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April 27, 2006
The "Tolerance" of Public Schools
Doesn't this school system have anything better to do with its time and money?
After seven years, a court case involving a kindergartner's drawing of Jesus for a class assignment in the Baldwinsville school district will go to trial in federal court in Syracuse.The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear the Baldwinsville school district's request to have the case thrown out.
Now a federal judge in Syracuse will have to decide whether the district censored a Christian perspective, said Mathew Staver, attorney for the now sixth-grader Antonio Peck and his mother, JoAnne. He called it good news for Peck and other children in the nation.
"It's huge because if (the decision) had gone the other way it would allow teachers and school officials to treat religious perspectives like they're unwelcome," Staver said.
The details of the "offense" are an example of political correctness and sensitivity training run amok.
In June 1999, Antonio Peck was told to create a poster about the environment. Peck drew a picture depicting Jesus praying and two children kneeling before a rock with the word "savior" on it. The words "The only way to save our world" were across the top, according to earlier reports. Peck was told by his kindergarten teacher Susan Weichert to redo the assignment.He did.
The new drawing had people recycling and throwing away trash, as well as a robed man kneeling with his hands outstretched toward the sky.
The district displayed it along with 80 others in McNamara Elementary School's cafeteria, Staver said. But the picture was folded, hiding the robed man, presumed to be Jesus.
"It makes someone like Antonio feel like he's unwelcome, like his faith is wrong," Staver said.
This was a kindergartner's picture, for goodness sake. The supposed "tolerance" of other views in the school system has reached a new low, and keeps digging with each passing appeal. The school system will simply not allow religion to be tolerated.
Staver said the family ultimately wants the school district to adopt a policy that states "whenever students respond to class assignments they should be able to present religious perspectives," Staver said."They have refused to do so," he said.
Is it any wonder so many religious families opt to homeschool?
Posted by Doug at April 27, 2006 12:18 PM
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Doug,
You state "The details of the "offense" are an example of political correctness and sensitivity training run amok."
If it were only that - no problem. Unfortunately, today's definition of 'tolerance' is 'open hostility toward Christianity and rampant promotion of anything and everthing that opposes Christianity.' They are asking the courts to support that definition. This is a problem.
Posted by: bruce at April 28, 2006 10:23 AM
This is whats wrong with our great country. Some people have taken our constitution and twisted and deformed it. Those individuals can't understand what it means to have seperation of church and state. All that it means is the govn't cannot force a certain religion upon anyone. When I went to school we were taught that this country was founded by persons fleeing religios persecution in England, Spain etc. Only a total embisol would think different.
Posted by: Mike Boncella at October 12, 2006 10:21 PM