Shiver me timbers! A high school student in North Buncombe, NC has been suspended for a day for dressing like a pirate and coming to school wearing an eyebpatch and brandishing an inflatable cutlass:

The sophomore spent Wednesday at home after an administrator took issue with his accessories.

Buncombe County Schools says the eye patch was disruptive to classroom instruction. The student’s refusal to take it off after four warnings led to discipline, the district said.

“I feel like my First Amendment was violated,” Killian, 16, said. “Freedom of religion and freedom of expression. That’s what I tried to do, and I got shot down.”

Freedom of religion?

Yes, Killian says, his “pirate regalia” is part of his faith — the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Killian claims to be part of the Pastafarian religion, which requires him to dress like a pirate. We’re impressed. Where do we study our catechism?

This entry was posted on 03/31/07 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Sociology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.