Fundraiser told to stop

Money would pay legal costs to keep Jesus portrait in Bridgeport school

By Paul J. Nyden, The Charleston Gazette (Charleston, West Virginia), August 11, 2006

A Harrison County school board member was told Thursday to stop soliciting money to help keep a picture of Jesus Christ displayed in Bridgeport High School.

Michael Queen said he received an e-mail from Lew Brewer, director of the state Ethics Commission, that advised him to stop raising money for the recently formed Christian Freedom Fund.

Queen said Thursday the fund had raised $88,105 to pay for possible legal costs if the Harrison County Board of Education chooses to fight a federal lawsuit over the picture.

Singer Pat Boone called the group Thursday to pledge an additional $5,000, Queen said. The group hopes to raise $150,000.

In a Thursday press release, Queen said Brewer told him "because I am unable to advise you that your solicitation involves a charitable purpose, it is my recommendation that you discontinue your solicitation until you obtain a formal opinion from the Ethics Commission."

Queen said he believes the Christian Freedom Fund does provide a "charitable service," but that he is following Brewer’s advice.

Brewer would not comment Thursday. Complaints to the Ethics Commission are confidential until the commission finds probable cause to proceed with a case.

Queen said he asked the Ethics Commission for an opinion because Dallas Bailey, the retired president of Salem International University and associate pastor at the United Methodist Church in Clarksburg, said earlier this week that he might ask for one.

Bailey said Thursday that he had not asked the Ethics Commission for an opinion, and declined further comment.

Several national conservative groups are supporting the Christian Freedom Fund, including the American Family Association, American Center for Law and Justice, Rutherford Institute and the Alliance Defense Fund, which is the legal arm of Focus on the Family, a group headed by the Rev. James Dobson.

The Harrison County school board is likely to decide whether or not to legally defend the right to hang religious portraits in schools at its meeting Tuesday.

At its Aug. 3 meeting, the board voted 3-2 to allow Bridgeport High’s principal to continue displaying the portrait until the board decides whether to back a full legal challenge to taking it down. The picture has been on display in the school for more than 37 years.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley denied a petition from the ACLU and Americans for Separation of Church and State to take the portrait down immediately.

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