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Rebecca Banned From Wearing Pentacle because of Christian Belief

2002-AUG-26: TX:

School suspends student for wearing a pentacle: Waxahachie High School, in Waxahachie, TX, suspended Rebecca Moreno, 15, from school because she refused to remove her pentacle http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_pent.htm , which is banned by the school district's dress code. She said: "It's called a pentacle. It holds a lot for me, and I think it protects me....We just want the religious freedom that everybody else has." She and the rest of her family practices the Wiccan religion http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm. Her mother, Laura Moreno, said: "It's a multi-dietied religion that's Earth based and worships the earth. To us, this is what a cross is to a Christian, what a Star of David is to an individual who is Jewish. It's very personal to us." Bryan Lankford, Interfaith Director for the Betwixt & Between Community Center, the Covenant of the Goddess (a Neo-Pagan tradition), and Rick Lannoye of the ACLU have become involved. Waxahachie Independent School District's Candace Ahlfinger said, "When we disrupt the educational progress of other students by wearing disruptive clothing, disruptive jewelry, disruptive hairstyles, whatever is disruptive, we are not only hurting one student, we are hurting all."

During the week of SEP-1, school officials allowed Rebecca to return to school while wearing the pentacle as long as it was hidden inside her clothing. They said that they had not banned the pentacle on religious grounds, but because Christians had associated the Wiccan symbol with animal sacrifice and Satan worship.

On 2001-SEP-11, as the U.S. and much of the free world was recalling the religiously-motivated terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, the Waxahachie public school abandoned its religiously-motivated intolerance and decided that Rebecca Moreno can wear her pentacle necklace in full view of her fellow students. School Superintendent Bobby Parker wrote a letter to the Moreno family which said, in part: "While the Wiccan faith may not be the majority religion in our community, our board policies protect all faiths." He also removed Rebecca's past suspensions and will recommend that the school board modify its dress code so that it does not restrict religious expression or free speech. However, Parker said that she will only be allowed to wear her necklace "so long as it does not cause a disruption in the educational environment." Thus, Rebecca's freedom of religious expression will depend upon her fellow students' reaction to her pentacle.