Looking at my calendar I see that it claims it is the year +2003 GC (Gregorian Calendar). I had to look to make sure, as now and then various bits of news concerning world events often makes me think I've somehow been mysteriously cast back into the Dark Ages. You know: a time when Earth was still flat, the bones of Tyrannosaurus Rex was proof of dragons having been terrorized by human hunters, and the planets were pushed about by mighty angels. Oh, and one more pre-enlightenment common occurrence: when witches were found under every rock, hiding in every woodshed, and living in every hollow oak tree.

Take for instance the case of Ms. Brandi Blackbear. Suspended from high school for "casting a spell upon a teacher," one is easily persuaded that it is indeed the twelfth century and not the start of the twenty-first. Has the Enlightenment been repealed, and no one bothered to send to me a post card letting me know? Or did the Renaissance just never reach parts of the New World yet (if ever)? If the Enlightenment has been rescinded, are we all supposed to smash our computers, stop paying our electricity bills, pierce our nostrils and earlobes to hang hare bones from, and live like savages? Or, I dare to hope, is it just that a few ignorant savages refuse to live in the modern age?

If in sooth one Neanderthal has been hiding amongst the faculty of Ms. Blackbear's school (Union Intermediate High School, Oklahoma City), why didn't the rest of the staff discover and remove the barbarian before he did any damage? Couldn't they tell they had a superstitious dullard on their hands just by looking at his brow ridge, recessed eyes, dragging knuckles, and bits of bloody Stylohipparion flesh stuck in his ratty beard? Or to put it more succinctly, how did such a simpleton become assistant principal in a modern-day educational facility?

The act of suspending Ms. Blackbear was unconscionable. The act of later DEFENDING that dastardly act is abominable. Shouldn't schools also teach the noble quality of taking responsibility for ones mistakes? Just what do educators believe they are telling students when they support a man who apparently committed a human rights violation against one of his students? A violation fueled by his belief in Dark Ages mysticism!

If Americans cannot rely on our educators to curb the ancient, obsolete insanity of magical beliefs, what bloody hope do we have of a brighter, happier, prosperous future?

• ACLU Complaint
• High School Expels Student for Casting a Sickening Spell
• The Twisted History
• ACLU Files Federal Lawsuit on Behalf of Student
• Suit claims student accused of evil spell
• Lockdown fever
• Spellbound