National Post

A Toronto District School Board memo sent to principals and teachers this week say that teachers should forgo traditional classroom Halloween celebrations because they are disrespectful of Wiccans and may cause some children to feel excluded .”

“Halloween is a religious day of significance for Wiccans and therefore should be treated respectfully.”

Uh oh, witches have been added to the list of things we can’t make fun of? Does that mean “Bewitched” goes bye-bye? How about “I Dream of Jeanie” (or are genies not a protected class?). Not knowing much about Wiccans, I looked them up in Wikipedia and learned:

“Wiccans are still the object of stigma in America. They are often fired from jobs or lose custody of their children due to bias.”

They’re probably right. If one mentions during a custody battle that they are a High Priestesses, belong to a coven, and cast spells, it’s pretty likely that they’ll lose that round (unless of course your ex- is a warlock) and I’m not so sure this is a bad thing. And do we really have to tip-toe around the do-not-offend-witches at Halloween thing? Does anyone really take Halloween celebrations seriously?

But it is true that discrimination exists. A California high-school Wiccan was recently suspended for wearing lipstick and makeup as part of his Wiccan expression.

“If I can’t wear makeup, then the girls or the staff can’t wear makeup either,” 16-year-old James Herndon told the San Bernadino Sun, believing his constitutional right to free expression is being violated. He says the cosmetics help him express his neopagan religious beliefs in the supernatural, which he shares with his mother, Valerie Wallace, a Wiccan priestess.

“After my divorce from his father, he became very depressed, and wearing the makeup makes him feel good,” Wallace said.

Not surprisingly, the American Civil Liberties Union is on the case.

Not to offend Independent Sources Wiccan readers, but hearing Herdon’s story and looking at his picture makes me wonder if Wiccan bias in custody battles is such a bad thing.

hat tips: Overlawyered and Peaktalk

technorati: wiccan witch

trackbacked: Mudvile

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005 at 12:46 am by Insider and is filed under Politically Correct ... and stupid. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.