According to this story, a Florida man is objecting to his daughter’s middle school’s use of a devil as a mascot:
Kenneth Locklear enrolled his daughter at Roosevelt Middle School in West Palm Beach this year for its math, science and technology magnet program. He had no idea it was also the home of the devils.This week, Locklear was horrified when his daughter showed him a school band T-shirt depicting the school's devil mascot. Satan appears with horns, pointy ears and a thick mustache printed in white against a maroon background. "It is a hideous portrayal of the devil," said Locklear, a Christian who is demanding the school dump the demon.”
Locklear is threatening suit on separation of church and state grounds if the mascot is not changed.
Locklear insists his appeal is a matter of separating church and state, and he's considering suing if the school district doesn't give in."What if this was a cross?" he asked. "Because it is the devil it doesn't seem to be recognized as a religious symbol. That will change."
Legal challenges to devil mascots are common around the nation, but they have failed so far. In 1996 three public school students in Ohio filed a federal suit against their high school for using a Blue Devil mascot, a symbol they thought to be satanic. A federal court ruled against the students, and an appeals court upheld that decision.
In 2002, high schools in Devil's Lake, Mich., and Devils Lake, N.D., voted to replace long-held team names of "the Satans" because of concerns that the names and mascots were inappropriate, according to The Associated Press.
Personally, I think the Florida controversy is a bit silly. After all, I have a couple of degrees from Duke whose athletic teams are the “Blue Devils.” Duke is a Methodist school. Ninety miles down the road is Wake Forest. WFU is a Baptist school and its athletic teams are the “Demon Deacons.” The athletic teams of Depaul University, a Catholic school, are the “Blue Demons.” If Demons and Devils are good enough for the Catholics, Methodists and Baptists, it is hard to get worked up over the issue. Some folks are just looking to be offended.
Despite there being some disadvantages to having a Devil as a mascot (at least for a certain computer system), I think it is a matter of keeping our priorities straight. The Unix link thoughtfully provided by Eric.
If we are going to start changing names at schools, there are better places to start. When we were in college, my wife played flute in the Duke University Marching Band. I really think that changing Duke’s mascot to something other than the Blue Devils should be a lower priority than finding a different name for the D.U.M.B.
Edited to provide attribution for the Unix link.
Posted by Dwight Meredith at November 19, 2003 09:59 AM | TrackBackNo more "deviled eggs" or "deviled ham" on the school cafeteria menu? We cannot permit this to happen!
Posted by: Norbizness at November 19, 2003 11:42 AMActually, I think you're being unfairly dismissive. There are plenty of legitimate reasons for a parent, Christian or otherwise, to object to symbols they deem offensive and antithetical to their child's upbringing. So what if it's clearly at odds with the logic the pro-Moore nutjobs used? I know we get wrapped up in judicial proceedings as test cases, but at root it sounds like there's a legitimate grievance on the part of one family.
Public schools must have as their mission providing a learning space comfortable for every student. This is an entirely legitimate claim offered on the proper legal grounds, and the historical animous our society has directed at the Devil strengthens, rather than weakens, the plaintiff's claims. And of course, comparing Duke, Wake Forest, and Depaul to a public school is irrelevant, as those are private institutions...
Posted by: KevStar at November 19, 2003 01:41 PMI really think that changing Duke’s mascot to something other than the Blue Devils should be a lower priority than finding a different name for the D.U.M.B.
Oh, man. I'm sorry, Deb,
(guffaw)
Posted by: julia at November 19, 2003 03:58 PMI'm actually in favor of eliminating "devil" and "demon" characters as team names or mascots if they bother people's religious sensibilities, the same way I'm in favor of eliminating "braves" and "chiefs" and such if they bother Native Americans' sensibilities. But I also think it should be decided on a case-by-case basis in terms of whether the name is offensive to the local community's established standards.
Posted by: Elayne Riggs at November 19, 2003 08:18 PMThree nits (it was Sheridan who said of Indian children that "nits lay eggs") to pick:
First, the source of the Unix daemonology link was ...
Second, English Puritans and their descendents in interest and those who appropriated their language and values, if not their complete religious system, refer to Indians as "Devils", viz the Indigo Girls' Jonas and Ezekial lyric (written by Amy Ray, Spring 1991, in Vermont, where there are no Indians by writ o Dean):
It's not the devil's land, you know it's not that kind
Every devil I meet becomes a friend of mine
Every devil I meet is an angel in disguise
Third, Euro-Xtians aren't in quite the same boat as Indians, or Africans, when it comes to pervasive ephemera -- the mascot mime show. There's a pun there, somewhere between wind and water.
Posted by: The SO at November 20, 2003 09:12 AMThe principal at this school wears an angel on her lapel but says the devil is harmless. If the devil is so good and harmless, why doesn't she wear a devil on her lapel?
The devil is a part of many religious and is for the family to teach their children about. It is not the schools place to trivialize the devil and say it means nothing. If you think it means nothing, look it up in Webster’s and tell your kid you want them to be like that definition.
This is a valid complaint that needs to be heard. I understand the father offered to pay for the changes himself, so what possible problem could the school have under those circumstances?
Posted by: Shawn Griggs at November 24, 2003 08:19 AM"what possible problem could the school have under those circumstances?"
I'll tell ya. It ruins school pride. Go ask the students. Every student has a problem with changing their mascot. My own elementary (k-8th) school will be changing their mascot next year from the Warriors to the Suns due to a threatened lawsuit from the local reservation. I am so sad and frustrated about this. I love my home town and was proud to be a Warrior. When I was in the 7th grade, we had a vote to change the mascot from the Warriors to the Vikings (which would have been more appropriate considering we lived in the Danish captital of America.). The Vikings idea was squashed. No one wanted to change their mascot because we loved it. We thought we had the best mascot in the valley. Our mascot was strong.
As for those of you who think the "blue devils" are evil. Well, you are the ones that made it evil. Not the school. I'm assuming you only allow your children to be pretty princesses at Halloween. Scratch that, if you even do celebrate Halloween then you are supporting all things evil. If that man really has a problem then he can take his kid out of that school.
Posted by: Sally Larsen at January 23, 2004 04:02 PM