By now, many of you have likely heard about this story where a second grader was suspended from school for drawing a picture of Jesus and forced to see some kind of therapist.
Here’s the pic:
Hot Air has the story.
This is what happens when zero-tolerance policies are administered by people with zero intelligence with a little anti-Christian bigotry thrown in. If only the kid had dunked the picture into a bucket of urine, not only would he not have been suspended, he’d probably be getting grants to continue his insightful and daring work.
December 16, 2009 at 4:18 am
wow.
December 16, 2009 at 4:30 am
That's is exactly what I was going to say: WOW!
December 16, 2009 at 4:50 am
Those of us with children in public school should all have the kids draw crucifixes in class this week, as they doodle "holiday-related" images.
December 16, 2009 at 6:31 am
The school claims this was a violent image. But words and images are symbols. They have no meaning in and of themselves, they mean what the people who use and recognize them intend them to mean. The crucifix is not a symbol of violence, but of love. This has been the understanding of the meaning of the crucifix since Christians adopted it. It's absurd for the school to claim otherwise.
December 16, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Some highlights from the real story in today's Boston Globe:
(Taunton School Superintendent) Hackett said the student, age 9, was never suspended and that neither he nor other students at the Maxham Elementary School were asked by the teacher to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas or any religious holiday…
“Religion had nothing to do with this at all, 100 percent nothing to do with it,’’ Hackett said, adding that Taunton is known as “The Christmas City.’’
She said the drawing was seen as a potential cry for help when the student identified himself, rather than Jesus, on the cross, which prompted the teacher to alert the school’s principal and staff psychologist. As a result, the boy underwent a psychological evaluation.
link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/12/16/taunton_officials_dispute_reports_on_jesus_sketch/
December 16, 2009 at 1:08 pm
This is just another example of what happens when the juvenile delinquents are in charge of making decisions about children. They see in those children the very monsters that hide under their own beds and whisper suspicions in their heads.
December 16, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Thank you, Craig, for your efforts to spark a real discussion.
December 16, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Craig: A certain judgment is in order here. If the drawing was about himself with his face being shoved into the toilet by his dad, then escalation would be reasonable but, on a crucifix for a 7 year old?
December 16, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Hm… it sounds like this boy has a better grasp of theology than any of his teachers. By our baptism we DO share in the death and resurrection of Christ. (Romans 6:3-6) To identify with the crucified Jesus is profound insight.
The Taunton administrators do have one thing going for them, however – they're right about the violence. It was a horribly violent and painful death; but they miss that the real pain was the weight of our sins, so that even Our Lord cried out that God had abandoned Him.
Craig – that's not the real story, or at least, not the entire story. The original report in the Taunton Gazette stated that this incident happened two weeks ago; that the child has special needs and was so spooked by the psych eval that he is transferring; and that the superintendent at first would not discuss things, but is now getting more of the story out.
Suspended? I think the superintendent is correct and that the child was never suspended… but to a special needs child and his parents, "sent home from school and to a psychiatric panel" certainly feels like a punishment, and I don't think they're being sensational by using the word "suspended." It's a reasonable interpretation of what did, in fact, happen to this boy – he was sent home for this picture.
You'll just have to forgive us believers for worrying about our civil liberties, and those of our grade-schoolers.
December 16, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Assuming the kid actually was drawing himself crucified, Christians are supposed to put themselves on the cross. If that image, in and of itself, is a sign of psychological problems then they better go examining all Christians. But a section later in the article craig linked to, lists a more likely explanation:
"Johnson acknowledged that his son identified himself on the cross, but he said it was only after he told school officials that his picture represented Jesus.
“He was scared, so he changed his story,’’ Johnson said."
So the kid was getting interrogated for blasphemy on account of drawing the Christian God (the most loathed of all gods) in an atheistic public school, got nervous and said it was he and not Jesus on the cross to try to acquit himself.
December 16, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Who labeled Cenk Uygur a liar and a "mohammedan" in spite of Uygur actually being agnostic? What I'm getting at is that even Uygur called the school's action an overreaction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH-fFJuXHIQ
Beware the blasphemous wisecracks in the comments–I simply wanted to show you that not all liberals are not crazed Jacobins or Bolsheviks. Come of the comments do agree that the action is an overreaction.
December 16, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Hmmm… good thing my kids don't go to public school—
One day my son (Then about a year old) was lying on a chalkboard with his arms outstretched. His sisters had sidewalk chalk and were drawing on his hands and feet. When I asked what they were doing they smiled angelically and said "Playing baby Jesus gets crucified!"
Of course, 'baby Jesus' thought the game was hilarious at the time…….. kids are weird.
December 16, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Rick,
A certain judgement is in order here. I think I'll wait a couple of more days to find out more about what actually transpired before declaring that the "War on Christmas/Christianity" is in full swing on the streets of Taunton.
December 18, 2009 at 12:04 am
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/35375_Facts_Not_A_Stumbling_Block_For_Malkin
Discuss.