CNA Staff, Oct 30, 2020 / 13:01 pm
A Catholic elementary school in Michigan is suing the state's health department over a mandate that masks be worn continually during the school day, calling the requirement unnecessary, and harmful to its younger students.
Resurrection School in Lansing, along with two parents of children at the school, are suing Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon and several other public officials over an Oct. 9 mandate that students wear masks at school all day, even if their desks are spaced six feet apart in the classroom.
"In accordance with the teachings of the Catholic faith, Resurrection School believes that every human has dignity and is made in God's image and likeness. Unfortunately, a mask shields our humanity. And because God created us in His image, we are masking that image," the lawsuit, filed Oct. 22 in the Western District Court of Michigan, reads.
"Wearing a mask conveys the message that the wearer has surrendered his or her freedom to the government...a mask has become a symbol. And because a mask has become a political symbol, the wearing of a mask is a form of symbolic speech," the plaintiffs argued.