Wiccan parents not allowed to teach their son their beliefs
ONE HAS TO READ IT TO BELIEVE IT
The judge's reasoning, if I get this right, is that the boy, who attends a Catholic church, would be too confused by being exposed to the two different religions, and that this would damage his poor little frail soul. So the parents are not allowed to teach him their Pagan faith. Not ordered to remove him from the school (which, admittedly, would have been equally daft), no - not allowed to teach him their Pagan faith!
Children are way smarter than people think. In any case, smarter than this judge. There is no "confusion" - it's "learning to see things from a different angle". So what is this family going to do on Yule? Send the boy for a walk outside while they celebrate? Put a paper back over his head so he doesn't get to see the decorations? He should ask at school about the origins of the Christmas tree...
To be fair: this is one single lunatic judge. I have no doubt that his order will be slammed, as it's so obviously unconstitutional. But this is yet another sign for the direction the USA are heading. People feel they can get away with these things, so they do them. And who could blame them for feeling they have the power? Bush said, after the US army accepted Wicca as a religion:
"I don't think that witchcraft is a religion. I wish the military would rethink this decision."
-- George W. Bush to ABCNEWS, June, 1999
Not to forget fossilic Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., who stated that Wicca was "irreligious" and that it "should not be accomodated by the military." In his own words:
"Army soldiers who consider themselves to be members of the Church of Wicca are carrying out their ceremonies at Fort Hood in Texas," Thurmond wrote. "The Wiccas practice witchcraft. At Fort Hood, they are permitted to build fires on Army property and perform their rituals involving fire, hooded robes, and nine inch daggers. An Army chaplain is even present."
Now, let's not be too harsh with Mr Thurmond, who, considering his age and if the Creationists are right, must have had a pet Tyrannosaurus Rex in his youth. He probably feared that the Army chaplain would get sacrificed during a fertility rite, or that somebody could a attack a panzer with a dagger.
The big wigs lead the way, the sheep follow. Of course we can't have people following a religion which teaches to respect nature and mother earth which might lead to protests against oil drillings.
True - we only get to read the news about the whackos, idiots and extremists. But I'm sorry - their number seems to be rising. Creationism, killings of doctors who perform abortions, "abstinence only" teachings at school, book bannings and all other kind of nonsense, all in God's name. Wasn't there some commandment stating not to use the lord's name in vain? Or is this one of the ten commandments which got dropped for reasons of inconvenience? Along with the other nine.
Oh, if only Wicca WAS witchcraft - I would jump on my broom and fly to Washington this very minute, turning Bush and his band of merry imps into bullfrogs.
And then, my dears, I would turn myself into a stork.
Bon appetit.
Erestor
The judge's reasoning, if I get this right, is that the boy, who attends a Catholic church, would be too confused by being exposed to the two different religions, and that this would damage his poor little frail soul. So the parents are not allowed to teach him their Pagan faith. Not ordered to remove him from the school (which, admittedly, would have been equally daft), no - not allowed to teach him their Pagan faith!
Children are way smarter than people think. In any case, smarter than this judge. There is no "confusion" - it's "learning to see things from a different angle". So what is this family going to do on Yule? Send the boy for a walk outside while they celebrate? Put a paper back over his head so he doesn't get to see the decorations? He should ask at school about the origins of the Christmas tree...
To be fair: this is one single lunatic judge. I have no doubt that his order will be slammed, as it's so obviously unconstitutional. But this is yet another sign for the direction the USA are heading. People feel they can get away with these things, so they do them. And who could blame them for feeling they have the power? Bush said, after the US army accepted Wicca as a religion:
"I don't think that witchcraft is a religion. I wish the military would rethink this decision."
-- George W. Bush to ABCNEWS, June, 1999
Not to forget fossilic Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., who stated that Wicca was "irreligious" and that it "should not be accomodated by the military." In his own words:
"Army soldiers who consider themselves to be members of the Church of Wicca are carrying out their ceremonies at Fort Hood in Texas," Thurmond wrote. "The Wiccas practice witchcraft. At Fort Hood, they are permitted to build fires on Army property and perform their rituals involving fire, hooded robes, and nine inch daggers. An Army chaplain is even present."
Now, let's not be too harsh with Mr Thurmond, who, considering his age and if the Creationists are right, must have had a pet Tyrannosaurus Rex in his youth. He probably feared that the Army chaplain would get sacrificed during a fertility rite, or that somebody could a attack a panzer with a dagger.
The big wigs lead the way, the sheep follow. Of course we can't have people following a religion which teaches to respect nature and mother earth which might lead to protests against oil drillings.
True - we only get to read the news about the whackos, idiots and extremists. But I'm sorry - their number seems to be rising. Creationism, killings of doctors who perform abortions, "abstinence only" teachings at school, book bannings and all other kind of nonsense, all in God's name. Wasn't there some commandment stating not to use the lord's name in vain? Or is this one of the ten commandments which got dropped for reasons of inconvenience? Along with the other nine.
Oh, if only Wicca WAS witchcraft - I would jump on my broom and fly to Washington this very minute, turning Bush and his band of merry imps into bullfrogs.
And then, my dears, I would turn myself into a stork.
Bon appetit.
Erestor