Court Rules Texas Cheerleaders Can Use Bible Banners

A judge ruled Thursday in favor of high school cheerleaders in Texas who were fighting to display Bible verses on banners at football games, CBN News reports. Last month, after a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, school officials told Kountze High School cheerleaders they could no longer use scripture on the signs they created for the football team to run though. But district judge Steve Thomas said yesterday that the school district's policy violated the cheerleaders' free speech rights. He issued an injunction allowing them to display the banners, pending the outcome of a lawsuit next June. Earlier this week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and state Attorney General Greg Abbott both backed the cheerleaders' right to keep using the banners. "There's a reality here and that is that the First Amendment does not demand hostility toward religion, nor does it demand silence on the part of students in this state or in this country," Abbott said. Cheerleader Kieara Moffett said, "I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders as of right now." Cheerleader Macy Matthews said the banner at tonight's game will read, "All things which are impossible with men are possible with God."