Almost Heaven But Not Quite
New York Times, Sunday November 4
CHARLESTON, W.Va., Nov. 3 (AP) — At Marshall University, pagan students are now allowed to miss classes to observe religious holidays or festivals.
A new policy makes the university in Huntington, W.Va., with an enrollment of about 14,000, possibly the only college in the country to protect pagans formally from being penalized for missing classes, although many institutions have policies intended to protect students of every faith.
One Marshall student, George Fain, took advantage of the policy on Thursday, missing class in observance of Samhain, a pagan and Wiccan holiday honoring the dead.
“I think we may have opened a door,” Ms. Fain said of the policy. “Now that we know we can be protected, that the government will stand behind us and we feel safe, it’s going to be more prevalent.”
Putting aside the obvious- that for certain parts of West Virginia, paganism is a step up-- let's consider the implications of Marshall's new policy.
Suppose they go whole hog and let pagans have the run of the place. Would it really change things much? There must be a few tree-huggers there already, so hedge worship is covered, and any campus with fraternities already has its share of naked, drunken rites at midnight. And as for concocting sacred potions, somebody's grandaddy's got a still somewhere, so no worries there either.
Okay, so everybody would have to learn how to pronounce "Samhain," and students would learn when the equinox is. They might even learn what "equinox" means, which is grade school earth science stuff but DIH has learned never to expect too much from American education.
I don't know. I just dont' see any problems with this development. Am I missing something?
In other news DIH has decided she must give up the Butterfingers in the evening. When you start dreaming about Chief Justice Roberts driving a big rig, it's time to make a change.
CHARLESTON, W.Va., Nov. 3 (AP) — At Marshall University, pagan students are now allowed to miss classes to observe religious holidays or festivals.
A new policy makes the university in Huntington, W.Va., with an enrollment of about 14,000, possibly the only college in the country to protect pagans formally from being penalized for missing classes, although many institutions have policies intended to protect students of every faith.
One Marshall student, George Fain, took advantage of the policy on Thursday, missing class in observance of Samhain, a pagan and Wiccan holiday honoring the dead.
“I think we may have opened a door,” Ms. Fain said of the policy. “Now that we know we can be protected, that the government will stand behind us and we feel safe, it’s going to be more prevalent.”
Putting aside the obvious- that for certain parts of West Virginia, paganism is a step up-- let's consider the implications of Marshall's new policy.
Suppose they go whole hog and let pagans have the run of the place. Would it really change things much? There must be a few tree-huggers there already, so hedge worship is covered, and any campus with fraternities already has its share of naked, drunken rites at midnight. And as for concocting sacred potions, somebody's grandaddy's got a still somewhere, so no worries there either.
Okay, so everybody would have to learn how to pronounce "Samhain," and students would learn when the equinox is. They might even learn what "equinox" means, which is grade school earth science stuff but DIH has learned never to expect too much from American education.
I don't know. I just dont' see any problems with this development. Am I missing something?
In other news DIH has decided she must give up the Butterfingers in the evening. When you start dreaming about Chief Justice Roberts driving a big rig, it's time to make a change.
I think that "George" Fain being a woman poses other issues for Marshall U. I suspect that they will have to install new facilities in all of their buildings to provide "transitional comfort stations" for those in the process of changing their gender.
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