NC: A "religious" nose-ring?
Color me skeptical about this. If she were a New Guinea tribesman I might believe it
"A soft-spoken 14-year-old's nose piercing has landed her a suspension from school and forced her into the middle of a fight over her First Amendment right to exercise her religion.
Ariana Iacono says she just wants to be a normal teenager at Clayton High School, about 15 miles southeast of Raleigh. She has been suspended since last week because her nose ring violates the Johnston County school system's dress code.
"I think it's kind of stupid for them to kick me out of school for a nose piercing," she said. "It's in the First Amendment for me to have freedom of religion."
Iacono and her mother, Nikki, belong to the Church of Body Modification, a small group unfamiliar to rural North Carolina, but one with a clergy, a statement of beliefs and a formal process for accepting new members.
It's enough to draw the interest of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has contacted school officials with concerns that the rights of the Iaconos are being violated by the suspension.
The Iaconos say the school system is ignoring its own dress code policy, which allows exemptions on religious grounds. The effect, Nikki Iacono, 32, says, is that Johnston County school officials are setting themselves up as judges of what constitutes a "real" religion.
Source
The Scientologists reinvented themselves as a church for the legal advantages that gave and many others have tried the same caper.
7 comments:
Jewelry and nose rings are actually common in Hinduism, and East Indian culture. Although this sounds more like a hippy subsect, but even hippies, and even the smelly ones, should have the right to even develop their own religious dictates. They're probably less oppressive than the Scientologists (or at least those popularly portrayed).
Freedom, like pure, clean water is essential to our way of life. But lets not forget what too much uncontrolled water can do.
"Jewelry and nose rings are actually common in Hinduism, and East Indian culture"
yes, in that culture. They're however not religious symbols.
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I'm not in favour of any dress codes, anywhere.
But I've serious problems with (self)mutilation, which includes piercings and tattoos.
And this is an underage person, who should by law not be able to get a piercing set.
But that's another story, and one that should involve legal scrutiny of that family and the person(s) responsible for the piercing.
This is nothing more than a fringe group using the letter (or loopholes) of the law to justify their actions.
But Christians need to be careful about what laws they want stricken and what laws they want imposed, because those same laws can be and are used against them.
-sig
Another case of religion being used or abused as a cover for all manner of behavior and prejudices, even if they would normally go against other laws and regulations prevailing no matter even if racist or bigoted, because those persons concerned can play the religion-must-be-respected-so-you-must-respect-whatever-I-say-I-believe-or-do-in-the-name-of-my-religion card.
It's the same exact ploy used by Jamaicans arrested in southern FL. some years ago when caught with a "load" of marijuana. They claimed smoking it in public was part of their religion, (Rastafarian) and since they were here in the Nation of Fools, they were protected. They won the case and can now legally smoke all they want!
Secular law can and should mandate against, regardless of religion, body mutilation in any form prior to reaching adulthood . What you do after that is your problem but not before.
Leave children alone, what should apply to Catholic preists should apply to all people wanting to adorn their children. DON'T touch them. Leave their bodies intact until they can decide for themsleves REGARDLESS of the religion. ESPECIALLY in regard to female circumcision, tattoos, earrings and any other piece of body adornment.
In the immortal word of Pink Floyd ' Teacher, leave those kids alone.'
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