Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 6, 1 June 2000 — ACLU on kiʻi [ARTICLE]

ACLU on kiʻi

A complaint from a Christian minister on the Wai'anae Coast effectively resulted in the removal of a ki'i image carved by Wai'anae High School smdents under the direction of master carver Pat Pine. Additionally, the minister requested a cross be erected on the campus. However, the Ameiiean Civil Liberties Umon of Hawai'i (ACLU) recently stated that the Department of Education erred in removing the carving. "The ACLU believes the DOE was off-base in removing the tiki. Whether a given practice violates the Establishment Clause ultimately depends on whether most people would view it as religiously significant. Therefore, no possible Establishment Clause challenge ean be made against the tiki even if a few people view it as religious, because it is purely cultural to most. On the other hand, a cross is clearly a religious symbol to nearly all people," said ACLU executive director VanessaY. Chong.

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