The football players at Arkansas State University have been ordered to remove a Christian symbol of the cross from their helmets or modify it into a mathematical plus sign after a Jonesboro attorney complained that the image violated the U.S. Constitution.
The cross symbol was meant to memorialize a former player Markel Owens and former equipment manager Barry Weyer, who were killed in a car crash and gun shoot out respectively.
And because the players knew they were both Christians, they decided to use the cross along with their initials, to carry the spirits of Markel and Barry onto the field for one more season. This decision initially had the full support of the university’s athletic director until he received a message from the university’s legal counsel, Lucinda Mcdaniel.
The team had been wearing the helmets with the cross for two weeks without any complaints until last week when they had a nationally televised game against the Tennessee Volunteers and an attorney from Joneboro, Louis Nisenbaum sent the school legal counsel a mail stating that the cross is a clear violation of the Establishment Clause as a state endorsement of the Christian religion.
Another group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation also insisted that the cross be removed or changed to a plus sign stating that many teams around the country honor former teammates by putting that player’s number on their helmets or jerseys, or by wearing a black armband or any other symbolic gesture which is free from religion imagery.
But this is really serious that an innocent gesture could be blown out of proportion this way…#DiaRizGodO!!
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