Matthew and Jennifer Booth, the parents of Lydia, a nine-year-old girl in grade three, have filed a lawsuit against a Mississippi school district alleging that Simpson Central School would not allow their daughter to wear her “Jesus Loves Me” facemask.

Though she had been wearing it several days without incident, on Oct. 13, 2020, the suit alleges Lydia was told to take off her mask because it violated a school regulation preventing political and religious messages on face masks.

The family is being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom that argues the school’s regulation is not only unconstitutional, but it is not being equally applied to the other students.

In its news release, ADF states:

Public schools have a duty to respect the free expression of students that the First Amendment guarantees to them. While school administrators face challenges in helping students navigate school life during a pandemic, those officials simply can’t suspend the First Amendment or arbitrarily pick and choose the messages that students can or can’t express. Other students within the school district have freely worn masks with the logos of local sports teams or even the words ‘Black Lives Matter.’ This student deserves an equal opportunity to peacefully express her beliefs.

The thing that sticks out is that the young girl’s mask did not say “Jesus love you”, it simply read “Jesus love me”. It was not directed at another person, it was an expression of Lydia’s personal faith.

And it seems that Jesus is increasingly becoming the real issue. In an interview with CBN in 2008, former NFL Quarterback great Terry Bradshaw, who went on to have a career in both media and the movies after football, recounted his problems with using the name of Jesus:

“We can’t talk about Jesus. We can’t mention that anymore. So we say I’m religious because if you say ‘Jesus,’ you automatically are pigeonholed and kicked off the desk.”

In other words we can say God loves me, but not Jesus loves me.

And perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, because Jesus warned that His Name will become the focal point of future persecution:

²² and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22 ESV)

READ: School Forces 9-Year-Old Girl To Remove ‘Jesus Loves Me’ Mask. Parents File Federal Lawsuit. AND Student sues Mississippi school district for banning ‘Jesus Loves Me’ facemask AND MS public school prohibits 3rd-grade student from wearing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ face mask AND Terry Bradshaw reveals how Jesus save his life in heartfelt testimony 10 years ago