Ethics

Shop Teacher Suspended in Religious Dispute

By Ed Brayton

Here's another interesting church/state case. A shop teacher in Iowa has been suspended after he told a high school senior that he could not build a Wiccan altar in shop class.

A high school senior's desire to build a Wiccan altar in shop class has forced a community debate about free expression.

Dale Halferty, who has taught industrial arts at Guthrie Center High School for three years, was placed on paid leave Monday after he acknowledged to district officials that he told the student he could not build the altar in class.

Halferty said he previously told another student he could not build a cross in shop class because he believes in the separation of church and state. "I don't want any religious symbols in the shop," he said.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on March 08, 2010 (boomark / email).