Faith under fire: Student told to remove rosary

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144. Google wearing rosary as gang sign

Gang members in some of the more Catholic parts of the country are using rosaries (and their First Amendment right to religious freedom) to signal their rank and allegiance, especially in schools that enforce strict dress codes and uniforms.

"You are often dealing with gang members who have no inkling or cares about the religious significance of the rosary beads," Jared Lewis, a former California police officer, told Daniel Burke of Religion News Service. "They are just trying to skirt around school rules under the guise of a religious symbol."

Lewis said rosaries are most popular among Latino gang members. He says that the Latin Kings gang use colored beads to mark members' rank in the gang-- five black and five gold beads for members; two gold beads for top dogs; while assassins wear all black. Members of the Netas, an East Coast gang with origins in Puerto Rico, wear 78 red, white and blue beads to symbolize the 78 towns in Puerto Rico. Prospective members wear all white beads before they join the gang.

Police and school officials in Texas, California and New York have reported similar stories. Last month, a school principal in Schenectady, N.Y., suspended a 13-year-old student for wearing a rosary, because it "could be an identifier of gangs."

http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2010/06/holy_gangsters.html

And it is also becoming popular among hip hop artists to wear them. This is where the religious item becomes a fashion accessory.

Even knowing all this, I agree with you. You cannot ban rebellion and insubordination. You cannot deny the person who invokes the power of the object. It's a Catch 22.