I admit I had to chuckle over this devilish dilemma: A father in Georgia just learned that his 9th grade son would soon be attending a high school that has a demon (a much more ferocious-looking demon than the one above) for a mascot. For the next four years his young son will be a demon.
The father is a pastor and he doesn't like the idea of his son, as well as the city's teenagers who attend that school, being identified as something the dictionary defines as an evil spirit. He doesn't like the message that sends. He asked that his son be transferred to another school. The word came down: No transfer. So he is starting a petition to change the school mascot.
The school district says the change isn't going to happen. It seems that no religious intention was in the mind of the people who originally chose the demon as the school's mascot. The demon image came from the 7th fighter squadron at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, which earned its nickname in the South Pacific during WWII. They called themselves "The Screamin' Demons." Therefore, the explanation is that the image is not devilish but patriotic.
The pastor (and here's where I laughed) points to a picture of the Demon mascot at a football game and says simply "There's no airplane there."
I can't say as I blame the pastor for his position. Were I a pastor I'd probably feel the same way. Would I have the strength of my convictions? Probably not, as I tend to go through life making lots of allowances for things. So I admire this pastor. Do I blame the school for staking out its position? No, I say change the important stuff and leave the little stuff alone.
But for goodness' sakes, let the man enroll his son in another school.
2 comments:
interesting!
It seems that there can be something objectionable about any mascot these days. I guess if I were religious, or I really thought about stuff way too much, I'd object to the demon name.
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