So, is this another Harry Potter complaint? Or maybe a new slant on
Spongebob Squarepants? Or maybe someone's antenna is a bit too triangle
to

be <ahem> straight? No, it's a real child of a Witch who got slapped down
because it's not Christianity being discussed, it's Wicca. (Newspapers
that contain Christian perspectives are all fully welcome, of course, in
schools around the world.)

You know what made me the most annoyed about this? The suggestion that
children needed to be protected from "harm" as they explore Wicca.

All this as Christians demand they're persecuted in America.

-=-

Family group warns Midland officials: school newspaper's
promotion of witchcraft may expose children to harm

http://afamichigan.org/index.php?p=29

MIDLAND, Mich. - A statewide family values group Tuesday praised
Midland Central Middle School Principal Paula Geller for pledging to
ensure that the middle school's student newspaper will not publish
articles in the future encouraging its 11- to 13-year old readers to
consider experimenting with witchcraft.

Gary Glenn, Midland, president of the American Family Association of
Michigan, contacted school officials in response to the Winter 2005
issue of the middle school's Cavalier Chronicle, which included an
article entitled "Good Witch or Bad Witch?" in which an 8th grade
member of the student newspaper staff wrote that "most people believe
that witches don't exist, and I am here to prove them wrong."

"My family is a normal family, except that my aunt is a Wiccan
witch," the Central Middle School 8th grader wrote. "...I have
decided to experiment with this religion and see if this is the way for
me. I also think that some of the kids in school would like some of the
things that Wiccans do, like: We gather in meetings every week and
talk, gossip, and learn about the Wiccan way. We cast spells and
potions. ...So, if you are interested, you can look up some books...and
learn all you want about Wiccans."

Glenn, in a statement delivered by e-mail Tuesday to Geller, Midland
Public Schools Supt. Dr. Gary J. Hughes, and members of the MPS board
of education, warned that public school officials must take care not to
allow the promotion of activities that may put expose children to harm
and put taxpayers at risk of legal liability for a tort of negligence.

"We appreciate Principal Geller's stand that using a middle school
newspaper to promote the practice of witchcraft to 11 year olds is
inappropriate and wrong, and her commitment to ensure it will not
happen again at Central," Glenn wrote school officials after
discussing the issue by phone with Geller.

"To protect all students from harm and protect school personnel and
local taxpayers from potential legal liability, we encourage the
Midland Board of Education to take similar steps district-wide to
ensure that witchcraft and other potentially harmful activities will
not be promoted at any public school in Midland," he wrote.

Glenn said Geller is right to avoid the possibility of future legal
liability for a "tort of negligence" that might result if (1) the
middle school's personnel, policies, or publications were viewed by
students as encouraging or endorsing the practice of witchcraft, and
(2) a student, relying on such an understanding, thereafter engaged in
such activity and suffered physical, mental, or emotional harm as a
result.

He also said the school newspaper's promotion of witchcraft
"violates the sincerely held religious convictions and values of many
Christian families and students who live in Midland." He urged school
officials to publish a retraction in the Central Middle School
newspaper apologizing to students and their parents and clarifying that
the school does not condone or encourage teens and pre-teens to
experiment with witchcraft.

Glenn cited two cases in recent months - one in Muskegon and the
other in neighboring Ohio - in which the practice of witchcraft and
Wicca was a motivating factor in criminal cases in which children were
sexually molested and murdered, respectively.

The Muskegon Chronicle reported December 3rd: "A female teacher
accused of sexually assaulting a former student, a 14-year-old girl,
had developed such a trusting relationship that the two 'married'
in a pagan ritual, state police said Thursday. 'They also
participated in witchcraft together,' Detective Sgt. Dianne Oppenheim
said. ...(The lesbian teacher) lives in the Heritage Hill neighborhood
with another woman and their adopted son."

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1102086913241030..xml

The Grand Rapids Press reported December 4th that "the girl and her
teacher lit candles, 'did some chants' and exchanged vows among the
trees, (State Police Sgt. Diane) Oppenheim said. There were no priests
or witnesses. 'They followed the ritual,' which also included
exchanging a braided piece of cloth, she said. During a week in the
woods, after the vows, the teacher and the girl had the first of five
sexual encounters, police said. ...(The teacher) said she gave the girl
a book on witchcraft, 'because she knew she was interested in it,'
Oppenheim said."

http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1102158925286650.xml

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported February 26th regarding the murder
of a 13-month old baby girl by her mother's boyfriend, writing that
according to trial testimony, the woman and her boyfriend "were
raising (the now deceased infant) as a Wiccan. ...Wicca is a
nature-based earth spirituality that includes rituals and spells.
...(The boyfriend) discussed rituals and puncturing (the baby's)
skin. An eight-inch tattoo needle found under (her) playpen was used to
make the inch-deep punctures, according to testimony."

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/summit/1109414152261902..xml

The Akron Beacon Journal reported March 1st that what happened to the
baby "has been called torturous, brutal and bizarre. ...She suffered
bruising from head to toe, a severed liver, multiple broken ribs, a
fractured ankle and a fatal blow that separated her skull from her neck
and killed her instantly. In addition, minutes to hours before her
death, Jacqueline's feet and cheek were punctured more than 40 times
with a tattoo needle, in what prosecutors say was an initiation ritual
of sorts in a neopagan religion. ...(The baby's mother and the
mother's boyfriend) told investigators they were followers of the
Wicca religion."

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/11026388.htm

Glenn also expressed concern that encouraging middle school children to
attend local coven meetings to experiment with witchcraft might also
expose them to adults who engage in homosexual activity and encourage
children to do so, as was true in the Muskegon case.

"Wicca generally accepts all sexual orientations as normal and
natural: heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual," according to the web
site ReligiousTolerance.org.

That opens the door to further health risks to children, Glenn said,
citing a Harvard Medical School study which found that youth who engage
in homosexual behavior "report disproportionate risk for a variety of
health risk and problem behaviors...engag(ing) in twice the number of
risk behaviors. ...(including) increased...use of cocaine...using
tobacco, marijuana, and cocaine before 13 years of age...sexual
intercourse before 13 years of age, sexual intercourse with four or
more partners...and sexual contact against one's will." Other
medical research associates such behavior with a dramatically higher
incidence of mental illness, eating disorders, AIDS and other
life-threatening diseases, and premature death by up to 20 years, Glenn
said.

http://ije.oupjournals.org/

Glenn noted that according to a web site called WitchVox.com, there are
two witch covens located in Midland:

The Green Creek Sanctuary Circle of Moonlight

http://www.witchvox.com/vn/vn_detail/dt_gr.html?a=usmi&id=22968

The Spiral Path

http://www.witchvox.com/vn/vn_detail/dt_gr.html?a=usmi&id=20921

A web site called MagicWicca.com reports that new recruits to witch
covens go through an initiation ceremony in which they are blindfolded
and bound, have all clothing cut away with a sword, are bathed and
kissed by all coven members on the feet, knees, stomach, breasts, and
lips, are marked with an "X" on the forehead, breasts, and
genitals, and are then carried around in a circle three times by other
coven members "laughing and shrieking" until the recruit is placed
on the ground before the altar.

http://www.magicwicca.com/wicca/coven.html

---
http://www.ElmerFudd.US/ http://www.notserver.com/
Scientology crooks: http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/otiii-gif.html
Scientology murder: http://PerkinsTragedy.org
Improving the herd: http://www.rightard.org/

Glenn cited two cases in recent months - one in Muskegon and the
other in neighboring Ohio - in which the practice of witchcraft and
Wicca was a motivating factor in criminal cases in which children were
sexually molested and murdered, respectively.

Family group warns Midland officials: school newspaper's promotion of
witchcraft may expose children to harm

So, is this another Harry Potter complaint? Or maybe a new slant on
Spongebob Squarepants? Or maybe someone's antenna is a bit too triangle
to

be <ahem> straight? No, it's a real child of a Witch who got slapped down
because it's not Christianity being discussed, it's Wicca. (Newspapers
that contain Christian perspectives are all fully welcome, of course, in
schools around the world.)