I thought this was funny ,hopefully you guys feel the same. Some comic relief does me good:

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Catholic School Opens Gates to Hell Boy

July 9, 2007 04:34 PM

MELBOURNE, Australia - The Hell family says it may tell a Catholic school in Australia where to go after it objected to enrolling their son because of his name.

Officials said the boy had been offered a place at the St. Peter the Apostle school in the southern city of Melbourne after discussions between the principal, the parish priest and the family over his name.

But Alex Hell said he would rather send 5-year-old Max elsewhere because the school balked at taking the boy over his family name.

"We are the victims of our name," Hell said Monday.

Hell said he and his wife approached St. Peter the Apostle school about enrolling Max because the boy was being bullied at his current school because of his name, the Herald Sun newspaper reported on its Web site.

The Catholic school supported a plan to enroll Max using his mother's maiden name, Wembridge, but then withdrew its invitation when the parents changed their minds about the name, Hell said. The school backed down and offered Max a place only when Hell took the issue to the media, he said.

"The school has turned around and said Max can go there, but why would you want to go there after being victimized?" Hell said.

The family was considering moving to his wife's hometown to find a different school, he said.

Director of Catholic Education in Victoria state, Stephen Elder, said using the boy's mother's name was the parents' idea to "assist the child in the transition of schools."

"After discussions between the parish priest and principal, St. Peter the Apostle School has made an offer of enrollment to the student," Elder said in a statement. "The school is working with the family in the best interests of the child."

Hell said he had Austrian heritage and that the name means "bright" or "light."

(Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

This is what happens when superstition and mythical dogma go overboard. Sure the kid's last name is Hell but does that mean that he is some demon or something in the school's mind? If that is the case every kid named Damian and Lucifer should be kicked out too. And I know a lot of Catholics with those first names. Perhaps they should have named their child Lucifer Hell. Then that would cause some major hype!

What I dont get is that if this father's family name has been Hell for generations, why didnt he or any of his ancestors get harrassed in the past. Especially if they are Catholic? Sounds like this church school needs to get their heads out of fantasy land where demons manifest into people and call themselves the Hell family and get on with teaching.

Just when I thought i've heard every crazy last name.

Maybe they thought the boy's name would disrupt the class too much,that's all.

But hey ,such are the consequences when you teach little kids about hell.

Aside from the boy getting teased and so forth I think it wouldnt cause to much rucuss. In my opinion ingnorance and fear are dismissed by knowlege. This is something those teachers at any school be it private, Catholic, or public should be teaching to eliminate such ignorance directed to such simplistic beliefs. This is something that should have created a hysteria two to three hundred years ago not today. names are names people are people. Kids should be taught as much as possible be it about hell or history to remove ignorance to others cultures and beliefs.

I always appreciate common sense and the bigger picture. You are so right !

And as far as rucuss , I remember we got our knuckles beat with rulers if we weren't behaving. that's why my german grandparents removed me from the school. Actually i got my hands swatted because I made a mistake with a stitch in embroidery class. (having no sex may make one moody ? hmmm...)

Luckily all nuns are not like this.




Especially the flying kind......

Thanks I appreciate our reply. I never went to a Catholic school but I have met some real heavy dogma believers in my time. I am a strong believer in Christ and the faith but when it comes to alot of the Catholic dogma I question what is really being presented by God and Christ and what is just put in the superstition bowl for believers to be kept in line. In my opinion all that matters is the strength in you love and relationship with God and Christ, everything else be it the Devil or Saints or Angels is superficial.

And when it comes to cranky priests and nuns because of sex, I do believe it is true what you are saying. God said it himself when he said that to be whole a man needs a woman and a woman needs a man, that union was created by God and is pure and holy. In my opinion when the church denies their priests and nuns marrage and union they are deneing them God's greatest gift to his children. To be whole and true with God we must first whole and true ourselves in both body and spirit. If one is lacking we are not whole.

I also have allways wondered if the church allows them a happy hand fun day once in a while? Perhaps if they did it would release all that nasty tension that gets thrown on you poor school kids' nuckles!

Well if he wasn`t going to be accepted simply for having the surname Hell then he shouldn`t want to enroll in such a school. It is obvious that the relationship between the student and the school administration and teaching staff simply wouldn`t have worked. Plus the reaction of the others students to such a name probably wouldn`t have been a positive experience for the kid.

Well I know that "private" schools can still discriminate for any reason. I know a lot of people that did not get into a Catholic school for no reason at all. At least the school gave a reason for the family to be able to go to the press with.

In my opinion if the administrators cannot overlook something superficial like this that perhaps that school should not be operating. From a religious spiritual thought the priest and nuns should look at the boy and judge his personal behavior and ethics in the classroom and not judge him because of his last name. It is their responsability as teachers and caregivers to acknowlege all students and give them the same care and respect. As I said if this school or any for that matter cannot overlook petty superficial BS then they should not be in that position or be operational.

And kids are kids. they tease and pick all the time in school. If it wasnt because of his name it would probably be because he likes powerrangers or wears blue socks and so forth. And I would think any classmate would give the boy a hard time for his name be it in any school religious or not.

The kid will get teased in any school.

[And kids are kids. they tease and pick all the time in school. If it wasnt because of his name it would probably be because he likes powerrangers or wears blue socks and so forth. And I would think any classmate would give the boy a hard time for his name be it in any school religious or not.
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I agree with you to a degree, but you still have to remember this is a Catholic school. Any therefore they were just looking after what they probably thought were the boys best interest. They are not as strict as they use to be but come on the name Hell in Catholic scool?. I am Irish and where I went to school everyone was Roman Catholic. I got picked on quite a bit (till I started to fight). Was it right? No but it's the reality of life. So I think that they just thought of "protecting" the child by not giving the other children one more reason to tease him.

But the when you look at the basic priciples of the matter that is not in the best interest of the child. It goes back to the church being supersticious in the boy because his last name is Hell. That is not in the best intrests of the child. The child should be treated like the rest of the children. equality and fairness in teaching the child should be the only thoughts in the teachers and administrators minds. If the boy's last name wasnt Hell he would be excepted right on the spot. The boy would be the same boy just with another last name. If you read the original post you will see that the school was willing to accept the boy if he changed his name. That is solid proof that it wasnt in the best interests of the child but in the best interest of their own ideals and beliefs.

I have issues with all the denominations, and especialy with the doctrines of the Catholic church. however I would like to point out that the reason the parents were trying to enroll him there in the first place was due to the boy being hassled at another school because of his last name.

as has been stated, kids will pick on other kids for a variety of reasons, but if the boy was being picked on so severely because of his last name that he had to change schools, then this school had no reason to believe that things would be different if he enrolled with the same last name. It would not make sense to accept the boy, only to have him withdrawn due to being picked on by the other kids, as happened in the previous school. This is not good for the boy either educationaly or socialy or emothionaly or mentaly. so in this instance i would have to agree with the schools choice.

to be honest, it doesn't matter what the name is, in this instance it happens to be hell. It could be anything that in one language means one thing, but in another language means something else entirely. If the name is causing their child such problems, then the parents should do something about it for his welfare. period.

EXACALLY