Loveland school seizes rosary beads from student, says they’re ‘gang symbol’

KDVR Fox 31 News in Denver ^ | Sep. 14, 2012 | Tammy Vigil

[grey_whiskers]

LOVELAND, Colo. — A student is questioning whether his faith or his fashion is under fire at his high school in Loveland.

Thompson Valley High School officials have confiscated his rosary beads twice since school started three weeks ago.

And he says they never told him, or his family, why.

“They tell me I can’t wear them,” says Manuel Vigil, showing us an identical rosary to the one seized by his school.

The junior says he wears rosary beads to protect himself from harm.

But his school district thinks the religious necklace will harm students.

“That’s typically not what we want for a safe environment for school,” says Thompson Valley School District spokesperson Margaret Crespo.

[grey_whiskers]

Note the last sentence of the excerpt.

Does this clinch things? Can we now agree that school officials must be possessed? /sarc>

Or are they afraid that Manuel Vigil will lead the students on an uncontrolled frenzy of eating at Chick-Fil-A? Oh, the humanity.

For those who care, the contact information for Thompson Valley School District spokesperson Margaret Crespo is Crespo, Margaret

Margaret Crespo
Director of Secondary Education
Thompson School District
800 S. Taft Avenue
Loveland, CO 80537
(670) 613-6175

margaret.crespo@thompsonschools.org

Source -- click on the "Contact Us" at the bottom center of the page to get the snail mail address.

Cheers!

[grey_whiskers]

1st Amendment Violation *PING*

Please forward and propagate.

Cheers!

[narses]

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[Fiji Hill]

So the school considers the Catholic Church to be a gang?

[grey_whiskers]

...and in a related vein:

[Conscience of a Conservative]

So the school considers the Catholic Church to be a gang?

Unfortunately, many gangs do use different color rosary beads as gang symbols. Obviously, a wholesale prohibition of rosary beads is a massive overreaction (not to mention being unconstitutional), but my guess is that it was motivated by typical mindless, zero-tolerance, no exceptions school bureacratic rules than it was by any sort of anti-religious prejudice.

[SJSAMPLE]

ROSARIES ARE NOT WORN.
THEY ARE NOT JEWELRY.

Wearing the Rosary is the long-identified practice of the Latin Kings. Drop the punk off downtown and see what happens to him then.

[DLfromthedesert]

I agree. Rosary beads worn as jewelry is a desecration.

[grey_whiskers]

So the school considers the Catholic Church to be a gang?

Worse than that. I had a high school tell me that their Honours English teacher told the class that anyone who believes in the Virgin Birth is a member of the Cult of Mary.

Cheers!

[tiki]

I didn’t read the whole article but rosary beads are never to be worn except by priests and nuns. The gangs around here wear them.

[PAR35]

The junior says he wears rosary beads to protect himself from harm.

Garlic works better for vampires. Is he worried about zombies?

[Delta 21]

I would just start carrying my bible around everywhere, and talking to everyone about it.

[SJSAMPLE]

The Catholic church as NEVER advocated the wearing of The Rosary as jewelry.

Wearing The Rosary has been the unique practice of the Latin Gang, a known violent gang.

No different than wearing a red or blue bandana. Gang signage.

[Terry Mross]

It wouldn’t be Christian to slap the teacher. Damn it!

[grey_whiskers]

Are the Latin Kings in Denver?

(Even *I* as an adult convert to Catholicism vaguely knew that the Rosary was not to be worn...but this is just a high school kid.)

Cheers!

[dead]

Blood drop.

(Newborn gang member.)

[Varda]

It’s considered OK to wear the rosary if someone does it for religious purposes. I’ve never been taught differently. Nuns, Priests, anyone can wear a rosary for the right reasons. Obviously gangs aren’t doing it for the right reasons.

[Zionist Conspirator]

I'm appalled that a Hispanic Catholic would be treated this way by liberals. Aren't they supposed to be different from "regular" Catholics . . . you know, oppressed, indigenous, revolutionary, etc.?

Next thing you know they'll be taking Bibles from Black students.

[Varda]

Actually you can wear a rosary. It’s not the custom in this country. http://www.zenit.org/article-32848?l=english

[azsportsterman]

When I was younger, the Church I attended required that I carry my rosary and wear it at least weekly. Doctrine may not explicitely require wearing of the rosary, but it also doesn’t state not to wear the rosary either.

Are you and others on this board saying that, since doctrine doesn’t require wearing the rosary, it must not happen and this persom should hide his religous beliefs?