District ruling: ‘We cannot constitutionally allow such a segment to continue to take place in the future’
By Bob Unruh
Officials in the Orange County, Florida, public school system have ordered the managers of West Orange High School to discontinue a “Witchy Wednesday” series of indoctrination videos that they had launched to students.
It was described as providing “religious instruction” on spells, magic, moon worship and other rituals.
However, Liberty Counsel’s legal team raised objections, cautioning the district against making such lessons mandatory and warning that some students with sincere Christian religious beliefs would not be able to endorse the witchcraft teachings.
Further, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled just weeks ago, in Mahmoud v. Taylor, that parents have the right to opt their children out of instruction that undermines their religious beliefs.
As a result, the district acknowledged that having certain speech on the school’s morning announcements could violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and it did not want anyone to feel like “outsiders.”
The district’s instructions were that, “We cannot constitutionally allow such a segment to continue to take place in the future.”