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022899 Case against New York school district links paganism, tooth fairy
By JIM FITZGERALD
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - The issues are sacred -
religious liberty, personal privacy, public education. At the outset of a
federal trial in which three Catholic families are attacking a school district,
both the First Amendment and the First Commandment were invoked.
But then the tooth fairy was mentioned. A psychic who had lectured on
creativity said she also was a telepath. A yogi who taught stress reduction said
he also was a numerologist. "Interspecies communication" was
mentioned.
And the exasperated judge wanted to know just one thing:
"Can a psychic tell when this case will finish?"
The case, which resumes Monday, is perhaps an extreme example of the backlash
against a nationwide trend that has broadened course offerings away from the
basics of reading and math.
The dispute began in 1995, when kids in the Bedford Central school district,
which takes in four affluent towns in Westchester County, began playing a
strategy card game called "Magic: The Gathering." The cards bear
images ranging from innocent fairies to a lurid depiction of a woman about to be
sacrificed.
Some parents objected to the darker aspects of the game.
"It's much worse than witchcraft," said Mary Ann DiBari, a
plaintiff who is also a member of the Northeast Ritual Crime Investigators
Association.
And when some children formed a Magic club that met in a classroom, parents
demanded that the schools end all support of the game. Superintendent Bruce
Dennis halted play for 30 days until mental health experts assured him the game
posed no danger.
Not satisfied, the parents went to court and added a number of other school
activities to their complaint: making models of Aztec gods as part of the study
of Mexico; studying an owl's regurgitated lunch for evidence of its diet; taking
a field trip to a cemetery; celebrating Earth Day; and making "worry
dolls" to put under children's pillows to keep nightmares away.
Such activities, they said, amount to "the promotion of Satanism and
occultism, pagan religions and New Age spirituality" and violate freedom of
religion. The worry dolls amount to voodoo, said DiBari. When asked if she found
the tooth fairy objectionable, she said, "It was not taught to my child in
school."
Earth Day? The plaintiffs said part of the celebration included making
pledges to the Earth, which they said was like praying. "We worship the
creator, not the creation," DeBari said.
The plaintiffs also objected to drug and suicide counseling, as well as some
homework assignments, as violating the families' privacy. They demanded
injunctions against some activities, the right to opt out of others.
The school district said the activities were mainstream and wholesome. And
allowing opt-outs, Dennis said, would bring chaos to the curriculum.
The dispute sharply divided the community. Some parents held a news
conference to announce their support of the curriculum. Some Catholics separated
themselves from the plaintiffs' religious objections.
"Since the initiation of this lawsuit," one parent wrote to the
judge, "the atmosphere in the Bedford public schools has been one of
fear."
Sensing an important case, the American Catholic Lawyers Association has
taken up the plaintiffs' cause; the liberal People for the American Way is
supporting the schools.
Judge Charles Brieant has been insisting that a court is not the place for a
curriculum dispute.
The framers of the Constitution "never intended this mess," said
the 75-year-old jurist, but he was unable to force a settlement.
In testimony last week, the plaintiffs' children told of being forced to make
models of Mexican and Indian idols; one parent recited the First Commandment
stricture against false gods.
The children said they were bothered when the yogi Agia Akal Singh Kalsa came
to the school to lead stress-reduction exercises.
When the yogi testified - in the turban and white robes of a Sikh minister -
he said his lesson had "nothing to do with religion" and that he
hadn't mentioned his numerology hobby to the children.
The plaintiffs claim the schools allow the expression of Eastern religions
but exclude Christianity.
The psychic, Nancy Weber, said she had been invited to lecture on creativity
and that she hadn't mentioned being a psychic, a telepath or a minister in the
LifeSciences Congregational Church. The plaintiffs said Weber inappropriately
asked the students to "tap into" themselves by drawing with their
non-dominant hands.
While Weber was on the stand, she was asked if she believes in
"interspecies communication."
"I'm not sure I know what interspecies communication is," Brieant
said when the defense objected to the subject being introduced.
"It's communication between people and animals," said plaintiffs'
lawyer James Bendell.
"You mean, 'Come here, Rover, lie down?'" the judge said as lawyers
and spectators burst into laughter. "Objection sustained."