Religion Briefs
Star-Bulletin staff &
Associated Press
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HAWAII
Priest to hold class on iconography
The Rev. Damian Higgins will teach the ancient art of iconography in a four-day workshop at the Honolulu Academy of Arts next week.
The two-day course will begin at 1 p.m. Thursday and continue through April 13 with all-day sessions Friday and next Saturday.
The cost is $300. For information call Leo Hura at 393-0687.
Higgins, a master in the ancient Christian art form, has taught iconography here in the past. He is a Ukrainian Catholic priest from Mount Tabor Monastery near Mendocino, Calif.
NATION
Student sues over religious artwork
MADISON, Wis. » A high school student has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his art teacher censored his drawing because it featured a cross and a biblical reference.
The lawsuit alleges other Tomah High School students were allowed to draw "demonic" images and asks a judge to declare a class policy prohibiting religion in art unconstitutional.
"We hear so much today about tolerance," said David Cortman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group representing the student, "but where is the tolerance for religious beliefs?"
Tomah School District Business Manager Greg Gaarder said the district had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.
The student, a senior identified in the lawsuit by the initials A.P., drew a cross and the words "John 3:16 A sign of peace" in his drawing of a landscape, according to the lawsuit.
His teacher asked him to remove the reference to the Bible, saying students were making remarks about it, the suit said. He refused, and she gave him a zero on the project.
The teacher showed the student a policy for the class that prohibited any violence, blood, sexual connotations or religious beliefs in artwork. The boy tore up the policy, was kicked out of class and later received two detentions for his actions, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also alleges school officials allow other religious items and artwork to be displayed on campus. A.P. suffered unequal treatment because of his religion even though student expression is protected by the First Amendment, according to the lawsuit.
Rabbis encouraged to show leadership
CINCINNATI » American rabbis should exercise moral leadership this election year by spotlighting issues such as the Iraq war, the need for universal health care and the growing problem of anti-Semitism around the world, a Jewish leader urged an assembly here.
Rabbi Peter Knobel, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, issued the call at the organization's convention but cautioned that rabbis should remain "politically neutral."
The conference is comprised of an estimated 1,800 rabbis of Reform Judaism, the largest branch of the faith in the U.S.
Knobel, the spiritual leader of Beth Emeth Congregation in Evanston, Ill., also highlighted bringing peace to the Middle East and bridging divides separating whites and blacks.
"Often religion is decried as irrelevant," Knobel said. "Quite the contrary. Our moral voices should be heard by all."
Knobel decried the Iraq war "as killing and maiming thousands, alienating the Muslim world and wasting resources which would make for a safer, more secure and just world."
The road to Middle East peace, he said, is "paved with compromise, courage and danger."
