Grieving teen's rosary snatched; called gang-related

Just three weeks into the new school year, administrators in one Colorado school have taken rosary beads away from a high school junior – twice!
Surely, he must have been swinging them around, hitting teachers and fellow students in the face, one might mistakenly assume. On the contrary, officials decided to take this action because of fears the strand of Catholic prayer beads are symbols of the student’s gang activity.
As the student’s mother reports, this student wears the beads to help cope with the recent murder of a close family member. This apparently makes no difference to school officials who are facing mounting pressure to battle gang activity, whether real or imagined.
The school’s principal said certain gangs use rosaries as a way to identify other affiliated members. Though I don’t dispute that information, I can’t rationalize taking a genuine spiritual comforter because it had been hijacked by a few thugs somewhere.
Just as one can appreciate a stunning rainbow without being immediately identified as a homosexual, symbols used by certain groups should not be used to stigmatize everyone else for whom they represent something altogether different.
The only reason given for why either set of beads was confiscated was that the strand contained 13 beads, which authorities know is sometimes used by the Surenos to identify one another. Authorities might have known it, but the teen who had his beads taken said he did not. Further research showed only one of the two confiscated strands contained 13 beads; the other had 10.
Officials later commented on the matter, saying they gave the student the option to tuck the beads in his shirt. The student denied it, saying he would have gladly tucked the beads as a compromise.
Several of his classmates spoke out in his defense and, by all accounts, he was a good student. Using common sense, any school administrator could tell whether a student is a stealth gangster wearing his thugged-out rosary or a good kid who lost a family member to violence and clings to the beads because, as he said, “I feel safe when I have them on.”
Sadly, school administrators have many shortcomings and, in many instances, common sense is very high on the list.
B. Christopher Agee founded The Informed Conservative in 2011. Like his Facebook page for engaging, relevant conservative content daily.

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Library cards used to legitimize illegals?

We all know, after relentlessly being told by countless leftist media sources, that requiring anyone to possess a valid ID before voting is inherently racist. Although research shows such assertions stem from ideology rather than evidence, the opinion has been repeated so often many mistake it as fact.
The fact remains, though, that valid identification is required for a litany of purchases and services, so those without it remain at a distinct disadvantage in their daily lives. I believe legal citizens should be able to affordably attain identification, though the leftist push to give ID cards to illegal aliens would serve only to legitimize their presence and further reduce their accountability for flouting this nation’s immigration laws.
Never a state to be outdone in liberal nonsense, a California proposition hopes to issue library cards – library cards! – to Los Angeles residents, effectively replacing DMV-issued ID cards and even debit cards.
Why would anyone here illegally ever decide to seek citizenship when he or she can visit the neighborhood library and enjoy virtually all of the benefits of an American with none of the work? This is not a rhetorical question; I would genuinely love to hear an answer!
According to the wingnut councilman responsible for proposing this atrocious policy, his only concern is for the financial security of his constituents. Ostensibly, he wants to protect those without a bank account from scams and theft; in reality, he’s providing a backdoor path to pseudo-citizenship.
This is not the first occurrence of lawmakers dumbing down the definition of legitimate identification. Unsurprisingly, two other California cities – Oakland and San Fransisco – have implemented similar plans.
If successful, an estimated 300,000 Los Angeles residents will be able to take advantage of the program. The only requirement is proof of residency, which opponents of the measure say is all too easy to forge.
Liberal politicians, knowing their true intentions would repulse the vast majority of their subjects, always cloak despicable policy in disingenuous language. Those of us paying attention can easily dissect their wordplay, though. It’s up to us to let them know they won’t get away with it!
B. Christopher Agee founded The Informed Conservative in 2011. Like his Facebook page for engaging, relevant conservative content daily.

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