Things have gotten heated at a Wisconsin high school over the right for an off-campus Christian lunch group to convene at a park adjacent to campus.
Middleton High School, located just outside Wisconsin’s capital of Madison, is putting pressure on a group of mothers responsible for organizing the Christian-themed lunches. Dubbed “Jesus lunches,” the gatherings occur on Tuesdays at Fireman’s Park. The park is adjacent to the Middleton High School campus but is not considered school property. Students attending the Jesus lunch receive a free sack lunch that is typically accompanied by a 2 to 5-minute spiritual message.
Both the school principal and Middleton school district superintendent have formally asked for the lunches to be put to an end, even going as far as block the mothers’ entrance to the park with traffic cones. The five mothers organizing the lunches, however, haven’t backed down and sought legal council as of last week.
It’s important to note that Middleton High School is what is referred to as an “open campus.” This means that all students are allowed to leave campus during their lunch break.
For background on the controversy, see my post at Legal Insurrection.
In typical Madison, left-wing fashion, today’s Jesus lunch was met with protests as the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation held a demonstration along with students opposed to the lunches.
These high schoolers are awesome! #JesusLunch signs:
Freedom From Religion in School FFRF
Take Jesus Lunch to Church pic.twitter.com/XHbFaeMJn8— Andrew Seidel (@AndrewLSeidel) April 19, 2016
Middleton student Anna Diamond shows support for #jesuslunchpic.twitter.com/mWKEzinHhk
— Ogechi E (@OEmechebe21) April 19, 2016
Even with today’s demonstration, the mothers organizing the lunch group considered today’s meal a success, claiming on Facebook that a thousand students attended. With their lunches, students received the following written message along with a “John 3:16” yo-yo:
Phillip Stamman, the attorney representing the lunch group, believes the conflict is over the group’s right to freely exercise religion and freedom to associate on public property. He believes school administrators are trying to intimidate the group. “If the school district keeps blocking them and keeps harassing my clients, my clients have the right to exercise their first amendment and that won’t be denied,” he said during a local radio interview.
Staman admitted, “To be honest, I think this really comes down to control.”
