Thursday, November 19, 2009

Cynthia T. Rickelson

We live in, what I like to call, the Bedazzled Buckle of the bible belt. That being said, when you don't have a cross around your neck or tattooed to your ankle or on the back of your jean jacket in rhinestones, people start to question if you really believe in Jesus Christ.

The other day, my neighbor informed me that if you work for the school (any government owned school for that matter) you weren't allowed to wear any religious paraphernalia. I thought of Bradley's teacher and her ginormous chain of about a dozen crosses that she wore every once in a while.

I said, "I think that's why we [LDS] stuck with the CTR ring."

She responded, "you can't even wear that."

I nicely argued that for all she knows CTR (commonly known to stand for: Choose The Right) has nothing to do with Christianity. It could be a crazy right-winged republican ring, or maybe it's reminder because I forget which hand I'm supposed to use when I draw, or it's my deceased grandmother's initials and green was her favorite color!

What do you think?

Is a CTR ring appropriate?

8 comments:

Emma said...

Are you serious?? Why would it NOT be appropriate? I have never been offended by someone wearing a cross, or a head scarf, or some other show of religious affiliation. Maybe I'm off base.

Shane, Meg, CJ, RJ, and AL said...

absolutely!

Beeks by the Lake said...

the answer is simple: choose the right

This reminds me of those stories about pioneers who were asked if they were Mormon at gun point.

Besides, police officers wear shields on their chest - it's called a badge and as we learned at Colby's graduation from the police academy, knights used to say that they would leave the finished battle with their shield or on their shield.

So if your child can't wear it, then they can't allow the police officers to wear it either and they shouldn't be on school grounds with their badge on.

I think your children should wear it and we as a people should not be afraid of our government.

Mindy said...

I should have lengthened my last question:

If religious paraphernalia is banned, should ctr rings be banned as well.

Amy Johnson said...

Choosing the right I think is not religious as much as just a way of thinking. You can be Catholic (sp) and choose the right, you can be a Jewish and choose the right, it applies to everyone.

kseal said...

Tricky question. I agree that anyone can CTR, but if the question is based solely on religious symbols, I don't think that any of us could honestly argue that the CTR symbol is not a religious one particular to the LDS church. It originated with Mormons and is not used by other faiths. My Baptist friends in Utah are happy to CTR, but they would never wear a CTR ring. For them, it is a declaration of being Mormon, not choosing the right.

Similarly, my LDS friends don't wear crosses. Other religions claim it is a symbol of dedication to Christ--a position that Mormons support. For Mormons, however, it isn't one of our religious symbols and signifies a different meaning. Our *behavior* is our "symbol" of dedication to Christ...a symbol that shouldn't be removed when we enter the public school.

Min--are they asking the kids not to wear religious symbols, or just faculty and staff? You're right, good luck enforcing that in this region of the country.

Mindy said...

It's a staff thing. And I doubt they'll ever "enforce" it around here.

Bonnie Wayne said...

People get so tied in knots over the STUPIDEST THINGS! Oh my goodness - it shouldn't even be in question! Its a shield with CTR for heaven's sake! If they disallow that they should outlaw anything to do with global warming because people treat that like a religion. There is one school that implemented global warming words OVER the pledge of allegiance words so that they pledge allegiance to the earth. TOTALLY DISTURBING. Those kinds of things just irk me!

I Want to Hear From You!