God Is Dead Artwork Displayed In School Enrages Parent

God Is Dead artwork hanging in a Newton County, Georgia, classroom has one parent infuriated, according to a recent report from MyFoxAtlanta.com.

Crystal Mitchell has a 10th grade daughter at Alcovy High School, where student work depicting a quote from the Arthur Miller play The Crucible was displayed on a teacher’s wall.

Mitchell said the artwork upset her daughter adding, “If my child can’t pray in school and they’ve taken religion out of school, for this to be plastered on the walls of the public school is a huge concern to me.”

Mitchell wants the piece removed from the teacher’s classroom, but that’s not likely to happen, according to school officials.

The Newton County School System claimed the God Is Dead artwork was made by language arts students and had been posted as part of a student artwork project several years ago. School officials added that Mitchell’s complaint is the very first.

“The student was not reflecting religious preferences. Basically, he’s just reflecting a quote in the book,” said school spokesperson Sherri Davis-Viniard, who added that the school system could not ask a classroom teacher about their religious beliefs by law. “We can’t hire or fire based on religious preference. We’re not even allowed to ask.”

To the point that there have been no other complaints, Mitchell disagreed, noting that other parents had expressed concern to her over the posting.

“It doesn’t have a place on the school wall — just doesn’t have a place in public school,” Mitchell said.

The separation of church and state was enacted by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, but since the 1940s, has come under heavier scrutiny.

Most recently, Bill Nye ripped in to religion’s place in science and a high school valedictorian had his microphone killed by the school when he started to recite the Lord’s Prayer.

Opponents of religion in schools feel the First Amendment of the US Constitution makes it clear that church and state have no place intermingling, while religious people — particularly Christians — feel like actions such as a God Is Dead artwork display violate the same amendment by hindering religious practice through indoctrination of anti-religious views.

What do you think — should the God Is Dead artwork display come down?