The Future/Ominous Trends?
Two articles came to my attention that point to what may well be the future alternative spiritualities and religions will have to deal with in the years to come.
First from The Revealer comes the story from Ohio where The Columbus, Ohio Public Schools Board of Education has changed their policies regarding the role of religion in school.
Some of the changes?
# Students can pray during lunch, before and after school and during study halls, but can’t leave class to pray. Additionally, school administrators are not obliged to rearrange classes to meet scheduled prayer times.
# The district will try to offer alternative entrees at lunch, so students who cannot eat pork, for example, will have other options. However, there will be no special dietary kitchens to accommodate the rules of specific religions.
# Parents may take their children out of school to observe religious holidays, and CPS will try not to schedule test days, parent-teacher visits and field trips on recognized holidays. Students will not be penalized for using “release time” for such holidays.
# School-led religious clubs can meet on school grounds during noninstructional time, but staff members may not participate. However, the groups must have a faculty adviser, as other school groups do.
# Religious groups may use school facilities after hours, as long as space is available.
# Students may distribute religious materials to other students on a limited basis and to the same extent they are allowed to distribute other types of materials.
So how soon do you think a court challenge will happen once a modern Pagan tries to take advantage of these new “rights”? I wonder if some enterprising Pagan student of the Discordian faith will start evangelizing under the new freedom provided!
The next piece is a bit darker and is pointed out by Wren’s Nest. The Intelligencer in West Virginia reports on cult education for police officers.
“There’s actually been a new rise in cult activities,” she noted. “We’re calling them domestic terrorism. They’re doing harmful things to people in the U.S. and in other countries. We’re talking about historical accounts of cults, witchcraft, vampires and the gothic movement.”
So will we be branded “domestic terrorists” for the worship of our gods? Remember, minority faiths can take nothing for granted, and the years to come will most certainly be challenging ones for us.
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