High School not allowing expression of self, or religion

Central HighSchool in Springfield Missouri has officialy decided that students are not allowed to do any of the following.

1) Cary items or books that have refrence to another religion. Only christianity is allowed


2) Tell anyone of their sexual preferences. You're not allowed to be homosexual, or bisexual. You're only allowed to be straight.
Students can not wear anything showing a rainbow (gay pride symbol)

Their argument- "Christianity is the main religion of Missouri, therefore you can't wear or be anything openly, unless it's a Christian. Being homosexual goes against the bible."

Anyone else think this is crazy?

I can't wait to see how long it takes for this to be brought up in a court.

Do you have a source for this piece of news?

This stuff is an example of ultra conservative evangelical Christian thinking and is wrong. I am conservative, but more moderate... Stupid people doing stupid things.

I go to central. My friend was sent to the office and was told to take off all of his gay pride items, He was told to change his shirt, take out his earing and his tongue ring. Later the same day, a different friend of mine was sent down and told to take off her necklace (hindu symbol on it) because one of the teachers recognized it as another religion other than christian. And I was told I could not cary around my backpack because someone drew a pentagram on it with a marker.

The all things besides Christian shit is plain wrong. It should be all or nothing. Jewelry and clothing are different animals. Some schools has a certain type of dress code and that is just how it is. When I went to middle school, no hats were allowed.

I'm allowed to wear my eyebrow ring, Brandon, he's not. Because his eyebrow ring is a rainbow. They have a handbook of dress code guidelines. And most of these aren't even followed. And when they're not followed no one acts on it. You wont get in trouble for breaking them
from the handbook...
No hats, no chains for your wallet, no short skirts above the knees, no spagetti strap tank tops, no holes above the knee in pants, ID badge must be worn at all times, below the chest and above the waist.

in here it says nothing about jewlry or certain shirts, except if it's offencive or has vulgar language.

is this legal (US constitution, universal declaration of human rights maybe )
This looks like a discrimination by religion.
In France it is illegal to wear ANY religios signs at school. This is of course bullshitty, but can be accepted. atleast more than THAT.
That also looks like a cut into the right to free speach.
Yes, just wait for this to come up in court.

The pentagram is a symbol of the Earthly Realm in which we presently find ourselves, and of the all-important relationship of that realm to the higher order of reality which is God. The pentagram symbolizes the presence of The Most High within, and as the source of, all of creation. It is sometimes taken to symbolize that part of creation which is Man. In this interpretation, the arrows are thought of as representing the five senses that are our windows upon the world we live in. Spirit---or consciousness---is then placed at the center. This, too, is powerful symbolism, but it is more descriptive of our nature within the Earthly Realm than it is a statement of our relationship with God.
As with all symbols---sacred and otherwise---the pentagram has at times been used in a fashion that is not a true reflection of what it really means. (The misappropriation of the swastika is another fine example of such profanation. Similarly, the sign of the cross has been misused by various groups who seem to have altogether missed what it was that Jesus was really saying.)…It is just possible that it is being displayed as an expression of belief in and devotion to the One who made us all. - http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/2024/pntagrm.htm

The swastika is a symbol that represents good luck and (for some eastern mysticism) a symbol of energy and balance. It can be interpreted, as it was on a pre-World War II postcard, to be a combination of four 'L's' which stand for Luck, Light, Love and Life. "Evidence of use of the symbol has been found in ancient Rome & Greece. It can also be found on Buddhist idols & on Chinese coins dated 315 B.C. It is claimed that the Mound Builders and Cliff Dwellers of Mexico, Central America consider the symbol "a charm to drive away evil and bring good luck, long life and prosperity to the possessor." - http://www.whiterabbitcult.com/NWO/Swastika.html

The cross was originally a Pagan symbol. The Christians use it as a symbol of Jesus' sacrifice for sin because the same symbol was used as an execution method (crucifixion, where in Latin terms crux means "cross"). Some may not like this symbol because of it's originality or how it was used, but many Christians seem to flaunt it around thinking it symbolizes Christianity or God. - http://www.wcg.org/lit/jesus/cross.htm

For the swastika, it was used by the Nazi party and well... the meaning has changed over the years. First thing that comes to my mind of death and hate when I see a swastika. That also may be because I am Jewish, but naa.

In was under the impression that the Hakenkreuz (German: hook cross, term for the "swastika" as used by the Nazi) was comprised of two "S", standing for Sieg (victory).
This is probably connected, as victory and luck are connected in some way. When we learned about it in Junior school, my teacher said - Wanting victory is not bad, but the way Hitler went about it was. - that is what made the symbol what it is now, indeed.

I was just stating what the symbols were supposed to mean before they were taken into a completely different context.
In my Human Sexuality course we learned about denotations (the specified definition of a word) vs. connotations (words that can mean different things in a different context and may not be defined in that way; reading between the lines, if you will). Like Fag, Gay, bad, fat/phat...etc.
Basically I find it interesting that as time goes by, we like to turn something positive into something negitive...and vice versa.

The pre-WWII swastika is not the same as the Nazi version. Although it does vary among the different cultures that have used it, the majority of swastikas spin clockwise, forming the 4-L's that Sam mentioned. The Nazi swastika spins counter-clockwise, and usually rotated 45 degrees, forming the double-S Zombie mentioned. Although the Nazi hooked cross does get its roots from the original mystical swastika, there is very little in common when it comes to meaning or intent of the symbol. But, the fact that the image has been forever tainted by Hitler, it's difficult to separate them, and as Aron stated, it's meaning has changed for the majority of the western world, regardless of the original intent.

Said By free-zombie

is this legal (US constitution, universal declaration of human rights maybe )
This looks like a discrimination by religion.

Strictly speaking, no, but the problem is that until you become a U.S. Citizen (at age 18), technically, the Bill of Rights and all of the other amendments don't actually apply to you. That's why there is frequently arguements over the income tax system applying to people between ages 15-17 when they have temp or summer jobs.

that still leaves the universal declaration of human rights... let's see... (article 2)

Quote

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

I would say being a US citizen is clearly a certain status, which thus cannot be distincted by. I do not know with whom who could argue this and how this declaration is implemented in US juristication...

The parents NEED to complain to the school board. School prepares children to become grown ups. In there grown up world, there are Hindus, Christians, Jews, etc, people are homosexual and heterosexual, some aren't very sexual at all. Bringing kids up in a sheltered environment which only exposes them to certain perspectives is a great way to foster the next generation of Communists, Nazis, Fascists, etc, it is not the way to ensure that democracy survives in this country. This is what things are coming to now that the fundaMENTALists feel that they are in the majority because the Republican party actually listens to their crap and unbelievably enough do whatever the hell these bigoted Judases want! (I use the term for Christians who betray their own faith in much the same way Al Quida does)

Stop blaming the Republicans for everything wrong with the country.

He isn't. But, in this instance, they are surely the ones to blame.

I never said such a thing. Both parties are more than happy to strip us of our rights to please the fundamentalists, the democrats are trying to do everything they can to hamper freedom of expression, and are attempting this at the cost of millions in court fees. The republicans (not all of the party, mind you) are working hard to ensure that Christianity becomes the official religion of the us, gay marriage is outlawed, etc.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm pleasantly surprised to see party members go against Bush when he's saying/doing something retarded. The party has some life in it yet, now if only the democrats can show me they want to stay alive...

Unless it's a Christian school they shouldn't be doing this stuff. I don't wear eyebrow rings, pentagrams, or gay pride symbols, but I'm not averse to anyone else wearing them.

The swastika however, is a whole different thing. Whatever it might have meant in the past, in these times the swastika is primarily a nazi symbol and promotes racism.