Posted on 09/26/2011 2:15:27 PM PDT by Morgana
A high school student from Eastern Washington got a restraining order against his principal, after claiming the school leader threatened to use a pocketknife and to cut off a rosary the teen wears around his neck.
18-year-old Roel Corral, a student at Kiona-Benton City High School, is Catholic and wears a rosary to school. He says principal Wayne Barrett told him to remove it and threatened him, according to the Tri-City Herald newspaper which has been following this story.
Corral won a court hearing that ordered Barrett to stay at least 100 feet away from Corral, but earlier this week the judge's decision was modified to 25 feet on school property or at school events. The principal said the original order would have made it impossible for him to do his job.
If the principal threatened the student, which he denies, that's one issue. The question I have for you - is the principal right or wrong to ask Corral to remove a rosary from his neck? Here's the school's dress code:
(Excerpt) Read more at mynorthwest.com ...
Maybe not by English Catholics, yes, but different cultures have different norms....
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Well, it is not the norm in America to wear a rosary either. It is disrespectful to do so.
Maybe not by English Catholics, yes, but different cultures have different norms....
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Well, it is not the norm in America to wear a rosary either. It is disrespectful to do so.
“A rosary is not jewelry.”
No it is not. However I have noticed that a lot of people from Latin America wear their rosaries around their neck. I really don’t think they mean disrespect they just want it close to their persons.
No doubt. I have some problems with “that” virgin on the center bit. Kind of a pagan/magical holdover, that now some of the worst criminals call their own.
There is **no** neutral solution. None.
The only solution is to begin the process of privatizing all education. What's need here is complete separation of school and state instead of judges playing Solomon trying to cut the baby of freedom of conscience in half.
Yes, those are gang members/sympathizers.
The telling thing is that you NEVER EVER see one in Mass wearing the Rosary like that. If you have it is a new one on me.
Well from the article I do not see that this youth was being talked to about a religious display but rather he was approached about a violation of the dress code namely daggling necklaces.
So unless the youth can show that the Rosary in question was more than a necklace to him I believe that the school would be within its rights to prohibit the wearing of the Rosary.
I am a Catholic and would never countenance the wearing of the Rosary as a necklace in our local Catholic school.
That being said wintertime in post 20 mentions that some off shoots of Catholicism may wear the Rosary about the neck. So if the youth can claim membership in such a faith perhaps he could claim 1st amendment protection. But I think the youth would need to provide some proof of his claim. Perhaps a baptismal certificate.
When you do, get back to me.
Many of the members of our congregation from Mexico, and Central and South America come to the church with very syncretic beliefs. The more rural their background the more likely this is to be the case.
Also...From the article is it **impossible** know what the beliefs of this child family are. Catholic? Yeah! Sort of!
The point is that is IMPOSSIBLE to have religiously neutral education .. Government schools are NOT religiously neutral and never have been.
Solution: Work toward closing down all government K-12 schooling. What is needed is complete separation of school and state.
You think it is OK to have to **PROVE** to the government your religion? Huh?
Where is that in the First Amendment?
Fundamentally, a religiously neutral education is impossible. There is no such thing a s religiously neutral government education! For this reason we must move toward privatizing all education in the nation. Let these matter be resolved privately between the parents and the principal of a private school.
You’re in Maryland?
Maryland!= Texas.
And I’d argue that while Baltimore is important the Church here is older than Baltimore.
For me its the threat of the principal to cut it off him that makes it a threat to the individual...not weather or not he is wearing a rosary...many people have them hanging from the mirror in their cars. It could be a reminder to some to say the prayers...
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Agreed.
“So unless the youth can show that the Rosary in question was more than a necklace to him I believe that the school would be within its rights to prohibit the wearing of the Rosary.”
That’s not how the first amendment works.
The spirit of your post I do understand. Just to be a Catholic nerd, talisman refers to an object imbued with magical powers. The rosary is not magical—it is a prayer guide. And as others have said, the rosary should NEVER be worn as jewelry—it cheapens the sacred tradition. So I guess I would side with the principal maybe for a different reason. If the offender is Catholic, a talk with clergy would be a good thing.
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It isn't, but is that why the principal acted as he did?
I don't think so.
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