Punctum Saliens

On Saturday, there was a New York Times article about a free-speech case dividing Bush and the Religious Right (if you can imagine that). Briefly (and quoting the NYT article):

As the Olympic torch was carried through the streets of Juneau on its way to the 2002 winter games in Salt Lake City, students were allowed to leave the school grounds to watch. The school band and cheerleaders performed. With television cameras focused on the scene, Mr. Frederick and some friends unfurled a 14-foot-long banner with the inscription: “Bong Hits 4 Jesus.”

Mr. Frederick later testified that he designed the banner, using a slogan he had seen on a snowboard, “to be meaningless and funny, in order to get on television.” Ms. Morse found no humor but plenty of meaning in the sign, recognizing “bong hits” as a slang reference to using marijuana. She demanded that he take the banner down. When he refused, she tore it down, ordered him to her office, and gave him a 10-day suspension.

Ok, putting aside the legal ramifications and precedents and what not, let’s get to the crazy stuff. The Bush administration is siding with the principal and the school board which are being represented (sans fees) by Kenneth Star (you know, the Clinton thing).

And in the opposite corner are the ACLU and the National Coalition Against Censorship — not much surprise there. But, right behind them are …

… the American Center for Law and Justice, founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson; the Christian Legal Society; the Alliance Defense Fund, an organization based in Arizona that describes its mission as “defending the right to hear and speak the Truth”; the Rutherford Institute, which has participated in many religion cases before the court; and Liberty Legal Institute, a nonprofit law firm “dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights and religious freedom.”

I don’t get this at all. What, exactly are the issues of “Truth” and “religious freedom” here? If taken seriously, the sign was condoning illegal drug use in the name of Jesus. If taken not seriously, the sign was merely a prank by a high schooler. What, exactly, are these organizations doing?

My feeling is that they are all involved because and only because the sign had “Jesus” on it. They view tearing down a sign that says “Jesus” as blasphemy or something. The marijuana reference is secondary and is not the real issue because is it about the most innocuous, harmless, non-blasphemous thing that could have been written.

Don’t believe that? Well, I wonder how many of these religious right organizations would be so involved if the sign read “Smoke Crack 4 Jesus” or “Sodomize 4 Jesus” or “Vote Democrat 4 Jesus”? These would all be “First Amendment”, “right to speak” issues as much as “Bong Hits”, would they not?