Report from Iowa: “I said, ‘Ah, you’re kidding, right?'”

As the Des Moines Register reports, an Iowa high school teacher refused to let a student build a Wiccan altar in shop class.

Why?

“This is not a beef that I have with the district. It’s not me against them,” said Halferty, who has been an educator for much of the past 20 years. “But this kid was practicing his religion during class time, and I don’t agree.” Halferty said he previously told another student he could not build a cross in shop class because he believes in the separation of church and state. “I don’t want any religious symbols in the shop,” he said. His viewpoint: “We as Christians don’t get to have our say during school time, so why should he?”

Best quote from the article?

He said he had no beef with the student or his project – until the student told him he was a practicing witch.

“I said, ‘Ah, you’re kidding, right?'”

(Read more about what Wiccans believe and how they worship.)

What should the shop teacher have done? If he lets one student work on a religious project, where would it stop? Is it possible to protect the exercise of religious freedom without mixing religion with public education?