The Madison County School Board in Danielsville, Ga., unanimously affirmed on Oct. 14 that a religious monument outside the Madison High School football stadium will be removed or modified, as a school district attorney told the Freedom From Religion Foundation on Sept. 24.
The monument was unveiled Aug. 22 and features the school’s logo alongside two New Testament bible verses carved on the stone: Philippians 4:13 (“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”) and Romans 8:31 (“If God be for us who can be against us?”).
FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel sent a letter Aug. 28 informing Superintendent Allen McCannon of the illegal nature of the monument and adding, “The import is clear, if you are not Christian, you are not a Red Raider.”
The school board met yesterday in closed session for about two hours before unanimously approving a motion to modify the monument by removing or covering the religious references, the Madison Journal Today reported. Monument supporters made some fairly over-the-top statements to the board before the closed session. More than a dozen pastors led prayer from the podium while the board was behind closed doors.
Most in the crowd of 150 to 200 people were middle-aged or older, the paper reported. “Very few students were in attendance.”
The American Humanist Association also sent a letter on Sept. 25, protesting the monument.
