Texas second-grader says teacher took away Bible during reading time

[Gadarene]

But it is pronounced aLOO-minum here.

So it's not really about phonetics then

rather it's just RONG

Also this: Aluminum or Aluminium?

Also this

 

[Hetta]

So it's not really about phonetics then

rather it's just RONG

Also this

I dunno. I just know it's spelled and pronounced differently.

 

[Gadarene]

I dunno. I just know it's spelled and pronounced differently.

Consistency of the -ium suffix among the elements is tidier, I think

 

[Cute Tink]

Consistency of the -ium suffix among the elements is tidier, I think

Americans are not necessarily known for tidiness.

 

[cow451]

Consistency of the -ium suffix among the elements is tidier, I think

Just an unnecessary letter that the US doesn't care to be bothered about.

 

[Hetta]

Just an unnecessary letter that the US doesn't care to be bothered about.

Because we're exhausted by words that are longer than eight letters?

 

[ToddNotTodd]

So it's not really about phonetics then

rather it's just RONG



Also this

USA! USA! USA! USA!

So there...

 

[Queller]

That saddens me.

My prayer goes out to people like that

I wonder why people who've never read the wonderful Book of God, are so scared of it?

What makes you think the teacher in question has never read the Bible?

 

[Queller]

6? In second grade?

My son was 6 when he started 2nd grade so it can happen. He was a good reader as well but I think an adult Bible would have been beyond him.

 

[Queller]

Americans spell a lot words based on fonetiks.

Of course we also pronounce words like Leicester and Worcester as "Lester" and "Wusta" so...

 

[Annabel Lee]

School can’t substantiate claims that Texas girl’s Bible taken away during in-class reading period

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

That saddens me.

My prayer goes out to people like that

I wonder why people who've never read the wonderful Book of God, are so scared of it?

Most likely?

The teacher probably misunderstood rules governing religious expression in public schools. That doesn't happen often, but it does happen. When it does, the teacher needs a warning on the first occasion, and termination from employment if it ever happens again. Simple as that. The teacher violated a student's civil liberties, but it was probably out of ignorant concern for their own job rather than a desire to deprive her of a freedom.

School can’t substantiate claims that Texas girl’s Bible taken away during in-class reading period

Ooooooooooooooooor, there's that. They could just be raising a stink for attention.

 

[cow451]

Because we're exhausted by words that are longer than eight letters?

Duh!!!.......yeah.

 

[dies-l]

That saddens me.

My prayer goes out to people like that

I wonder why people who've never read the wonderful Book of God, are so scared of it?

If this actually happened, I wouldn't be surprised if the teacher was actually a Christian. Some conservative churches actively claim that the Bible is not allowed in public school. Why would it be so hard to imagine that a teacher who attends one of those churches might believe it and act accordingly?

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

If this actually happened, I wouldn't be surprised if the teacher was actually a Christian. Some conservative churches actively claim that the Bible is not allowed in public school. Why would it be so hard to imagine that a teacher who attends one of those churches might believe it and act accordingly?

I kind of wonder about this. There has to be some effect to being given a drastic misrepresentation of the law on a regular basis, after all. I've been a conservative Christian in the past, and I can honestly say that if I had been inclined to believe all of the nonsense that people spewed, I would have been afraid to allow a child to read a Bible in class at that time.

 

[Gadarene]

Yeah, that was my thought.

 

[Sunshine Locket]

My son was 6 when he started 2nd grade so it can happen. He was a good reader as well but I think an adult Bible would have been beyond him.

Is there mention in the article that this was an adult Bible? There are childrens Bibles. How can we presume that wasn't what was being used in this case?

 

[dies-l]

I kind of wonder about this. There has to be some effect to being given a drastic misrepresentation of the law on a regular basis, after all. I've been a conservative Christian in the past, and I can honestly say that if I had been inclined to believe all of the nonsense that people spewed, I would have been afraid to allow a child to read a Bible in class at that time.

It strikes me that there is rather solid push among some on the far right to create a narrative of the American Christian as a persecuted minority, and to some extent this is a self-fulfilling prophesy. When a public school teacher does legitimately overstep, heavy handed reactions, like lawsuits, complaints to the media, and "GodTube" videos that claim persecution rarely, if ever, do anything to help solve the problem. Typically, such overstepping is the result of well-intentioned, but misinformed, public servants, doing what they believe is necessary to abide by the law. If the issue for the Christian parents is that they just want Johnny to be able to read his Bible in peace, the it would seem that a letter (possibly from an attorney's office) to the principal, school superintendent and/or the school district's attorney, would solve the problem 99+% of the time. Instead, what we typically see is someone filing a lawsuit or making a public issue out of how horrible Johnny was persecuted.

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

On top of that, there's the fact that a lot of people aren't really going to follow this case in the same way that people here are. We're a highly interested, committed minority. When you're a random middle-aged accountant who sees this on Fox News, you're not going to have the time or the inclination to follow through, and so you're only going to see the initial "teacher takes Bible" part.

 

[Armoured]

It strikes me that there is rather solid push among some on the far right to create a narrative of the American Christian as a persecuted minority, and to some extent this is a self-fulfilling prophesy. When a public school teacher does legitimately overstep, heavy handed reactions, like lawsuits, complaints to the media, and "GodTube" videos that claim persecution rarely, if ever, do anything to help solve the problem. Typically, such overstepping is the result of well-intentioned, but misinformed, public servants, doing what they believe is necessary to abide by the law. If the issue for the Christian parents is that they just want Johnny to be able to read his Bible in peace, the it would seem that a letter (possibly from an attorney's office) to the principal, school superintendent and/or the school district's attorney, would solve the problem 99+% of the time. Instead, what we typically see is someone filing a lawsuit or making a public issue out of how horrible Johnny was persecuted.

Hemant highlights a story out of a child in Missouri who was allegedly yelled at by a teacher for carrying a Bible. Her mother immediately took to Facebook to launch a protest and then ran to the local TV station rather than calling the school to file a complaint and resolve the situation. The school released this statement:

“The district officials and administration are disappointed that this complaint, this accusation, was not brought to our attention. In fact, we knew nothing of this issue until we started hearing rumors on Facebook. And then late last night Channel 4 came and did a story on it. In visiting with the high school administration, nothing had been brought to their attention. Nothing had been addressed to myself. So, as always, we cannot investigate, remediate or correct an issue unless we’re aware of it.
“We encourage parents and students, if they have a concern, to please bring it to the attention of the appropriate person so we can investigate it. As far as this morning, the supposed Bible protest, I was at the building and things seemed to be very normal and routine. Everything was in place and if there was a protest I’m not aware of it. Along with that fact, we have absolutely no problem with our students bringing their Bible.
“We firmly believe in freedom of religion and students practicing their religion, their faith. If all students wish to bring their Bible, read it and practice their faith, we would have no concern with that at all. Now that we have talked to the student and the parent, we’ve taken the information and we’re going to investigate a little bit further. It may be a story that could have been taken care of quickly with communication.
​

There are lots and lots of these situations around the country, some involving religious students and some of the involving non-religious students. They are almost always the result of ignorance on the part of a teacher or school administrator and the vast majority of them are resolved quickly and privately. Groups like the ACLU or the FFRF send out lots of letters to schools and that usually fixes the problem. Once in a while it requires going further and filing a lawsuit. But this mother’s first response was not to try to get the situation fixed, it was to turn herself into a martyr, which isn’t actually helping her child.
If the teacher in this situation did they are accused of, they should be reprimanded for it. It was a clear violation of the child’s rights and the law. But clearly the administration was ready to do what was right if they’d been informed about it. Solving the problem is always better than exploiting it.

Problem Solving is Better Than Persecution Poses » Dispatches from the Culture Wars