The U.S. Supreme Court was asked on Monday to consider whether a fifth-grade student's religious expression on a classroom project can be considered "offensive" and subject to censorship by school officials.

In December 2003, Joel Curry, then 11, made candy cane-style Christmas ornaments with a note that school officials considered "religious literature." The note attached to the ornaments, titled "The Meaning of the Candy Cane," referred to Jesus six times and God twice.

Curry, who copied the message from an ornament at a Christian bookstore, is now a rising sophomore at Heritage High School in Saginaw, Mich.

"It's unfortunate it has to be pushed this far," said his father, Paul Curry. "When children step out in the world, they have to deal with different faiths and religions. It's a good way for teachers to educate students as long as no one is proselytizing or pushing it down someone's throat."

At the time, the boy made the ornaments as part of a classroom project in which students develop and "sell" products. School officials told the youngster to remove the message, even though he received an A on the assignment.

Is 'Meaning of Candy Cane' OK in schools? - USATODAY.com

The school is being ridiculous about this.
1) "offensive"? No. Come ON.

2) "subject to censorship"?
A teacher can define the project in a variety of ways.
But quite frankly, if the project is to "develop and 'sell' products", why should you limit the kids in such a manner? Seeking a market that may potentially be "niche" (specifically Christian) is part of the learning process.
Unless you want to invalidate a kid selling a candy bar derivative cause the "organic vegan" crowd may be excluded or offended.

3) Bust the kid for plagiarism and move on...
"...copied the message from an ornament at a Christian bookstore..."
(just kidding)

I can't believe this actually got as far the SCOTUS. This kind of over-reaction to any mention of Christ in the school setting needs to be stopped. This kid has every right to do what he did. He violated no law. All he did was to provide the ACLU with an opportunity to sue and get more money/publicity. That was his only crime - he did something the ACLU didn't like. The sad part is that, while my statement is sarcastic, there is a grain of truth in it. The ACLU has been using it's pull to create situations where the courts are actually making laws, instead of only applying them.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

Don't mean to throw a wet blanket of truth onto this whole "ACLU" bashing thing you got going on, but I see no involvement of the ACLU in this at all.

While I agree the kid was being ridiculously restricted, blaming the ACLU for something it was not involved with doesn't help...

I can hear the school admin now...

"Jesus Christ!...God damn it!...I wish they'd stop talking about religion...for heaven's sake!"...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

WAKE UP!! This kind of thing has been driven by the ACLU for years. Even if the ACLU isn't directly involved, they are the ones who created the false impression that the mention of Christ in a school environment is somehow wrong. So, yeah, I lay the blame for this kind of stupid crap directly at the feet of the ACLU.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

WAKE UP!!
The ACLU has protected the rights of Çhristians as well.
Just because you want your religious dogma installed in the U.S. government's legislation, doesn't mean that the ACLU is at fault.
I agree that the kid didn't do anything wrong ... and I agree that you're wrong - the ACLU had nothing to do with it.

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"No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities."
...Christian Nestell Bovee

ACLU Defends Christian Librarian Disciplined for Refusing to Promote Harry Potter

ACLU Defends Christian Worker Required to Remove Bible from Desk at Government Job

ACLU Defends Right of Individual Christian to Display Nativity Scene on Public Property

ACLU Defends Christians Protesting Gay Rights in Florida

ACLU Champions Religious Freedom Of Mormon College Student

ACLU Fights for Christian Church's Mission to Feed the Poor

ACLU Fights for Christmas Tree

ACLU Files Suit to Protect Free Speech Rights of Christian Protesting Wal-Mart's Policy on Gays

ACLU of Georgia and Baptist Church File Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

ACLU of Rhode Island Files Appeal on Behalf of Christian Prisoner Barred from Preaching at Religious Services

ACLU of Michigan Defends Catholic Man Coerced to Convert to Pentecostal Faith in Drug Rehab Program

ACLU of New Jersey Joins Lawsuit Supporting Second-Grader's Right to Sing "Awesome God" at Talent Show

After ACLU Intervention on Behalf of Christian Valedictorian, Michigan High School Agrees to Stop Censoring Religious Yearbook Entries

ACLU Helps Free New Mexico Street Preacher From Prison

ACLU of WA Wins Right of Christian Minister to Preach in Spokane Plaza

ACLU Fights for Baptist Preacher in Illinois

ACLU Defends Rights of Christian Group to Make Religious Protest at Funerals

ACLU Backs Christian Abortion Protester in Ohio

ACLU of Oregon Defends Religious Liberty Of Adventist School Boys Basketball Players

ACLU Backs Missouri Nurse Penalized for Wearing Cross-Shaped Lapel Pin

ACLU Defends Christian Street Preacher in Las Vegas

ACLU Argues for Legal Recognition of Small Christian Church

ACLU of MA Defends Students Punished for Distributing Candy Canes with Religious Messages

ACLU of Nebraska Defends Church Facing Eviction by the City of Lincoln

ACLU Defends Church's Right to Run "Anti-Santa" Ads in Boston Subways

ACLU Defends Inmate's Access to Material from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Following Threat of ACLU of Virginia Lawsuit, Officials to Agree Not to Ban Baptisms in Public Parks

ACLU Defends Families Fighting Removal Of Religious Symbols from Florida Cemetery

ACLU Supports Right of Iowa Students to Distribute Christian Literature at School

ACLU Argument In Support of the Display of a Christian Cross in a Public Forum

ACLU Defends Free Speech Rights of Christians And Others On Main Street Plaza

ACLU Defends Prisoner's Rosary Beads

ACLU Defends Christian Group's Anti-Abortion Ads On Phoenix Buses

ACLU Pledges to Back Church in a Zoning Battle

ACLU of PA Files Discrimination Lawsuit Over Denial of Zoning Permit for African American Baptist Church

ACLU Offers To Represent Private Prayer on Public Property and

ACLU Joins Falwell To Fight For Church Incorporation Rights

for further information about each case, go to
The ACLU Fights for Christians

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"No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities."
...Christian Nestell Bovee

Yeah, I've seen the list before (if you'd like, I can post one ten times as long with cases they taken against Christians that were utter BS), but that in no way negates the efforts to the contrary that the ACLU has taken that have created this wrong attitude of accepting and even promoting the censorship of Christians. The ACLU is DIRECTLY responsible for making it too expensive for schools to fight against this kind of censorship, they are the ones who created the atmosphere that scares judges into making wrong decisions, they are the ones who are working to undermine the rights of Christians. You can try to apologize for them and support thier anti-Christian efforts all you want, but the truth is that they are the ones who drove this and they are the ones responsible for taking away the rights of Christians to exercise their rights.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

well, it SHOULD. It proves that they are interested in the rights of ALL

I have no problem believing that over-zealous Christian extremists are the ones who make the most trouble that must be addressed in court. I'm sure that's true.

I'm a Christian and I don't feel that my rights have been taken away.
Of course, I also don't want to impose MY vision of a "good" life on others.

that is a lie.
they are the ones who are working to keep over-zealous Christian extremists from undermining the rights of OTHERS.

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"No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities."
...Christian Nestell Bovee