Satanism in the public eye

[science_is_my_god]

Hey everybody. I have this crazy story to tell you. You might want to keep an eye on the news media over the next month or so. Why? Because there might be a lawsuit filed against a few teachers at my old high school. It's regarding Satanism in public schools. One of my closest friends, who is a senior in high school, was forced to cover his Slayer concert shirt because it "made very disturbing references to Satan."
The reason why this is so controversial is because whilst this is deemed "inappropriate dress" by the school's dress code because of "religious reference," the school has no problem with allowing students to wear cross necklaces and those annoying "WWJD (What would Jesus do?)" shirts. Also worth noting, the school's library has only one form of holy text in it's collection. You guessed it; a Bible. He and his family (who are mostly Satanists and atheists) are going directly to the school board to try and rectify the situation. If no such rectification is made, however, they have told me that this thing could easily wind up in court. So, since this is your guys' religion being targeted here, do any of you have any input on this issue? Have any of you hade to "moderate" your display of your religion in the public eye?

 

[blackout]

Under the constitutional right to freedom of religion
no school should legally be able to have a dress code
that denies students religious expression.
(and certainly EQUAL rights to religious expression)

But then schools are generally not big fans of student's constitutional rights.:sarcastic
Then if you happen to be a satanist as well... heh.
the christian superstition & evangelization of our society
will relegate you to the dark hidden corner "where you belong".

I'm VERY curious to know what the "disturbing references to Satan" were,
on his shirt.
I hope you will post the wording on the shirt,
and or a picture of that particular shirt.

Thanks,
~V~

 

[lamplighter]

Probably an upside down pentagram and some skulls, the usual Slayer fair. Raining Blood, one of the most awesome metal songs ever IMHO by the way.

 

[3.14]

wel although there are a couple slightly disturbing slayer shirts if they try and trow it on religion sue them for everything they got

 

[themadhair]

If your description is accurate it sounds like straight up religious discrimination.

 

[Bitterfly]

Hey everybody. I have this crazy story to tell you. You might want to keep an eye on the news media over the next month or so. Why? Because there might be a lawsuit filed against a few teachers at my old high school. It's regarding Satanism in public schools. One of my closest friends, who is a senior in high school, was forced to cover his Slayer concert shirt because it "made very disturbing references to Satan."
The reason why this is so controversial is because whilst this is deemed "inappropriate dress" by the school's dress code because of "religious reference," the school has no problem with allowing students to wear cross necklaces and those annoying "WWJD (What would Jesus do?)" shirts. Also worth noting, the school's library has only one form of holy text in it's collection. You guessed it; a Bible. He and his family (who are mostly Satanists and atheists) are going directly to the school board to try and rectify the situation. If no such rectification is made, however, they have told me that this thing could easily wind up in court. So, since this is your guys' religion being targeted here, do any of you have any input on this issue? Have any of you hade to "moderate" your display of your religion in the public eye?

I don't even tell most of my family of my religious affiliation.

I have an aunt who is Christian and is quite odd in that she will sometimes call everyone in our family to check up on us after receiving, she believes, a premonition that something bad might have happened to us based on the holy spirit. Despite this, I love her very much and would not like to trouble her with my religious preference. Her kindness, compassion, and the pleasure I get from talking with her far outweighs the minor inconvenience of not being able to wear my beliefs on my sleeve.

Even after explaining Satanism to her, she would not be comfortable because she has a very different view of human nature, the definition of that dreaded S-word, and reality. I regard people in general in the same way.

Satanism is not intended to be accepted by the general public. The main purpose of the religion is to distance oneself from the harmful effects of being part of a modern large, impersonal super-tribal society while still being able to enjoy the benefits. And isn't it more fun to be part of something mysterious, something others might think of as 'naughty'?

If your friend and his family wants to spend time, effort, money, and energy fighting a losing battle just to prove a pointless point then they are welcome to. Like most mature people I have better things to give a damn about. I'm all for fighting for fair treatment, but I find the idea of "fairness" to be silly, especially if you are the member of an intentionally misunderstood minority religion. Why bother?

On a side note, perhaps your friend's parents would do better to buy your friend decent clothes and not trashy metal band shirts.

And on a second aside, I pose a question to you: why do you consider cross pendants and WWJD bracelets annoying? How does it bother you what they wear? I view this as the same kind of mindless herd-thought that Christians are rightfully resented for.

 

[onegothmama]

I think that if your friends shirts aren't allowed, then the cross pendants and WWJD bracelets shouldn't be allowed either, and vise versa (if they will allow shirts such as your friends in the future, I have no real qualms with any christian regalia). I went to high school in Arizona. They watched me a little closer because of my appearance and the random 666 and stuff that appeared across my notebooks, or penned on my body, but I was never told that any of that was not okay. It sounds like religious discrimination to me also.