Can Student Build Wiccan Altar in School?

[icymist]

Here's an interesting one out of Iowa. A high school shop teacher has been put on temporary leave while district officials sort out what could be a big mess. Apparently teacher Dale Halferty told a student that he was not permitted to build a Wiccan altar as his industrial arts class woodworking project. Now, as you read the story, at first it appears that Halferty is trying to be fair, because he says he "previously told another student he could not build a cross in shop class because he believes in the separation of church and state." He also stated that he doesn't want any religious symbols in the shop. Fair enough, and seems reasonable so far.

However, further into the story, Halferty makes it clear that he's not really sure what Wicca is, saying, ""It scares me. I'm a Christian... This witchcraft stuff - it's terrible for our kids. It takes kids away from what they know, and leads them to a dark and violent life. We spend millions of tax dollars trying to save kids from that."

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