Pagan kids in the news: Children and religious discrimination

There's been quite a buzz recently surrounding Pagan and other alternate-faith students in public schools:

• Atheist Teen Defeats High School Prayer Banner (Examiner.com, 12 January 2012)
  An Atheist teenager had to bring her high school to district court after a prayer mural, which makes mention of "Our Heavenly Father", was posted in the hallway. Her suit challenged the constitutionality of having such a mural adorn the walls of her school, and with the help of the ACLU, the mural was ruled unconstitutional and gave the school ten days to remove it.


• Related: Christians Bombard Teen Activist with Hate and Abuse (Examiner.com, 13 January 2012)
  In response to her suit, several Bible-beaters have come to attack her, even threatening bodily harm against her. (This is currently under investigation.) Comments like "Hmm jess is in my bio class, she's gonna get some sh*t thrown at her" and "shes not human shes garbage" become standard.


• Quick Response by Local School Over Pagan Necklace (PNC - Minnesota Bureau, 17 January 2012)
  A 4th-grade student in Minnesota was told by a substitute teacher that she had to tuck her pentacle necklace into her shirt “because things like that should be kept to yourself”, despite the same request not being made to those of other faith who were also wearing religious jewelry. When her mother brought the issue up with the principal, she was told that "the substitute teacher will not be teaching at Galtier any longer and the likelihood exists that he will no longer be teaching in the St. Paul Public Schools." Thought I'd balance all this sobering news with something more positive. :)


• Pagan Mom Challenges Bible Giveaway at North Carolina School (FoxNews.com, 19 January 2012)
  When her son came home with a Bible given to him by school officials, a Pagan mother challenges the giveaway with one of her own: Pagan spell books. She was turned away despite being assured that the school would make available religious texts donated by any groups. The district later announced that "Buncombe County School officials are currently reviewing relevant policies and practices with school board attorneys. During this review period, no school in the system will be accepting donations of materials that could be viewed as advocating a particular religion or belief."

[caption id="attachment_1087" align="aligncenter" width="401" caption="Photo: PNC-Minnesota"][/caption]

While I'd love to say that all this commotion was for good reason, as you can tell from the above examples from just this past week, with the exception of one article and the original of another, it was all the same: Routine discrimination and hate from those in a religious majority against those in a religious minority, especially after an open display from said religious majority. It's honestly becoming kind of boring ol' stuff to read about again and again.

It always concerns me when the news circles around public schools and around children. It's one thing to have adults (using that word lightly) beat each other up with nasty words and hurled insults when it comes to a particular faith, but it's another to encourage children to do the same and even be instigators by leaving Bibles in public schools, asking a child of a non-Abrahamic faith to hide who they are, and posting signage in obvious favor of one faith over another. That shit sickens me on so many levels.

In my opinion, unless a child wants to quietly express his or her own faith through the wearing of a piece of non-offensive religious jewelry of his or her own choice, there shouldn't exist any material on religion at all unless they are all represented -- a lofty goal indeed, considering how many faiths there are in this country, much less the world. These schools are public establishments funded by taxpayers of different faiths as well as those of no faith. To favor one over another -- and it appears that one faith in particular is favored -- you're sending a very powerful message to those who do practice the faith ("Yours is the only one that matters") and to those who practice another or none at all ("Your thinking is wrong" or "I don't really care what you believe").

As someone who will raise her eventual children in a home that is not only interfaith, but that houses two minority faith systems to boot (let's face it, Judaism isn't a huge religion, and Paganism certainly ain't!), I'd personally be livid if my children came home with either of those possible thoughts in their head and in their hearts! I'd feel like they were trying to force my child into hiding if they came home with their religious regalia, should they be wearing any, tucked into their shirts or their pockets or otherwise confiscated. And I'd be conflicted if they came home with religious texts, not because I wouldn't be approving of them -- after all, I do plan on raising our children with age-appropriate knowledge of many different religious texts -- but because they came from a public school where I expect them to be learning reading, writing, and arithmetic, not being offered theology or texts discussing that kind of material.

And I would expect any other parent, future or current, would feel the same! Just as I would be uncomfortable with my child coming home with a Bible, so would another non-Pagan parent with her child coming home with a Cunningham book. Just as I would want my own religion respected by not having others shoved down my child's throat, so would another parent regarding respect for her religion and her child. Just as I will strive to teach my child religious tolerance and acceptance, so would another parent (I hope) to her own children so that, when our children meet up one day on the playground or the school gym or on the street, neither one feels superior or ashamed.

Religious education is my job and the job of the religious educators I first choose for my children and those my children will eventually choose for themselves. It is not the school system's moral nor social responsibility to teach my children religious messages, instill religious values, or provide them with religious texts, whether any of these be conflicting or not.

One day, my children will become adults and be thrust into the cold, unfeeling world that is religious discrimination, whether they want to or not. No matter what faith to which they grow up to belong, even if that religion is that of the majority, they will experience this discrimination every day of their lives either by belonging to the group being bruised by hateful words or to the group that is hurling such massive, unforgiving stones. I hope they will become adults with enough foresight, intelligence, and love to handle these daily trials with grace and serenity.

But until then, I would much prefer if they had at least one "safe haven" from all that mess: At school.