CA Teacher Forces Student to Stop Talking About Bible

CB328

I'm a bit confused as to why the child was interrupted during the presentation.

Because they started telling religious verses? I think it's right for schools to not have students preaching in school. Imagine if a muslim kid started quoting the Koran?

So First Amendment be damned then right? In case you are unaware, the Establishment Clause also restricts the Government from denying citizens from practicing their faiths how they see fit.

I find it humorous actually: There are clarion calls for "diversity" but when "diversity" happens, it is compartmentalized and restricted; or more seriously in this case, censored.

Letting kids, regardless of faith or tradition, be proud of it, is a good thing and this classroom just gave a lesson in "what the State wants, the State shall have".

I call BS on the whole "outrage over this" thing.

State run schools can discuss religious topics, they just can't FORCE students to take part in, or encourage any religious practice. If a teacher makes an assignment about 'Christmas Traditions' then the teacher is fully aware that religious practice will come into it. If the student was starting a religious devotion of some kind and not a family traditions discussion, then that is not an appropriate response to the assignment. If the student started the presentation with a reading from the Bible, instead of describing her family tradition of religious devotions during Christmas, that is not an appropriate response to the assignment.

There is no reason for outrage here, except towards the parents who undoubtedly 'helped' with the preparation of the 'presentation'.

Christmas remains a religious holy day, in spite of the neo-conartist's (like Palin, Limbaugh, and Beck) attempts to make it a retail spending excuse. The so-called 'War on Christmas' is an invented outrage meme, designed to ensure that Christmas is celebrated in shopping malls, not Churches. There are, never-the-less, many people who do not care that Christmas is a religious holy day and chose to treat it as a family/friends holiday. Everybody has family traditions, religious or non-religious, around Christmas time. Traditions can be discussed, in State run Schools, without preaching the Gospel.

reply to post by justreleased


This is just another example of the idiots that are teaching
in our public schools.

The teacher asked these kids to do something. Then when
they comply, the idiot suddenly sets guidelines? Against the very
thing the idiot asked for, knowing full well that he/she was
going to do to make a ststement, from the beginning. What a
piece of crap.

I don't give a damn if this kid was reciting the Quran, the Bible,
or the Satanic Bible she should not have been treated like that.

I can remember many assignments like that when growing up, but I don't ever remember any kid getting up in front of the class to read bible passages and I grew up in the bible belt.

Is this kids family tradition to sit around reading bible passages? How boring.I feel sort of sorry for her.

I did check out the sources mission statement, and it is clear they are out to destroy anything they deem left of extreme right so it could be we are not getting the whole story here. Just maybe. lol

My personal opinion is her parents put her up to this so they could make an issue out of it knowing full well that it wouldn't be acceptable. Oh well some people have nothing better to do.

reply to post by Grimpachi


Why feel sorry for her unless it's for the right reasons.
It's far more obvious this kids teacher didn't say anything
about the guidelines she suddenly decided to enforce.
And even more obvious that you're partial to your own bias
more speculative views. No Christian parents are gonna subject
there kid to such abuse unless their more looney than Christian.

But I can't stop you from try'n to demonize Christianity in
you're losing battle.But I can point out how obvious you are.

reply to post by randyvs


lol


The only battle I am fighting is the one with the weight I put on over the holidays. Why do religious folk try to create conflict?

BTW yeah I do feel bad for the poor girl whether its because she fell victim to some family inspired preaching, her christmas tradition being summed up as reading the bible, or that she feels left out because she didn't get to finish her sermon.

But hey kids are resilient she will get past it all. Probably faster than the adults.

reply to post by Grimpachi

But hey kids are resilient she will get past it all. Probably faster than the adults.

Now that I can respect.

Her sermon, that did get a grin out of me.

randyvs
reply to post by Grimpachi

 

Why feel sorry for her unless it's for the right reasons.
It's far more obvious this kids teacher didn't say anything
about the guidelines she suddenly decided to enforce.
And even more obvious that you're partial to your own bias
more speculative views. No Christian parents are gonna subject
there kid to such abuse unless their more looney than Christian.

But I can't stop you from try'n to demonize Christianity in
you're losing battle.But I can point out how obvious you are.

But do you know that? Do you know that there were no guidelines given, and that the student didnt simply ignore them?

I personally dont know either way, but to claim they definitely werent there is dishonest at best.

Having read the article, the following can be stated:

The school ultimately is wrong in this case, as it did open the door to this happening. They can not ask a question, about Christmas traditions, and then say to a student you can't speak due to religious overtones, cause it did make it an assignment for such.

Legal doors are tricky, cause once they are opened up, then the other side can not complain when it does not suit them.

reply to post by captaintyinknots


Come on get it straight.

Guidelines were suddenly and definitely enforced.
It is unclear if they were previously disclosed.

Probably shouldn't have used a legitimate source instead of that wingnut site. Here's an actual source:

www.nbclosangeles.com...

The teacher was definitely in the wrong. It wasn't like the kid was forcing her religion on anyone or using it to hate anyone like homosexuals (the article probably would've mentioned that if that was the case), she was merely talking about it. This is a huge overreaction on the Teacher's part.

randyvs
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

Come on get it straight.

Guidelines were suddenly and definitely enforced.
It is unclear if they were previously disclosed.

Randy, in the OP as well as the linked article it very clearly states-

Brynn's class was assigned to do a 1-minute presentation about an object that best represents their family's Christmas tradition.

Now I don't agree with the way the teacher curtly cut her off but the guidelines were clear, 1 minute about an OBJECT that represents their Christmas tradition. The star of Bethlehem was the object. Beginning with a biblical verse is not an object. Perhaps I'm splitting hairs because there is no record of which verse was to be read but either way the guidelines were clear beforehand. It's not like the satan worshipping teacher demanded a blood sacrifice or anything lol. I think it could have been dealt with a little more tactfully and ill refrain from speculating about whether adding the verse was the child's idea or parental inspiration.

Double post

ownbestenemy

So First Amendment be damned then right? In case you are unaware, the Establiswhment Clause also restricts the Government from denying citizens from practicing their faiths how they see fit.

It also only applies to their houses of worship not on public,tax payer funded property which a public school is.

The Establishment Clause has generally been interpreted to prohibit 1) the establishment of a national religion by Congress, or 2) the preference by the U.S. government of one religion over another. The first approach is called the "separation" or "no aid" interpretation, while the second approach is called the "non-preferential" or "accommodation" interpretation. The accommodation interpretation prohibits Congress from preferring one religion over another, but does not prohibit the government's entry into religious domain to make accommodations in order to achieve the purposes of the Free Exercise Clause.

Furthermore Engel v. Vitale ended prayer in public school class rooms and depending on the context of the biblical verse about to be read, it could have been interpreted as prayer.
en.m.wikipedia.org...

i say its good the teacher isnt allowing religion in her class especially bible verses for 'christmas' which in reality originally had nothing to do with some false messiah, although christians always need something to cry about it always has to be about them or they get butthurt.

Or, instead of jumping to conclusions after only hearing one side of the story, you could deny ignorance and hear both sides before trying to make definitive statements like

Guidelines were suddenly and definitely enforced.
It is unclear if they were previously disclosed.

Another Religious Right Tale Of Anti-Christian Victimization Gets Thoroughly Debunked

From the teacher:

At no time did I ever tell the student that she could not read the bottom section because it was a Bible verse nor did she ask if she could finish. I never told her to “Stop right there!” or “Go take your seat!” or reprimand her in front of the class for sharing from the Bible. It just did not happen. This subject matter was never discussed. I decided to stop her at that point so the other students would get their share in before the bell rang. My students have always been free to share their ideas.

From the principal:

When I met with the parent on December 20, 2013, she shared that she and her husband were upset that their child was unable to finish her presentation and that they thought it was because it contained a Bible verse. There were absolutely no claims of humiliation or bullying by the classroom teacher. No claims that their child was told to take her seat or that she could not talk about the Bible. These claims have been made in the midst of a media spotlight in order to sensationalize a story. The truth is, there were other students left to present before the end of the day, and there was just not enough time.

Furthermore, when I met with this parent I never told her that her child may not share her beliefs aloud to other students nor did I try to stifle her freedom of speech in any way. I told the parent that I would follow up with the classroom teacher, and I sent her the results of my findings along with the copy of the board policy regarding religion on December 24th, 2013. I have not heard from her since. Not once to tell me that she did not agree with my findings, not once to ask for a classroom change for her child. In fact, with the exception of today, this student has attended school every day since this incident, in the same exact classroom where this alleged incident occurred.

Also interesting to note is that this is hardly the first time Todd Starnes has embellished a story or only presented one side of the story in order to advance his career as a columnist and commentator:

Rick Perry, Fox News and Religious Right Activists Jump on Fabricated Case of Christian Persecution

Georgia school: We were ‘terrorized’ by Fox News’ false ‘Christmas card censorship’ report

Grimpachi
I can remember many assignments like that when growing up, but I don't ever remember any kid getting up in front of the class to read bible passages and I grew up in the bible belt.

Is this kids family tradition to sit around reading bible passages? How boring.I feel sort of sorry for her.

I did check out the sources mission statement, and it is clear they are out to destroy anything they deem left of extreme right so it could be we are not getting the whole story here. Just maybe. lol

My personal opinion is her parents put her up to this so they could make an issue out of it knowing full well that it wouldn't be acceptable. Oh well some people have nothing better to do.

Really? I went to high school with a devout YEC, he wouldn't hesitate to quote scripture or talk about God, and I DON'T live in the bible belt.