A school in Ohio has been warned that its kachina doll worship lessons are illegal.
The fight is over a classroom demand that students make a kachina doll, which “were used by native Americans as sacred idols,” because it fails to follow the requirements of the U.S. Constitution.
“The law does not support the school’s compulsion of student’s speech under these circumstances,” explained John Monaghan, a lawyer with the American Center for Law & Justice.
“Accordingly, the school’s decision presents a matter of great constitutional concern for the ACLJ. The instruction to make the doll interferes with the Mutti son’s First Amendment rights as a student.”
According to Front Lines Ohio, the letter went to the Lexington school after Amie Mutti explained, “On the week of February 13th, 2023, our eleven-year-old son was instructed by his fifth-grade teacher during Social Studies class to make a kachina doll. This is no ordinary doll. These dolls were used by native Americans as sacred idols.”
The report explained the school handout on the project claimed, “kachina dolls are a likeness of Hopi spirits and each Hopi spirit is thought to have special powers, like healing the sick, providing rain for crops, protecting children, and carrying dreams to heaven.”
Mutti explained, “In other words, the children were told by the teacher to make a kachina doll, give their doll a name, and to write about what special powers their doll had. To go further, the lesson plan states, ‘These dolls were used in ceremonies to teach children about the beliefs of the tribe and the gods.’ Clearly they are not toys.”
The report noted a rabbi from the Ontario Sar Shalom Center confirmed the family “is very active in our congregation. Our faith community adheres to a Hebrew phrase, ‘Ein keloheinu,’ that states, ‘there is no god like our GOD.’ So you can see when innocent children are coerced to create dolls made in the likeness of spirits, this is in direct conflict with our biblical faith tradition. This pagan ritual is an attack on our faith and has no place in public schools.”
The family explained that the school refused to notify parents beforehand of the pending lesson, and provided students no opt-out to the religion training.
“In our faith tradition, the Scriptures say not to make any graven image or likeness of anything in heaven above or earth below. Not only are we not to make idols, our faith tradition says we are not to bring idols into our homes. After the students completed their project, they were told by the teacher to take their dolls home,” Mutti charged.
State law, Paragraph 3313.601 of the Ohio Revised Code, states, “No pupil shall be required to participate if contrary to religious convictions of either the pupil or the pupil’s parent/guardian.”
According to a report from CBN, records from the school show that the board told the parents he would pass their concerns to the board and superintendent.
But Frontlines reported neither had responded to the parents.
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
This post originally appeared on WND News Center.