A young Sikh wishes to wear his ceremonial kirpan dagger to school. Instead of applying Zero Intelligence the school says OK.
Now, I’ll admit that I believe the only reason this Michigan school allowed this is because the 4th grader is a Sikh and that Political Correctness has caused more brain damage than drinking rubbing alcohol. If a 10 year old Christian wished to bring in some sort of slightly sharpened stick, they’d be looking at ten to fifteen years in a Federal Pound Me In the Ass penitentiary.
Now, I may disagree with their reasoning behind doing this (or at least my belief in their intent) but I wholeheartedly agree with the result, and I’d like to see this extend into the rest of the school system. The kirpan this child is wearing is dull with no sharp edges. It’s no more dangerous than the scissors they use in art class which is to say, it’s only as dangerous as the person wielding it. In fact, it has a much greater potential to be used to cause harm than a stick figure illustration of someone with a gun.
Now, being that the school has grasped the concept that a dull piece of metal is of such small risk that its permissible for a 4th grader to walk around with it, one would hope that they start applying the same logic to things like pocket knives, butter knives in a lunch box, aspirin for a headache, or fingers pointed like guns. It would tickle me pink to see a student discover a shotgun shell in their backpack and the principal do nothing more than hold onto it and give it back at the end of the day.
All through my middle and high school years, I carried a Swiss Army Knife. There were times when my teachers would ask me for it so they could cut something or if they needed the little screwdriver. The concept that a child should face felony charges, expulsion, and a myriad of other punishments for doing what I did only 25 years ago is simply mindboggling.
Now, I have absolutely no belief that this is going to change jack squat. This is PC’ism gone amuck and you’ll still see students facing the death penalty for using phrases like ‘jumping the gun’ during creative writing class. However, if a fourth grader can be trusted to carry a piece of metal, then there is at least hope.
Sean Sorrento finds some interesting information on the Kirpan and its symbolism to the Sikh
The kirpan is both a defensive weapon and a symbol. Physically it is an instrument of "ahimsa" or non-violence. The principle of ahimsa is to actively prevent violence, not to simply stand by idly whilst violence is being done. To that end, the kirpan is a tool to be used to prevent violence from being done to a defenseless person when all other means to do so have failed.
Like Sean, I see this as pretty much exactly why I carry a gun. The simple threat of being able to respond to force with overwhelming force has more potential for peace than forcing everyone to walk around defenseless.
Random thing recently heard from an anti: "The 2nd amendment? Isn't that the shitty one?" To tell the truth, I just stood there. I couldn't think of anything to say to that.