Pers, I think you learned to flame! That’s a good one! 
goboy, you are just plain bad (and that’s good!) I love a gratuitous “Holy Grail” reference!
At the risk of interrupting the vitual boiling in oil of Mr. Bushyhead and friends, allow me to reiterate DANIEL’S point, which is that the brief in question only represents what the Plaintiffs allege happened. It does not represent what the Defendants allege happened, and it does not necessarily have much to do with what really happened.
Let’s all keep in mind that just because someone says something, it isn’t automatically true. It may be true, but it may not be. So perhaps we could refrain from branding Mr. Bushyhead or plucking out his eyes, at least until we hear his side of the story.
Oh, and so far as the thread title is concerned: Freedom of religion certainly does encompass a private individual’s right to be prejudiced against certain other religions; it just doesn’t encompass the right to use State funds to discriminate on that basis.
I’m wondering if Bushyhead allows his picture to be taken. I think he would be in a major panic about having his soul stolen.
It seems that the hierarchy at the school is off in their own little world and that they seem to have forgotten that they are in the US and that everybody in the US is entitled to certain rights. The list of their inexcusable actions is long and varied, at least according to the complaint that the ACLU filed. IMO, the defendants should not be allowed to continue working in public schools. Perhaps the Landover Baptists need some help in their school.
Dogsbody’s got it right. yes, pork is forbidden but so are quite a few other things. Mixing meat and any milk product is out, try getting some milk on an El Al flight someday during the meal…good luck to you. (Boy was my face red!)
Does anyone happen to have an account of what the defendants allege?
Not so far as I know, GAD. The ACLU posts its briefs on line; most governmental entities do not. Of course, the answer would be a public document so someone could get it, but it’s not online, at least not to my knowledge.
Thank you guys. Be proud that you have just squelched a bit of ignorance today. A big hug for both of you.
Mark this as a red letter day, I’m in agreement with Daniel & Jodi!
Let’s hear both sides before we make any more pronounciations on this. Yeah, Bushyhead sounds like a dope, but just because it’s reported in the media doesn’t mean it’s true.
I’m also curious about this Wiccan student. Is she an active member of a Coven or someone who simply read a book and declared herself “Wiccan” ? Many Covens won’t allow people that young to join, at least as an active member. I’d like to hear more of what she learned and where she learned it.
She isn’t a Wiccan at all. She’s a Roman Catholic.
Her only real connection to Wicca is that she was seen in the school library reading a book about it. (A book that was in the stacks in the school library, mind you.)
In the telling of the story over three SDMB threads, a lot of the details have been forgotten:
As I said, she (Brandi Blackbear) isn’t Wiccan, she’s Catholic, and was merely observed reading a book about Wicca, which would make the alleged accusations about as logical as saying that because I read Shirer’s “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” I must be a Nazi. She is also, incidentally, a Native American, so who knows if that figured into the mix. Allegedly, she had a pentagram drawn on her hand at some point.
This wasn’t the first problem. Brandi Blackbear had previously been in trouble with school authorities the preceding school year, when some books of stories she had written were confiscated and she was suspended one week after Columbine, so it smelled like a witch hunt long before the witchcraft accusations came out. According to Blackbear, these stories were Steven Kingish in nature, and by all accounts were clearly fiction and she hadn’t tried to share them with anyone. Before all this, her discplinary records and marks were spotless.
That said, as has been pointed out, the school board’s side of the story has never been heard. Even if the accusations are wild exaggerations, however, I’d say they’ve acted with astounding unrofessionalism, and this Bushyhead guy is clearly unfit to hold a job in the field of education. I would also point out that the things confiscated from her in the earlier incident were never returned, so the teachers involved (named Jack Ojala and Catherine Miller) are thieves.
OK, I can also agree with the posters who’ve said that we don’t have all the information. It’s true that the school has declined to comment on this case, stating their reasons as the confidentiality requirements.
On the other hand, as a bred&born Okie, I’ll tell ya - this kinda crap is not that uncommon in these here parts. No one that lives here, that I’ve spoken to (including the Christians), is at all surprised by this story.
IME, the majority of people here are astoundingly ignorant of their own religion; they sure as hell have never bothered to learn about anyone else’s. And many of the local churches still teach (quite vehemently) that ‘if’n you ain’t one of us, you must be satan-spawn’. Questioning the authority of said church is verboten, and since learning about other religions (much less being Catholic!!) certainly prevents you from being ‘one of us’… This is a great deal of the reason that many people I know have abandoned Christianity, except in the most generic, “yeah, I guess I’m Christian because I think there’s something more and that’s all I know” sense.
It’s not pretty down here, y’all.
Of course, they’re some damn nice folks, as long as you stay in the closet.
But it’s not like people are jumping to some wild, insane, incredibly improbable conclusion. Chances are very high that the plaintiff’s statement is true.
Thanks, Jodi; for bringing your professional elan & knowledge to this thread. Now- if you would just cruise on over to the GD thread on the same subject- we could eradicate even more ignorance.
However- i really would like to see the defendants brief- it sounds like they have their work cut out for them.