"An Oklahoma high school suspended a 15-year-old student [Brandi Blackbear] after accusing her of casting a magic spell that caused a teacher to become sick.
October 28, 2000 10:15 AM Subscribe
"An Oklahoma high school suspended a 15-year-old student [Brandi Blackbear] after accusing her of casting a magic spell that caused a teacher to become sick. Blackbear was summoned to the office of assistant principal Charlie Bushyhead last December after a teacher fell ill, and was questioned about her interest in Wicca."
The ACLU complaint is available online at www.aclu.org/court/blackbear_complaint.html.
posted by riley370 at 12:05 PM on October 28, 2000
posted by riley370 at 12:05 PM on October 28, 2000
thirteen-- I'll go in half with you... I can't read all of this article because I can't stop laughing everytime I read the assistant principal's name Charlie 'Bushyhead'. The visual is really quite something.
posted by chiXy at 1:16 PM on October 28, 2000
posted by chiXy at 1:16 PM on October 28, 2000
Yeah, well, how about them Sooners! We're number 1!! I got pelted in the eye by an orange while storming the field at the end of the game. Thats taking one for the team!
CasaFidel.com! :)
posted by howa2396 at 1:19 PM on October 28, 2000
CasaFidel.com! :)
posted by howa2396 at 1:19 PM on October 28, 2000
Be glad that she wasn't burnt at the stake in the middle of the school field.
posted by holgate at 2:33 PM on October 28, 2000
posted by holgate at 2:33 PM on October 28, 2000
This would be funny, if it weren't so outrageous and disgusting. I like the way the article tries to get her off the hook by saying "...but she's REALLY a Roman Catholic! Don't worry!"
posted by rushmc at 4:48 PM on October 28, 2000
posted by rushmc at 4:48 PM on October 28, 2000
Skallas: Exactly, glad to see you are on board. I was worried about you.
New mission statement: Screw the right wing, left wing, Christians, and ACLU.
posted by thirteen at 4:54 PM on October 28, 2000
New mission statement: Screw the right wing, left wing, Christians, and ACLU.
posted by thirteen at 4:54 PM on October 28, 2000
She's a witch!! She turned me into a Newt!
Let's hear it for progress in the year 2000!!
posted by aladfar at 5:10 PM on October 28, 2000
Let's hear it for progress in the year 2000!!
posted by aladfar at 5:10 PM on October 28, 2000
and all this time, you thought i was just whining about how stupid this place is. ok, i was whining, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.
posted by lescour at 5:24 PM on October 28, 2000
posted by lescour at 5:24 PM on October 28, 2000
oh, and fyi chixy: bushyhead is actually a very common name here, usually native american. the guy named bushyhead i went to high school with, you definitely wouldn't have laughed at for any reason. if you wanted your face to stay in the basically the same shape, anyway.
posted by lescour at 5:38 PM on October 28, 2000
posted by lescour at 5:38 PM on October 28, 2000
I've never heard the name Bushyhead in my life and I've lived Oklahoma for all of my 21 years.
posted by howa2396 at 6:19 PM on October 28, 2000
posted by howa2396 at 6:19 PM on October 28, 2000
I have the uncomfortable mental image of her parents getting all alarmed at the implication that their daughter might be a pagan and indignantly pointing out that she goes to Mass every Sunday, so she is "in fact" a Catholic, with the subtext being that if she knows what's best for her she'll stay that way. Of course, this isn't supported by anything in the story, but it's all too easy to visualize a girl having doubts about her own religion searching for something better, and getting metaphorically smacked down for it by some authority figure.
A comforting thought: the administrators at your local public school probably aren't any brighter than Bushyhead.
posted by kindall at 6:24 PM on October 28, 2000
A comforting thought: the administrators at your local public school probably aren't any brighter than Bushyhead.
posted by kindall at 6:24 PM on October 28, 2000
Seems to me that we are all assuming that her Wiccan beliefs are baseless, that, even if she is a Wiccan and did cast a spell, she should still be exonerated, because, of course, Wicca is all hocus-pocus and mumbo-jumbo and would be incapable of causing an illness. If Wicca is more than a goth-kid fantasy, it seems to me that the kid's actions are similar to those of a student bringing gun to class and shooting a teacher.
OKOKOK, playing Devil's advocate here. Really, I think it's as silly as most of you do. Any Wiccans out there want to comment?
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:28 PM on October 28, 2000
OKOKOK, playing Devil's advocate here. Really, I think it's as silly as most of you do. Any Wiccans out there want to comment?
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:28 PM on October 28, 2000
I'll say this: none of the self-respecting Wiccans I have known would have any interest in "casting spells" to make someone sick or not. Nor would they be happy about some teenager going around saying that's what they're about and getting the ACLU to defend her ability to do so.
It's an embarrassment to them of approximately the same level that most educated Catholics consider exorcism.
posted by dhartung at 7:53 PM on October 28, 2000
It's an embarrassment to them of approximately the same level that most educated Catholics consider exorcism.
posted by dhartung at 7:53 PM on October 28, 2000
"According to the lawsuit, Brandi Blackbear had read a library book about Wicca beliefs and, under aggressive interrogation by Bushyhead, said she might be a Wiccan." Dammit, there's the real outrage, burn down that library!
Let's get our priorities straight, people.
posted by mrmorgan at 8:06 PM on October 28, 2000
Let's get our priorities straight, people.
posted by mrmorgan at 8:06 PM on October 28, 2000
Thanks for the invitation, MrMoonPie. Yes, it is possible to make someone sick with magic spells, just as the Voodoo curses do. (It's also possible to heal by magical means.) Some Wiccans believe that you should never hex, no matter what; others have the belief that "a witch who cannot hex, cannot heal," but even so, it's done very rarely. Wiccans believe in the Law of Three--anything you send out by means of magic comes back to you threefold--and some Wiccan traditions teach that an unjustified hex comes back tenfold. It's hard for me to imagine a situation which would justify hexing a high school teacher, and if one book on Wicca was the sum total of her knowledge then there's no way she could have done it. Unfortunately, I think this is more likely to be a modern-day witch hunt.
posted by Tholian at 8:34 PM on October 28, 2000
posted by Tholian at 8:34 PM on October 28, 2000
oooh gees, and i thought christianity was way out there.
posted by dominic at 9:09 PM on October 28, 2000
posted by dominic at 9:09 PM on October 28, 2000
if the kid did put a hex on the teacher, then that deserves punishment. but as tholian said, it's bloody highly doubtable that the kid would have known how!
if you read the aclu link above, you'll see she's been harrassed to the point of tears by the teachers and principles, and by the other students due to the rumours the teachers started, she's had her writing stolen and perhaps destroyed by the teachers, and she's been accused of and suspended from school for being a wiccan, which she has every right to be.
if i was a parent of hers, i'd be suing big time, and going for having all teachers and principles fired. it's an absolutely disgusting display of civil rights abuses. shit, they deserve some hexing. i think i'll whip up a nasty spell now :)
posted by titboy at 10:20 PM on October 28, 2000
if you read the aclu link above, you'll see she's been harrassed to the point of tears by the teachers and principles, and by the other students due to the rumours the teachers started, she's had her writing stolen and perhaps destroyed by the teachers, and she's been accused of and suspended from school for being a wiccan, which she has every right to be.
if i was a parent of hers, i'd be suing big time, and going for having all teachers and principles fired. it's an absolutely disgusting display of civil rights abuses. shit, they deserve some hexing. i think i'll whip up a nasty spell now :)
posted by titboy at 10:20 PM on October 28, 2000
Seems to me that we are all assuming that her Wiccan beliefs are baseless, that, even if she is a Wiccan and did cast a spell, she should still be exonerated, because, of course, Wicca is all hocus-pocus and mumbo-jumbo and would be incapable of causing an illness.
Well, of course -- that goes without saying. It is no more possible to make me ill through a hex than it is to help me recover from an illness through prayer. (Psychological effects may come into play if I believe in one or the other possibility, but that's just me making myself sick or well.)
posted by kindall at 11:44 PM on October 28, 2000
Well, of course -- that goes without saying. It is no more possible to make me ill through a hex than it is to help me recover from an illness through prayer. (Psychological effects may come into play if I believe in one or the other possibility, but that's just me making myself sick or well.)
posted by kindall at 11:44 PM on October 28, 2000
Here's a mantra for the sweet little wiccan student in question: sticks and stones may break my bones, but expulsion will not hurt me.
I think it's high time we all drop this foolishness about christianity and wiccan paganism and bow down before the one true living slackmaster THAT MAN J.R. "BOB" DOBBS! He makes at least as little sense as any other religion. Bob should be president too, because he makes at least as little sense as Gore or Bush or Nader.
Bob sold it. I smoked it. That settles it.
posted by ZachsMind at 12:29 AM on October 29, 2000
I think it's high time we all drop this foolishness about christianity and wiccan paganism and bow down before the one true living slackmaster THAT MAN J.R. "BOB" DOBBS! He makes at least as little sense as any other religion. Bob should be president too, because he makes at least as little sense as Gore or Bush or Nader.
Bob sold it. I smoked it. That settles it.
posted by ZachsMind at 12:29 AM on October 29, 2000
you're all missing the point with this little discussion on witchcraft and what not. The point is, OU is the bomb! Figure it out...
posted by howa2396 at 12:40 AM on October 29, 2000
posted by howa2396 at 12:40 AM on October 29, 2000
All the OU fans are making me sick - can I expel them from this discussion?
posted by Jart at 7:18 AM on October 29, 2000
posted by Jart at 7:18 AM on October 29, 2000
Well, of course -- that goes without saying. It is no more possible to make me ill through a hex than it is to help me recover from an illness through prayer. (Psychological effects may come into play if I believe in one or the other possibility, but that's just me making myself sick or well.)
Kindall, you just contradicted yourself. ;)
Zach: Praise "Bob". Kill "Bob". Fuck "Bob".
Now here's a question: how could they prove that she hexed him? I mean, let's assume for the moment that she actually did hex him, and it worked, and the teacher got sick. How could a prosecuting attorney prove that? Interesting angle...
posted by solistrato at 4:46 PM on October 29, 2000
Kindall, you just contradicted yourself. ;)
Zach: Praise "Bob". Kill "Bob". Fuck "Bob".
Now here's a question: how could they prove that she hexed him? I mean, let's assume for the moment that she actually did hex him, and it worked, and the teacher got sick. How could a prosecuting attorney prove that? Interesting angle...
posted by solistrato at 4:46 PM on October 29, 2000
Easy solistrato, give her a broom, throw her off a cliff and if she flies away she's a witch if not, then we will assume she wasn't.
posted by Zool at 6:13 PM on October 29, 2000
posted by Zool at 6:13 PM on October 29, 2000
Kindall, you just contradicted yourself. ;)
I suppose it seems that way, but Christians don't believe prayer is merely a stimulus to my own positive thinking; they believe God actually has a hand in my recovery. I doubt Wiccans believe that hexes work simply because I worry about having been hexed, either. If they do, then there's precious little difference between a hex and a lawsuit.
posted by kindall at 7:31 PM on October 29, 2000
I suppose it seems that way, but Christians don't believe prayer is merely a stimulus to my own positive thinking; they believe God actually has a hand in my recovery. I doubt Wiccans believe that hexes work simply because I worry about having been hexed, either. If they do, then there's precious little difference between a hex and a lawsuit.
posted by kindall at 7:31 PM on October 29, 2000
I doubt Wiccans believe that hexes work simply because I worry about having been hexed, either.
some do.
posted by titboy at 2:53 AM on October 30, 2000
some do.
posted by titboy at 2:53 AM on October 30, 2000
Wow, and I thought I was the only Sooner exile reading MeFi. I am not alone!
posted by norm at 9:09 AM on October 30, 2000
posted by norm at 9:09 AM on October 30, 2000
So does the school also suspend students who pray to the Christian God for similar events?
"Dear Lord, Please make Mr. Petersen get really sick and stay home tomorrow so that we don't have that Algebra test. In Jesus' name, Amen."
I imagine that kind of stuff happens all the time...
posted by daveadams at 10:46 AM on October 30, 2000
"Dear Lord, Please make Mr. Petersen get really sick and stay home tomorrow so that we don't have that Algebra test. In Jesus' name, Amen."
I imagine that kind of stuff happens all the time...
posted by daveadams at 10:46 AM on October 30, 2000
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by thirteen at 11:51 AM on October 28, 2000