College drama club told to ‘dumb down’ religious theme in play

This week on Faith On Trial we will be discussing a case involving a community college that told its drama club it could not perform a play unless it would “dumb down” its religious message.

Travis Barham

In September, the club advisor told Cape Fear Community College student Justin Graves that his production could not be performed because it has religious themes, even though it received unanimous approval from the drama club. The advisor claimed that the production would violate the First Amendment if it included the religious themes, and he advised Graves to “dumb down” the religious content until it was not “obvious” to avoid any potential lawsuits or “offending” anyone.

Ironically, the advisor allowed the drama club to sponsor other productions that could potentially cause offense, including ones that included rape and incest themes.

Justin’s attorney, Travis Barham, litigation staff counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, will join Deacon Mike Manno and his co-host Gina Noll to discuss this case. Join us at 9 a.m. (Central) for a lively discussion of this and other cases that place our faith on trial.  Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com.

The program re-airs at 9 p.m.  Underwriters for Faith On Trial are AttorneyRick McConville, of Coppola, McConville, Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westwown Parkway, West Des Moines, 453-1055 and John Martin at ConfluenceBrewing Company, just off the Bike Trail just south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road, Des Moines – don’t forget to check out their Thursday entertainment!