If you follow fundamentalist or right wing (not much of a difference these days) blogs, you know all about the little boy who was suspended for drawing a picture of Jesus. It's a travesty, proof that the atheists have won, Christians are persecuted in the US, and the end of days is upon us!
Except that it never happened.
Julie Hackett, superintendent of Taunton Public Schools, said the student was never suspended and that neither he nor other students at the Maxham Elementary School were asked by their teacher to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas or any religious holiday, as the (local) newspaper reported and the (boy's) father suggested....She said the boy's drawing was seen as a potential cry for help when the student identified himself, rather than Jesus, as the figure on the cross, which sparked the teacher to alert the school's principal and staff psychologist.
Bravo to the teacher! I would very be concerned about a little boy who saw himself as Jesus on the cross, and hopefully I would have the courage to brave said little boy's parents' potential wrath and make sure professionals were called in to help. Nobody did anything wrong in this case, with the exception of an interview happy father more than willing to prostititute his son's potential troubles to the lie of Christian persecution in the US.
This will in no way stop the fundys from using this case as proof of their persecution, nor will it teach anyone a lesson about getting the entire story before drawing conclusions. You'd hope that it would, but it won't.
Actually from what I read the father was blaming it more on racism than christian persecution (the father and son are black). Either way it is over inflated.
ReplyDeleteIt was the fundies claiming christian persecution.
ReplyDeleteI read about this over on LGF (god it's still weird typing that) and apparently Malkin is freaking out over this. I know, shocking! Her followers are starting to threaten to go after the teacher. Of course the lovely Malkin was one of the first people to spread the false story across the internet.
ReplyDeletemeh. my kids draw all sorts of things. I would hate to get hauled into the school psychologist every time. And if you ask them about a drawing, they will have a different story to go with it each time.
ReplyDelete@Julie
ReplyDeleteThere's a big difference between making drawings of various things, and drawing pictures of an execution and indication that the artist is the victim. Particularly at that age. If this child has a borderline martyr complex, he needs to speak to a psychologist and work it out. A martyr Complex is not a healthy thing.
Like most things, there are two (or more) sides to every story. So, when I heard about this, it seemed to me that there was something more to it. So, thanks for this. As far as Christmas being persecuted, I saw a LOT of Christmas decorations in Sears when I went looking for this season's "must-have" (Beatles Rock Band). Don't get me wrong-I love Christmas and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I just don't get hysterical when someone at Wal-Mart says "Happy Holiday" instead. We've got enough problems.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I got bumpkus at Sears.