Catholic school closes, then opens, its gates to a boy named Hell

[Madspirit]

(Don't yell at me. I wasn't sure where this belongs. It is topical and we do post religious news outside of the "Religion" forum. Also, I thought it might be an amusing break from the Sheehan/Pelosi threads. If it does not belong here, I apologize...Lee)


Catholic school closes, then opens, its gates to a boy named Hell

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- 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
among the principal, the parish priest and the family over his name.

But Alex Hell, 45, said he would rather send 5-year-old Max elsewhere
because the school balked at taking the boy over his family name.
Hell said he had Austrian heritage and that the name means "bright."

Hell, a Roman Catholic father of three, said he and his wife
initially offered to enroll Max using his mother's maiden name,
Wembridge, but later withdrew the idea because "it just didn't sit
right."

When the family refused to change the boy's name, the school withdrew
its offer of enrollment, and only backed down when Hell took his
story to the media.

"I'm disappointed," Hell said Tuesday. "It's 2007, not 1407. I don't
understand it, it's just a name."

Hell said the family was considering moving to his wife's hometown to
find a different school.

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."

[muntrv]

1. Would this same school will reject anyone with the last name Butts, Cox,

or Dickey?

[Madspirit]

2. I guess "Hell" just hit too close to home for comfort...n/t

[sabbat hunter]

7. or how about

lipschitz?

[Democrats_win]

3. Ah, the wisdom of the church. They are infallible.

[walldude]

4. This would be funny if it weren't so pathetic..

Glad the parents are standing up to the church. I guess the kid is lucky his last name wasn't Osbourne.

[redphish]

5. That's as Fed up as that church complaining about a US Highway 666.

and that state's DOT actually changing the highway designation. Many churches need a reality check.

[orleans]

6. ugh. (not you--but this story) more "christians" acting like total fuckers. n/t

[hfojvt]

12. Not exactly total. Nobody got killed.

Kinda funny that such a silly story has such legs. Is it really more important than the 15 people who died today in car accidents in Australia? (15 being a WAG) Any opportunity to make a church, or Christians look bad and it gets spread far and wide.

[orleans]

13. yeah, well, i'll tell you right now if that was my kid i'd be shouting this

story from the rooftops. i'd be absolutely furious.

how would you like a school to punish your little boy because of his last name?

[hfojvt]

19. they denied him admission

Not quite the same as punishment. Not even close. Plus they gave in, which makes it even less of a story.

Your fury is understandable, but it is not rational. If my name was Hell and I was able to get married, I probably would do the sensible thing and take my wife's last name, but I have enough trouble with the surname I have now.

[orleans]

20. okay--not "punishment" but certainly discrimination.

[MikeNearMcChord]

8. Would they allow the child of New York Islanders

Miroslav Satan? To go to that school?

[Wiley50]

9. The School's Gates Should, Forever, Be named After him

MAXimum HELL's Gates

[hfojvt]

10. I read that story almost first thing

My first thought was that the kid's first name was 'Hell' like Hell Tanner of the Roger Zelazny book (and movie) "Damnation Alley". The story I read did not mention a German meaning though. I had to look it up to make sure it was right, and it was. Hell, auf Deutsch, is 'hoellen'.
In German, hell also means 'clear', and 'light', and hellbier means 'light beer'.


I have alot of relatives in Deutschland named 'teufel' which means 'devil' auf Deutsch. In fact the President of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Irwin Teufel, was from that family. Probably that would slide unless the Priest was German speaking.

I think a Catholic school probably talks about hell alot, and having a child there with that name would be disruptive. Kinda like my co-worker whose last name was 'Petty'. Whenever I used that word to complain about office pettiness, he would say 'quit taking my name in vain.' Kinda funny the first time, but it got old.

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. There actually is a last name...Hell?

:wow:

[devilgrrl]

14. If you're Richard Hell there is.

[hfojvt]

15. First I've heard of it too

but there are apparently alot of them. So far I have 150 of them in the 1930 census and that is just in the state of Alabama. Is it really any stranger though than 'Pancake'. One of my relatives married a George Pancake and I went to look for him in the 1850 census, figuring he would be easy to find, but there were something like 7 George Pancakes in the 1850 census! I guess they lived next to the Bacon family and the Eggers.

[IDemo]

16. That Condom boy has to go, though

[Toasterlad]

18. Now THAT...Was Funny.

[Toasterlad]

17. It's Nice to Know That the United States is Not the Only Completely Asinine Nation in the World. n/t