Student not allowed to build altar in shop class March 16, 2010
Posted by The Wayward Wiccan in : Witchy News , trackbackThis is a very interesting story, though it’s a week or two old: Dale Halferty, an industrial arts teacher at Guthrie Center High School didn’t allow one of his students to build a Wiccan altar in shop class. Here is the link where you can read exactly how things happened.
Now that you have read the story, we can discuss it. At first, to me it seemed that the teacher was only trying to be fair. The man stated that he previously told another student that he can’t build a cross in shop class and that he also doesn’t want any religious symbols in the shop. All this is very reasonable but as we advance with the reading we come across this statement he makes about Wicca: “It scares me. I’m a Christian… This witchcraft stuff – it’s terrible for our kids. It takes kids away from what they know, and leads them to a dark and violent life. We spend millions of tax dollars trying to save kids from that.” Clearly Halferty has no idea what Wicca is and what that altar could have been used for. My opinion is that this statement reveals the lack of information about Wicca and its practicants. More surprisingly is that it’s coming from a man who has more than 20 years of experience as an educator. Another thing that strikes me is his view point: “We as Christians don’t get to have our say during school time, so why should he?” Wow! When was the last time there was a Solstice or other Wiccan pageant at your local school, compared to Christmas celebrations? What do you think about that?
Of course that this incident had implications and almost 70 students signed a petition against practicing witchcraft at school. Also Superintendent Steve Smith said that some people have expressed fears about the practice of Satanism or sacrifices. I was really hoping to read a statement made by the student in case but unfortunately there isn’t one (not that I know of at least). There are, however, a few more details available on the case.
How do you feel about the teacher receiving a five-day suspension? Do you agree with Ben Stone, executive director of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, who says that this is a case of religious discrimination? Also let me know if you have heard of any similar cases.
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