Christian Attends Girlfriend’s Prom; Gets Suspended

May 11, 2009 By 30 Comments

I mentioned a few days ago that 17-year-old Tyler Frost would be suspended if he attended his girlfriend’s high school prom… because Frost attends a fundamentalist Christian school that forbids dancing.

Turns out he went to the dance, anyway. And the school has suspended him.

Frost didn’t go to school Monday. Instead, he and his girlfriend are heading to New York for a Tuesday morning TV interview.

The teen says he’s now getting Facebook and e-mail messages from around the world.

The principal of Heritage Christian School has issued a statement in response. He thinks everyone will understand the situation if only he explains what the Bible says…

When the school committee, many years before I became the principal, set up the policy regarding dancing, I am confident that they had the principle of fleeing lustful situations in mind. The question as I see it is, should a Christian place themselves at an event where young ladies will have low cut dresses and be dancing in them? Isn’t it contrary to the example of Joseph and the verses that I stated?

…

Jesus did not avoid trouble. He made statements such as, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). His statements didn’t make Him popular with the world. Can we expect anything else?

First of all, we’re playing the Bible quoting game?

Fine. I’ll play. Here’s Ecclesiastes 3:1-4:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Secondly, the principal’s problem is with low cut dresses?

Here are some links to pics at Christian Purity Balls. I don’t see how these girls’ dresses are any different from what you would see at a Prom.

If anything, girls wear more at Prom, not less.

Good for Tyler for going to the dance. I hope he and his girlfriend had a great time.

Of course, it’s a private school and they can set whatever rules they want. It just doesn’t make sense to me that they would cling to pointless ones.

(Bible quotation via The J-Walk Blog)

Filed Under: Education, General 30 Comments
  • beckster

    Those harlots and their perky teenage breasts tempting good christian men into a life of sin!

  • Jasen777

    David danced quite provocatively in public, enough so that his wife complained. God responded by making her barren – which was considered about the worse thing to do to a woman. I can only conclude that God is pro dirty dancing. (2 Samuel 6)

  • medussa

    Go, Tyler, that was a courageous thing to do. And hopefully, this will help him re-evaluate the severe limitations of the religion his parents pushed on him.
    May he continue to grow up to think for himself.

  • Larry Huffman

    Well…yes…as a private school they can have any rules they like. So if they do not want to hold dances, then they should not. But that is not what this is about.

    This is a case where a student of a school is being suspended and his priveledge to walk at graduation being denied (after his parents spent all that money on a private education with that being the end goal) because of what the student did in his off-school time. he is being punished for something he did on his own free time…that was not illegal or even immoral by most standards.

    If I were this students father I would hire me a good lawyer…I am betting there are some pro-bono offers to be had for this one…and take on the school and principle. If they do not recant and let him walk at graduation, I would also sue for all of my tuition money back.

  • http://noadi.blogspot.com Noadi

    One of the news reports I read said that the boy’s parents are considering legal action. I wish them luck.

  • Richard Wade

    The principal, Tim England seems to prefer falling back on authority that precedes him, apparently thinking it mitigates his responsibility for his decisions:

    When the school committee, many years before I became the principal, set up the policy regarding dancing, I am confident that they had the principle of fleeing lustful situations in mind.

    He also falls back on the preceding authority of the Bible for the same reason. He seems to take the stance,
    “Hey it’s not my fault, I’m just following the policies of the long-ago school committee, and the even-longer-ago anonymous authors of bronze age papyruses. I can’t make decisions about things like this on my own.”

    A great lesson for the students.

    We welcome you, Tyler Frost, to the ranks of responsible adults who think for themselves.

  • http://superstitionfree.blogspot.com Robert Madewell

    Well, the kid did go to the prom with his sweetie. For that, he’ll be suspended from school and he’ll receive an incomplete for the remainder of the semester. That christian principal couldn’t see past his self-righteous, legalistic, intolerant, narrow minded expectations as to what a christian should be long enough to let a 17 year old boy be a teen-ager for just a few hours.

    Here’s a choice quote from Principal England.

    Should a Christian place themselves at an event where young ladies will have low cut dresses and be dancing in them? Isn’t it contrary to the example of Joseph and the (Bible) verses I have stated?

    No England, Joseph in the Bible refused the advances of a married woman. Frost just wanted to take his girlfriend to a once in a lifetime event. I don’t think those are the same things at all.

    Well, I’ll say it again. Atheists don’t need to prosyletize. Humorless, zero-tolerant, pompous ministers like England do it for us. So, Frost. If your tired of needless restrictive taboos, we’ll take you in. Welcome to the reasonable, superstition-free life!

  • http://www.baconeatingatheistjew.blogspot.com/ The Atheist Jew

    Maybe Tyler will figure out the world is more than 6000 years old thanks to this.

  • Me

    It always astonishes me how much religion focuses on avoiding “potentially arousing” situations.

    Rather than live life around women (or guys, I guess, if you’re a lass/gay/whatever) who may look totally smokin’ hot and choose to wear clothes that make them look even hotter, like the rest of us do, they hide away from that.

    Why? It’s basically because they’re scared of lust. Rather than just dealing with it like most regular people do (i.e. learning to look at attractive people without foaming at the mouth), they’re scared that they can’t. They’re scared they’ll get a boner if they see a woman’s clevage. In some middle eastern countries, they’re scared they’ll get a boner if they see a woman’s skin.

    Considering the amount of time they spend talking about self control and resisting temptation, they don’t do a lot of it. They go out of their way to force their will on others to ensure they don’t have to face temptation or practice self control in the first place.

    Absolutely pathetic.

  • Michael Nietzsche

    This kid needs to tell his Principal to kiss his “Big Black Ass”! For geebus!

  • http://cycleninja.blogspot.com Paul Lundgren

    I think Christian purity balls are an excuse for the fathers to get to first base with their daughters, just so they can try to avoid scoring the way they really want.

  • aclin

    He joined the school. the school didn’t join him.

  • Jesse

    Thats absurd

  • medussa

    Joining the school was his parents’ choice, not his. Signing the social “contract” to not attend dances was a decision forced on him when he first entered the school, I believe they said when he was in 3rd grade.
    To hold him to that “contract” is absurd (nice choice of words, Jesse), to hold him responsible for attending the school is equally absurd.

    And Paul: Those Purity Balls are just plain creepy. I agree with you completely.

  • Gabriel

    He is very concerned with the low cut dresses. Probably the kind of teacher who was always trying to look down his female students shirts. Trying to catch some under age boobie action. I remember my preacher telling me that the wine mentioned in the bible was non-alcoholic and I remember thinking he was an idiot. He was also the superindindent of my school.

  • Eskomo

    Is someone following all of the other students in their off time to ensure they are also pure? If not, wouldn’t this be discriminatory?

  • Keith

    I’m a bit disturbed that this has become such a big story and the kid is getting so much publicity out of it. The only people who are to blame are his parents for sending him to such an oppressive school. Is it really news to anyone that an oppressive religion does this? It’s their own damn fault for submitting to the rules in the first place. He knew this was going to happen and he chose to violate their rules. Hopefully the whole family will wisen up and leave this church.

    If they try to take this court I hope they get tossed out. As I recall there’s been other cases where schools punished students for behavior outside of normal school functions and it’s been upheld. And in this case it’s a private school, and the only time the government should get involved is if the education is suffering.

    Frankly if the courts get involved that will give the religious right all sorts of reasons to get up in arms about the government violating their rights. If the court can tell this church school they have to give up their ability to oppress the members of their church, what happens when a gay couple sues to be married in a church? That’s what the churches will fear. Is there any reason to provide ammo for this argument?

  • Richard Wade

    Eskomo raises an important point. The God Gestapo was watching Tyler Frost because he was honest about his intended action. Are they watching everybody else?

    What about all the other students? Are they really all stopping at the local soda shop for a malted milk on their way to the library to check out C.S. Lewis and then straight home for homework, prayer, helping Mom with dinner, saying grace, eating beef stew with potatoes, helping Mom with the dishes, then an evening of watching Oral Roberts on TV (with prayer) or listening to Mantovanni or Lawrence Welk, then one more prayer and bed before nine thirty?

    Or are they secretly smoking a joint on the drive to the town 20 miles down the road so nobody will recognize them at the video game parlor where they play evil acid rock, trying but failing once again to impress the deliciously low local tarts, then home late for a look at internet porn, doing the minimum of homework to just barely pass while listening to more evil heavy metal rock with earphones, telling Mom and Dad it’s a recording of C.S. Lewis, and finally falling asleep around 1:15 A.M. dreaming of how to pull some hilarious prank on that clueless dork Principal England?

  • AxeGrrl

    I’d advise Tyler to crash the prom (accompanied by a DJ and some friends) and re-enact THIS scene:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMB8vv18ehE

    come on Tyler….be the Kevin Bacon to your principal’s John Lithgow!

  • gribblethemunchkin

    This is so laughably comical that you have to wonder whether it could be a Poe, but of course its real. A kid is threatened with not graduating because he attended a high school dance.

    You have to imagine the principal in this as the archetypal repressed principal from the worst kind of hollywood teen movie.

    Honestly, the guys worried about one of his students being led astray by girls in prom gowns. I’d love to monitor this principals pulse while watching MTV, i’m sure he’d pop an artery.

    Good on Frost for calling the principal on this silliness.

    And Richard Wade hits it right on the head. Does the principal really understand the teenagers in his care? From what i recall of my teen years, well, attending prom would be the most virtuous of passtimes.

  • Catherine

    I went to a multi-demoniational evangelical school but because there were some demoninations who didn’t believe in dancing, we weren’t allowed to have “proms”. We had “banquets” (pretty much a prom with no music or dancing) and because our school had problems with dresses that would cause boys to lust, all of our dresses had to be approved prior to the event. Having a 50 some female librarian pulling at your dress straps to make sure they don’t show too much is a beyond creepy experience.

    Most of us went to public school proms with friends or people we were dating so that we could actually have fun. They didn’t crack down on going to outside proms or even the racuous after parties that we would have which involved some sex and alcohol that would make the public school kids blush because we were so damn repressed.

  • bernerbits

    [Jesus'] statements didn’t make Him popular with the world.

    Uh, isn’t Christianity like the #1 religion in the world by membership? Unpopular my ass.

    I went to a multi-demoniational evangelical school but because there were some demoninations who didn’t believe in dancing, we weren’t allowed to have “proms”. We had “banquets” (pretty much a prom with no music or dancing)

    Yeah, that was my high school too.

    and because our school had problems with dresses that would cause boys to lust, all of our dresses had to be approved prior to the event.

    I don’t remember that part, but it’s entirely possible they didn’t tell us boys.

  • bernerbits

    A senior at my high school was caught smoking… off campus… after she turned 18… and was banned from walking. Got her diploma, but she couldn’t walk.

    Another girl (a few years before I enrolled) had a rumor going around that she was a lesbian (she wasn’t) and the school, to retain its image in the eyes of private donors, brought her up on stage at chapel, had a long prayer service for her, then quietly expelled her.

    This is pretty well-established behavior. These schools need to make an example of people so that students are aware there are consequences to pissing God off and tarnishing the schools’ unblemished images. I imagine if the schools didn’t do something there would be (wealthy) parents clamoring for peoples’ expulsion.

  • H

    aclin, Keith

    No matter what, there is always someone willing to defend the actions of the scum of the world.

    It’s one of the rules of the Internet I think.

  • absent sway

    The fear of the boobies is all too real. I was relieved to have small ones in high school–that’s how you stay under the radar of the lust-police.

  • Pingback: tyler frost gets suspended for dancing. « six words to change the world.

  • christi

    The question as I see it is, should a Christian place themselves at an event where young ladies will have low cut dresses and be dancing in them?

    Does this sound like fundamentalist Islam to any one else but me? Shall we ladies all wear Abayas to cover ourselves from head to toe so as not to tempt any men who cannot handle their natural (god-given) urges? Don’t you know we women ARE satan in disguise and men are innocent victims of our evil ways.

    Scary, scary stuff ladies and gentlemen…

  • http://www.banalleakage.com martymankins

    Axegrrl already beat me to the Footloose reference. It’s like Ren fighting the system with the same bible verse.

  • Keith

    H, people who allow themselves to be subjected to these rules have only themselves to blame. They give their oppressors power, this is a free country, they have no obligation to live by these rules, yet they choose to. Why pity them? Sure the kid was brought into it by his parents, but he’s no hero for doing this. They have their rules, and he and his parents have so far been perfectly willing to submit to them. It’s their own stupid fault for being so weak willed.

    Fact is, supporting this kid in his fight just goes to strengthen the religious fundamentalists stance that they are being attacked by atheists, liberals, the government, etc. and that those people are trying to squash their religion. As much as I hate conservative christians, this is first and foremost a free country, and so long as their religion doesn’t impose itself on those who choose not to practice it, they can do what they want. These idiots submitted to it, and now they see the stupidity of it.

  • SRS

    Makes me sick to my stomach to know people like this actually exist. What hell is wrong in this world? A boy can’t take a girl to a prom. Hey, at least it wasn’t another boy huh? I am pretty sure the school would shit bricks if that happened. And the boy would end up tortured into faux heterosexuality. Look, we cannot allow these people to thrive. They bring humanity down. I call for an Atheist Jihad on them. lol