School officials in Michigan's Plymouth-Canton district announced a new policy on Friday, to accommodate Sikh students. Males in that faith tradition are required to wear a small dagger known as a kirpan, to remind them to combat evil. For obvious reasons, that sort of thing can cause some consternation among parents and other students, but a reasonable allowance has been made, undoing a ban that had been put in place.
On Friday, the district issued a note to parents describing conditions that would be in place to allow students to wear kirpans, beginning today:
Any kirpan worn at school should be sewn inside a sheath in such a way that the blade cannot be removed from the sheath.
The blade of the kirpan is restricted in length to no more than two and one-fourth inches. This would take the object outside the scope of the Revised School Code’s definition of a knife constituting a dangerous weapon.
The blade of the kirpan must be dull.
The kirpan should not be worn on the outside of the clothing and should not be visible in any way.
Religious freedom at work!
