School code decisions
take different
stances on religion

Kaimuki removes a ban on
Satanism, but McKinley holds
firm on a reference to God

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By Mary Adamski
madamski@starbulletin.com

Satan's OK, but God stays, too.

That's not the news from the battlefront of good and evil; it's the latest word on freedom of speech in Honolulu high schools.

A phrase in the Kaimuki High School dress code which outlawed T-shirt slogans and other items reflecting "Satanism" has been deleted in reaction to a complaint that the ban discriminated against one particular belief system.

Meanwhile, McKinley High School has decided not to delete a line about "love for God" from the school's Code of Honor, which was the target of a complaint that it violates the separation of church and state.

Kaimuki Principal Gary Oyama yesterday deleted the Satanism reference from the student handbook posted on the school's Web site.

His action came in response to a complaint made by Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church.

The group's president, Mitch Kahle, said the complaint originated with a Department of Education employee, a self-proclaimed Satanist.

The employee "found the prohibition offensive and discriminatory," Kahle said.

"He has a right to complain because it is his religion."

Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said the reference may have reflected "a national consciousness of tragic events on other campuses."

People have analyzed school violence, such as the two students who killed 13 people at Columbine High School in April 1999, in terms of influence from sources ranging from hate groups to violent rap music lyrics.

"They may have tried to rule out evil and destruction and may have tried to lump it under one word, sum it up as Satanism," Kahle acknowledged. "I understand school opposition to any expression promoting violence but it is inappropriate to single out a religion."

Knudsen said school dress codes have the goal of promoting "a safe and appropriate atmosphere, to avoid disrupting learning. Schools do have authority to set limits."

The Kaimuki High dress code now prohibits "gang-related clothing and other clothing and accessories which promote drugs, alcohol, tobacco or profanity." There is no immediate plan to reprint the handbook to delete the offending word, Knudsen said.

The Attorney General's Office issued an opinion stating that the reference to God in the McKinley High code is allowable, Knudsen said.

"We won't be changing it," he said. "It doesn't have a direct effect of promoting religion."

The Code of Honor, which is printed on posters and is sung or recited at events, affirms that a McKinley student stands for a myriad of attributes including "brotherhood of races all combined and love for God and all mankind." Knudsen said the code is historical, dating to a 1927 class competition.

Kahle said the decision to hold onto the "love for God" language will face a court challenge.

Yesterday his group got support from the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation which said previous federal court decisions uphold the stand. The group urged that a new student competition be employed to replace not only the reference to God but also "mankind" as a non-inclusive gender reference.

In a letter to McKinley-Roosevelt Complex Superintendent Raelene Chock, the foundation's Annie Laurie Gaylor wrote: "We believe the prevailing precedent that any court would apply to a challenge would be Stone v. Graham ... which found that the mere posting of religious words on a wall, even if they were not recited or read aloud, constituted an impermissible encroachment of religion upon a captive audience of schoolchildren."

Kahle said his efforts cannot be interpreted as pro-Satan or anti-God.

"I don't subscribe to any superstition," he said. "I am in favor of separation of state and church. If I had a call from a Christian who said 'the school said my kid cannot wear a cross' I'd be on it. There's no way government can discriminate against just one religion. It wouldn't be very long for them to go beyond and add another to the list."

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