If nothing else, Ellenville resident Jim Graham and his Parents for Positive Change advocacy group have certainly demonstrated their persistence. After stirring up a hornet's nest of opposition to their initial proposal of changing the name of the Ellenville Blue Devils to the Saints, they have returned with a revised, seemingly innocuous proposal to create a new mascot exclusively for the Elementary School, the venerable Boy with the Boot. Now as the icon prominently displayed at the top of nearly every edition of the Ellenville Journal, we have no trouble in theory with this choice. Other than, say, a big letter "E", what could be less controversial than a decades old, G-rated statue?

So on the face of it the proposal seems harmless enough. Yet after the failure of the more radical attempt to change the name for the entire school, one has to wonder what is the real motivation behind the new, scaled back proposal? Despite the group's claims to the contrary, it is difficult to believe that religion plays no part in this issue. To a secular or more tolerant religious audience, the name "Blue Devils" is as benignly negative as "The Pirates" or "The Raiders". Granted, to some the Blue Devils could be on a par with, say, the Rampaging Huns, but even so it still does not inspire nearly enough antipathy in most people to form an advocacy group for change. The mere mention of the Devil only offends a particular and fairly narrow religious sensibility, and that cannot be a reason to prevent a secular institution from using the name.

The new proposal seems similar in strategy to other, more controversial attempts to inject religion into public education. Unable to force prayer directly into classrooms, advocacy groups around the country have had to use indirect, deceptive methods such as creationism or intelligent design to evangelize their particular religious beliefs in schools. Does a mascot of a Boy with a Leaky Boot bring religion into Ellenville Elementary School? Not directly, no, but it does create a conflict with the current mascot of the Middle and High schools, and sets the stage for the conflict to be played out at a later date, perhaps years later, when a large population of the school system will identify with a different symbol.

Mr. Graham is a soft-spoken, earnest man with a surprising sense of humor about the commotion he has caused. Even those who vehemently disagree with him have to admire his courage. Mixing it up with America's twin heavyweights of God and Football is not for the faint at heart. The issue will be discussed publicly for the first time on Tuesday, November 28 at 7:30PM in the high school's Media Center at the monthly school board meeting. We encourage everyone to attend and join the show.

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