The Feld-Blog

This week, a Florida Student may have been expelled from his school merely for being gay. Not only that, the school's handbook explicitly states that there are only three reasons a student can be expelled: (1)for committing a felony, (2)for assaulting a teacher, or (3)for possessing a weapon on school grounds. Obviously being gay does not fit into any of these categories.

Although the school denies that Jeffery Woodward's (the student) sexual orientation is the reason for his expulsion, Woodward's school record is spotless and the only topic of conversation other than expulsion in that final meeting with the principle was Jeffery's homosexuality.

Really.... I thought we as a country would be past this by now.

I understand that there are still people out there who think that 'marriage' is a religious institution, and I am not about to argue that someone else's religion should change, but I would hope that, whether or not you think a person is destined for salvation, you would be willing to provide him with a decent education.

After all, it seems to me that the most deeply pious individuals throughout the world specifically reach out to those individuals they see as morally deficient in an effort to help them repent and change. Deeply religious members of any community are often seen tutoring in prisons or donating to continuation schools. In fact, it seems that the only people who definitively reject those who disagree with them, are the superficially spiritual.

Tolerance is a major tenet of Judaism, Christianity AND Islam, yet it seems today that the people who publicly cite religion as their motivation for controversial actions actively practice intolerance. Religion, as I have said before can be a powerful tool for good, but having only a little knowledge rather than a deep understanding of these issues, can lead to the dangerous, and often offensive intolerance that Woodward's expulsion seems to symbolize.