I get what you're saying, but we wonder that ourselves. :-P. Those kind of rules are really extreme , because it's this private fundamentalist school, where they can make up their own ridiculous rules, because it's not a public school where you couldn't get away with such crap .

Hell, I live in the deep south (the land of American religious stereotypes :-P) and I don't even think I know any fundamentalist Baptists or any churches who don't believe in dancing. That's just stupidity. It'd odd that there are still churches that do that....very old fashioned of them. My question here is, why on earth would his parents put him in such a controlling environment? Why in the world would they agree to such crap in the beginning of the school year?
That's just sad.

yeah of course you guys must wonder. "oh dear god how did we let idiots like these breed?" ;D not exactly the people you want to be promoting.

i don't get why they would either. i understand there has to be rules in and outside of school, but that should really only be "don't behave like an ass whilst still in your uniform because it reflects badly on us". if a student is doing something like going to a dance like every other school in the universe probably does, then it shouldn't be the school's business.

from what i gather the principal signs a form saying they can go, but he condemns them? i mean why sign something giving permission, then add that you'll be suspended if you go? that's not permission to me. that sounds more like black mail.

"from what i gather the principal signs a form saying they can go, but he condemns them? i mean why sign something giving permission, then add that you'll be suspended if you go? that's not permission to me. that sounds more like black mail."

this is what i liken it to. a father tells his son he isn't allowed to go out on a friday night, yet hands him his car keys. the car keys/permission slip enables the boy to make his own decision, all the while knowing of the possible consequences for choosing "wrong." take the car and go out anyways, aware that punishment will come, or obey his father? it's basically a test.

yeah that's harsh and confusing. they shouldn't be allowed to do that. you either allow it or you don't. this is a mixed message.

Thank you!

Thats ridiculous.

WHY do people let religion control them to this extent?

WHY do people let religion control them to this extent?

hahaha. I find that very ironic, given your name "Lady Pagan." (disclaimer: I know nothing about you. I am just basing this on your name, and your name alone. Since pagan is a religion and you choose to name yourself "Lady Pagan," one could assume that you are a 'devout' pagan, thus letting paganistic 'rules' control you lol)

Eh? How can you compare someone using a religious username online to a school suspending an innocent kid for attending a dance?! THAT is ridiculous.

Lady Pagan's username is a representation of her beliefs. It's just a name. It is not a means by which to control others and their actions (and their freedom!).

Agreed.

Acknowledging you follow a religion isn't the same thing as letting said religion control you.

I am very very glad you posted you 'disclaimer'.

I do not now allow my beliefs to control me. i guess thats a big part of not being involved in the christian mainstream. ( and no offence meant to any of the christians on bloop before you decide to burn me ;))

I stopped doing that years ago.

My point stands. I dont understand being involved in something that seeks such control of your life.

but thats just me. damn free thinker that I am ;)

I think... regardless of the religion aspect of it Frost, a senior at Heritage Christian School in northwest Ohio, agreed to the school's rule when he signed a statement of cooperation at the beginning of the year, principal Tim England said.
That's the point right there. He signed into a contract in essence to follow a set of rules, they weren't blind rules. He had a chance to review them first. If he thought that there would be an issue with the rules, he should of picked a different school.
That's what it boils down to.

Even in a DOD school (the schools on a Military base) have some rules that extend outside of the school and its grounds.

Should Kianna get into a fight with another person on base her age - she gets suspended from school whether the fight happens here in front of our house or on the other side of the base on the sports field

yeah, I agree, sadly. I personally think it's a weird and controlling environment, as I said above-but it's their religion, and he should not have signed the rules if he was going to break them.

LOL Ownd. That's ridiculous. I went to a catholic school, and there were no such rules. I think the school in question is run by tight wads ;D
Let the kid have fun at his girlfriends prom! Gosh, yo.

that's soooo dumb.

I think the only thing we would get into trouble for,outside of school, is if we were in uniform. like if there were people doing stupid things in uniform the head teacher would go through the 'you are ambassadors of the school' because it makes them look bad.
Seems a bit mental that hes being threatened for going... surely the principal should have just refused to sign the paper?

During my senior year in high school, they administration made a rule that if you got in trouble at all while off school grounds, be it with the police or whatever, you would face consequences when you got back to school Monday morning. I never agreed with that rule because what happens off school grounds is your own personal private time. It's crazy and I think they should let the guy go and have fun!

Ok so lets look at the legal side of all of this. If, and it is said, that the young boy signed a contract (of course his parents where all knowing) that stated he was not to attend any dances, drink any alcohol, and not have sex, etc. etc. So because he signed this he is therefore bound by this contract to not attend this dance even if it is outside of his school grounds.

Do I agree with it? No.

However, I do not feel that if for example this school were to try him in a court of law, or even if they expelled him that they would win. The parents could fight back because the principle signed the paper from the other school allowing him to attend this dance.

Which therefore cancels out the original contract stating that he cannot attend the dance. If the principal was serious about his students not attending than he should have not signed this. Keeping the original contract legal.

As some of you may notice, I am not religious. I don't have an issue if people are, good for them, BUT when you have a religion basically running your life and telling you what you can and cannot do, well that is simply ridiculous. What people do in their own time is up to them. I was taught manners and morals as a young child and I should be trusted with that as an adult. People who go to Proms don't always have sex. That is like telling a virgin not to be a whore when people know she is a virgin and is waiting for marriage or with the right person. That person should be trusted with their actions. I'm sorry but I think it is insane to have any religion to tell you what you can do outside of school and church. The guy got a signature from the Principal to go to the dance and now the guy is turning it around. Poor guy, he just wants to live his life and have a good time with his girlfriend. What is next, are they going to tell them when to breathe? Seriously, these insane religions need to calm down and stop telling people what to do.

It's not the religion that's insane! It's the school!

No where in the bible does it say Christians must not attend school dances. The rule is a school rule. So please stop looking at this as a reflection of Christianity in general. Because it isn't.

Sorry, but I am going to look at it as one of the few Christianity. In my experience, the only religion that makes a big deal out of things and people I have encountered were Christian. I'm not saying all Christians are like that, but most are and that is the truth. I live in America and you'd have to actually be here to see how most of them are too much sometimes. That is my opinion and it has been experiences I dealt with before. Blame it on the insane Christians who make their religion look bad. Like I said before, not all are like that but most are and those are the ones who make people think this way.

Your first sentence doesn't make sense.

In your experience the only religion that takes things to extreme are Christians?!? Where were you on 9/11? Christianity is certainly NOT the only religion that takes things to extremes!

And the fact is MOST Christians are not like that! It's just that the ones who AREN'T like that (the vast majority) don't attract the same attention. I mean there's not going to be news articles written about the MILLIONS of Christians who happily attend church, devote themselves to God but don't go about trying to convert people, or producing stupid rules like that school. It's just you only hear about the extreme ones. 75% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians. Do three quarters of the people who you meet on a daily basis behave like this?? No, of course not.

To say that most Christians are like the teachers of this school is simply incorrect. And incredibly ignorant.

And I agree that those extremist Christians are partly to blame for the misperception that all Christians are like that. However, ignorant people like you that come out with crap like you have on here are just as to blame.

My mind isn't going to change. Sorry, but no matter what you do, your not going to make me change my mind on how I feel. I am no ignorant, you don't even know me! I know a lot of people who are religious, but they aren't the extreme ones. Oh and I am not the only one who feels this way. I know a lot of people who feel the same about most Christians because 1. they have experienced the extreme ones and 2. the are Christians and they said those people made everyone look bad. In fact most of them said they were very judgemental. I am not making this up. Again, this is my experiences and I have experienced a lot of those encounters. I'm not going to argue with you about religion. At all. My mind is not going to magically change. When you been judged and attacked as much as I have, then we can talk. All those times I never once said anything to them about their religion because trying to talk about religion to a Christian is a losing battle. I sat there, let them talk there judgements and stayed respectful as they showed no respect.

Well that's just very sad then, that you would judge people based entirely on their religion. I feel sorry for you for being so close minded. I notice in the RC entry that you have similar views on non-caucasions, so given the rather racist sounding comment you left on there, I don't know why I should be surprised that you're also so ignorant when it comes to Christians.

And in response to your other comment, I'm not calling you ignorant for being a non-Christian, and you know that perfectly well, so please do not entirely twist what I was saying. I am saying you are ignorant in your belief that all Christians are extremes as the ones you spoke of in this thread. That has nothing to do with your personal religion (or lack of).

I'd agree that extreme Christians are often ignorant too. I never defended the extreme Christians, I am just saying that the majority of Christians are not like that (although I would agree that there are more of those sort of Christians in the US than in the UK. But even then, you didn't refer to 'American Christians', you referred to all Christians, and Christians like you describe are a rare breed in the UK for example). I'm sorry you've been so unfortunate in your personal experiences, but you personally have only experienced encounters with a number of Christians, it's a shame that you choose to judge an entire religion by those encounters.

When you been judged and attacked as much as I have, then we can talk.

I have been judged. Christians get judged and attacked by people like you all the time. You're doing it right now.

If you've had it that bad you should know how it feels to be judged. Clearly you haven't learned from it, or you wouldn't be judging an entire religion on a handful of experiences. That makes you just as bad as the Christians who judged you.

And how can you say that you know a lot of Christians who are OK, and then say that most of them are extreme? You're contradicting yourself. If 'most' Christians were extreme, then the majority of the ones you know would be too. You're admitting that they're not. So which is it? Or do the only 'normal' Christians exist in your little group of friends?

I'm sure many people have experienced 'extreme Christians'. I know I have. But the fact remains they are the extreme ones. They are not the majority.

Christians are not the only ones who take things to extremes. I'm willing to argue that almost every religious group has extremist subgroups that take things from their holy texts as literal translations, or they extrapolate things from it that weren't intended. In some cases, this occurs peacefully. But in other cases, it does not (as was the case of 9/11).

Perhaps your experience has been shaped thus because Christianity is simply the most popular religion in Westernised society.

You're right. The insane Christians are the ones who make Christianity look bad. But that's because we make the incorrect judgement that a religion is synonymous with the people belonging to it. It is not the religion that is 'bad'. It is the 'insane' few (and I emphasise, FEW, and not 'most') who appear to represent it.