January 2016 Church & State - January 2015

Ky. Courthouse Creates Art Gallery For Jesus Portrait

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A top official in Breathitt County, Ky., has decided to create an art gallery in the courthouse rather than remove a charcoal sketch of Jesus Christ.

Judge-Executive John Lester Smith, who is equivalent to a county executive, has vowed to keep the Jesus picture up. The drawing is accompanied by a caption that says it is dedicated to the “People of Breathitt County” and “is not to be removed.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has asked that the sketch be taken down, but Smith has refused.

“’Til a federal judge tells me otherwise, I intend for it to be as it is,” Smith told the Lexington Herald-Leader.  “We’re not leaving it hanging there for religious beliefs.”

In an attempt to escape possible legal action, Smith has commissioned a number of other artworks to hang in the courthouse alongside the portrait of Jesus. The courthouse is currently decorated with local landscapes in addition to portraits of MSNBC host Rachel Maddow alongside figures like Snow White, Pinocchio and Mr. Magoo.

BREAKING NEWS

Americans United & the National Women’s Law Center file suit to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans.

Abortion bans violate the separation of church and state. Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center—the leading experts in religious freedom and gender justice—have joined forces with thirteen clergy from six faith traditions to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans as unconstitutionally imposing one narrow religious doctrine on everyone.


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