Peresecution In Napa Valley

He takes his Bible to school every day. They call him Pastor K. Time and time again, he has taken flak for his Christian beliefs.

"It comes with the territory," said Kyle Trudelle, an easygoing Napa High School senior. "If you stand up for what you believe in, you will be persecuted."

Even so, the latest battle took him by surprise. Alleging he was blurring the separation between church and state, a few students said a mural he's painting outside the art room on campus looks like heaven, with its brick steps leading to a castle in the sky.

Trudelle contended that the stairway could be leading to any pleasant place, even to Neverland. "It's not a religious thing. It's more of a spiritual thing," he said.

Nationally, as the squabble about displays of the Ten Commandments in government buildings around the country continues to unfold -- on the heels of myriad debates over prayer in public schools and God in the pledge of allegiance -- the Napa High incident proves how delicate church-state issues continue to be.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on a Ten Commandments case in the coming weeks.

Though sorted out peacefully, the controversy at Napa High saw a short-lived petition circulate. Students withdrew the petition shortly after Trudelle agreed to change the painting.

Now, the stairs will lead to a sunspot in the sky, and a castle will be moored to the ground instead of planted in clouds. "I don't want to cause anyone to get upset," Trudelle said. "If they had asked me before, I would have changed it."

Some students and school officials are asking why no one has complained about an adjacent mural that depicts the Virgin Mary, or the Lady of Guadalupe, an important figure for many Latino students with a Catholic background. The petitioners had said that image was part of a mural about Hispanic heritage, not a single ideal, as in Trudelle's mural.

OK, does this scream double srandard at you or what? How unbalanced does your judgment have to be to believe that Our Lady of Guadalupe is not religious but a castle in the sky is? This is blatant bigotry and racism.

From NapaNews.