms.
Categories: Law and Religion, The Muslim Times