 Lincoln Park High School's Principal Banned Pentagrams:Principal testifies on satanic preventionMarch 3, 1999 BY TINA LAM am@freepress.com Lincoln Park High School's principal banned pentagrams, witches and pagans from the school last fall after several incidents involving satanic cults, he said in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday, but he wasn't aware that he was bumping into a religious issue involving witches. Principal Thomas Kolka testified in a daylong hearing stemming from a student's lawsuit. She has asked U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen to force the school to let her wear a pentagram. Crystal Seifferly, 17, said she is a Wiccan, a witch who practices a pagan religion, and that the pentagram is a religious symbol that she should be allowed to wear at school despite the ban. The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on her behalf. Rosen said he will decide the issue in a few weeks, but Seifferly's lawyer said the two sides will meet today to try to settle the case. Kolka testified that he was trying to put a stop to a satanic cult at the school when he issued the ban. The mother of a 15-year-old student testified that her daughter had joined a satanic group and become involved in forced ritual sex, drinking blood, self-mutilation and devil worship. The mother, whose name was withheld by the judge to protect the identity of her daughter, said she had found a stack of letters and literature describing the activities after her daughter ran away from home. Many of the documents, which were introduced as exhibits, had five-pointed stars -- pentagrams -- on them, she said. The mother said she took the satanic materials to the high school last fall and asked school officials to take action. "I was very concerned about what my daughter got into when she hit that high school," the mother testified. "I wanted somebody to put a stop to this pagan and witch stuff." Kolka said another student had been expelled for carrying a satanic bible that had a pentagram on the cover. He said a school investigation found the names of 20 to 30 students in letters, notes and literature involving the satanic group. Kolka said he banned witches, pagans, pentagrams and a list of other items to try to suppress cults and white power groups that were also surfacing. "I was trying to make the school safe," he said. But Kolka acknowledged under questioning from Seifferly's lawyer, Wayne State University law professor Robert Sedlar, that Seifferly is a good student, has never been a discipline problem, and wears a pentagram that is different from that on the cover of the satanic bible. School officials agreed before the hearing that wicca is a legitimate religion and that Seifferly sincerely believes in it. She testified Tuesday that the points of the pentagram symbolize earth, air, fire, water and the spirit. She wore in court a pair of pentagram earrings surrounded by circles, which symbolize that life is a cycle of birth and death. Sedlar asked how Seifferly's wearing of a pentagram contributed to an unsafe school. He said the school should find a way to accommodate her religion just as it would someone wearing a Christian cross or Jewish Star of David. Edward Ortiz of the Midwest Witches Anti-Discrimination League in Lansing said the case is an important one for witches and pagans' religious freedom. "We understand the need to limit cults and gangs, but we don't see ourselves as part of those," he said after the hearing. "We are a benevolent religion."
Today I came home for lunch and Wren said, "You have GOT to see this..." She hit the play button on the VCR revealing this mornings 700 Club broadcast... Pat Robertson's comments about the Lincoln High issue were surprisingly open minded and spoke about the right to practice the religion of YOUR choice... Although he continues to paint Witches, Wiccans and Pagans (incorrectly) as Satanists and Devil worshipers, he did, with his own folksy style, celebrate Crystal Seifferly's right to wear her Pentacle. Pat's unedited response is as follows: "You know, I never thought you'd see the day that I would say that people have the right to wear a pentagram." "I'm totally against Satanism, I'm totally against devil worship and I'm totally against the occult, but like it or not, folks...If we can wear crosses and the Jewish students can wear menorahs or the Star of David or what have you, then these people have to be allowed to wear their pentagram." "I just believe the best test of truth is in the marketplace. And the ACLU might have itself-somebody else file an amicus brief on this one." "Yeah, I know it's terrible to think about and I commend the people in Michigan for trying to cut down on gang violence, but at the same time, as long as this woman -that young girl- isn't trying to stir up violence and call for the human sacrifice or other gory stuff, then she has the right to wear the symbol of what she believes in whether we agree with it or not." I was quite surprised to hear this... He did say it and did mean it. With the influence of the 700 Club on the Christian community, this statement will have far reaching impact. It was indeed a step forward in maintaining ones right to practice the religion of YOUR choice. Thanks Pat! Oneofthesheep at Witchvox.com |
Sacred Celtic Order of Balance Church |
Pat Robertson's Surprising Statement about the Lincoln High Issue!
from The 700 Club's broadcast of Feb. 10th, 1999