Why doesn't Sister Attio get out of ``harm's way" and into pioneering? Tsk, tsk....see what happens when a worldly college education leads you into a career path that tests your faith?
JW schoolteacher order to put up XMas tree
by blondie 34 Replies latest social current
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Scully
Island Woman:
If a school grants a child the right to not participate in religious holidays on the basis of freedom of religion how can the teacher be denied that same right?
Can you please explain how allowing the children to create and display their own artwork denies the teacher her right to free exercise of her religion, or compromises her JW conscience?? The school is owned by the taxpayers. The classroom belongs to the school, not to her. The walls on which the artwork will be displayed belongs to the school.
Does she tell the supermarket where she shops that their Christmas decorations are offensive to her? Of course not. She simply makes the choice to purchase the things that she wants, and allows other consumers the freedom to do the same. If she were a cashier in the store, she could respectfully decline to wear holiday garb or wish the customers a Merry Christmas, but she would not be permitted to dictate to management whether or not Christmas merchandise was sold on the racks in front of her cash.
She does have the right to ignore the holiday and all its trappings in her own home, but she doesn't have the right to dictate to children that they cannot think about or create anything related to the holidays that is important to them. Last time I checked, America wasn't under a communist regime. The free exercise of religion has to be tempered with tolerance for the free exercise of religion by others. She showed intolerance. Disciplinary action is justified, IMO.
Love, Scully
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IslandWoman
Scully,
Can you please explain how allowing the children to create and display their own artwork denies the teacher her right to free exercise of her religion, or compromises her JW conscience??
A kindergarten teacher is not passive. She must take the lead and show the children what to do and how to do it. A bulletin board display is not a passive accomplishment, it must be planned and executed by the teacher.
The children are not being denied the right to draw their religious symbols etc. because another teacher comes to the room and helps them with that. The sticking point seems to be the board display. In the early grades a board display outside of a teacher's classroom or inside for that matter represents not only the students in that class but also the teacher herself. Teachers take pride in these displays whether holiday oriented or academically and I can understand that for a devout JW, Muslim, Jew etc. it would pose a problem.
A smart principal would have made the JW teacher's board a multi-classroom winter scene display and have those students in her class that wanted to participate in a multi-classroom religious display on another bulletin board do so. Or some other compromise. Instead what is being taught is: to religiously conform is good and to not conform is bad.
IW
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Redneck
Instead what is being taught is: to religiously conform is good and to not conform is bad.
Its a multi cultural board..so whatever the kids belief is is what they put up..They dont belive in it then they can draw snowmen or something..
Her job isnt to punish the kids and not let them do it..If this teacher did not know that being a JW would have adveres effects on her and that she would have to deal with it in then she needs to upset with the fact that she has no common sense....at all...
she made a winter time display..obviously she did this without permission..Whats she teaching her students?..Its ok to not obey rulles if you think its OK..
Baaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhumbugg..
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Scully
Island Woman:
A kindergarten teacher is not passive. She must take the lead and show the children what to do and how to do it. A bulletin board display is not a passive accomplishment, it must be planned and executed by the teacher.
The school principal seems to disagree with your statement, because the principal has the right to decide what his or her school looks like - they have an accountability to the public they serve. You've already stated that the children are being allowed to make holiday-related art, led by another teacher. So what's the problem if the teacher (any teacher) - without judging the content of said holiday-related art - puts the art on display for the rest of the school to see? If she has a problem with the content of her students' artwork, why is she teaching in the first place?? Surely she had some clue when she took the job, that teaching 5-year old kindergarden children, that the curriculum revolved around seasons and the holidays that are connected with them. You can't live in North America without realizing that fact.
It isn't as though she's making an issue out of students putting up Neo-Nazi artwork or essays, or drawing pictures that could be construed to support Al-Quaida. She needs to pick her battles more carefully. Imposing your conscience on other people who have the same rights and freedoms as you do is going to get you in trouble.
Nuff said.
Love, Scully
Edited by - Scully on 24 December 2002 15:21:18
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IslandWoman
Hi Redneck,
You wrote:
Whats she teaching her students?..Its ok to not obey rulles if you think its OK..
I am sure you are aware that the rightness or wrongfulness of "rule breaking" is all in the intent of the breaking. At times it can be classified as a wrong other times it is comes under the classification of integrity.
For the sake of integrity many people have disobeyed rules that they could not in all conscience comply with.
Welcome to the board.
IW
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IslandWoman
Hi Redneck,
You wrote:
Whats she teaching her students?..Its ok to not obey rulles if you think its OK..
I am sure you are aware that the rightness or wrongfulness of "rule breaking" is all in the intent of the breaking. At times it can be classified as a wrong other times it is comes under the classification of integrity.
For the sake of integrity many people have disobeyed rules that they could not in all conscience comply with.
Welcome to the board.
IW
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rocketman
Very interesting post and discussion.
In some ways, I do side with the teacher, though she seems (like many jws) to be playing up the whole victim thing, sounds hypocritical ("This is America" - funny how all of a sudden they hide behind the Constitution), and lacks tactfulness in her expressions.
One question however that comes up in my mind is - who's classroom is it, really? This is not her home - it's a school classroom, and while she has a say in what goes on in the classroom, she is not the final authority as to what is to be done in that room. The school board, and the state, have authority over her.
I think Gopher and Scully make some excellent points too, so I am divided a bit on this one.
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144thousand_and_one
Scully,
The problem with the "multiculturism" approach is that it excludes those who choose not to believe in man's religions. Scam (church) and state ought to be separate!
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Scully
I don't know if the teacher will get much support from the WTS's legal department, in view of this "Questions from Readers" article that was published in the December 15, 2001 Watchtower:
WT 12/15/2001
Questions from Readers
How can a Christian wife balance loyalty to God with submission to her unbelieving husband if he shares in religious holiday activities?
Her doing so will require wisdom and tact. But she is doing the right thing in striving to balance her two obligations. Jesus gave counsel about a parallel situation: "Pay back, therefore, Caesar's things to Caesar, but God's things to God." She is one of "Caesar's" employees, is she not?? (Matthew 22:21) Granted, he was dealing with obligations to governments, to which Christians were later told to be in submission. (Romans 13:1) Yet, his counsel finds a parallel in a wife's balancing her obligation to her husband, even if he is an unbeliever.
No one familiar with the Bible would deny that it stresses that a Christian's first obligation is to Almighty God, to be loyal to him at all times. (Acts 5:29) Still, in many situations a true worshiper can accommodate the requests or demands of an unbeliever in authority while not sharing in a violation of God's elevated laws.
We find an instructive example in the three Hebrews, as related in Daniel chapter 3. Their governmental superior, Nebuchadnezzar, decreed that they and others present themselves on the plain of Dura. Realizing that false worship was scheduled, the three Hebrews would likely have preferred to avoid being there. Perhaps Daniel was able to excuse himself, but these three could not. So they complied to the extent of appearing, but they would not - and did not - share in any wrong act. --Daniel 3:1-18.
Similarly, around holiday times an unbelieving husband might request or demand that his Christian wife do something she would like to avoid. Consider some examples: He tells her to cook a certain food on the day he and others will celebrate a holiday. Or he demands that the family (including the wife) visit his relatives on that day for a meal or simply as a social call. Or even prior to the holiday, he might say that while his wife is out shopping, she must make some purchases for him - foods unique to the holiday, items to use as presents, or wrapping paper and cards to use with his gifts.
Again, the Christian wife ought to be determined not to share in false religious acts, but what about such requests? He is the family head, and God's Word says: "You wives, continue in subjection to your husbands, as it is becoming in the Lord." (Colossians 3:18) In these cases, can she show wifely subjection while being loyal to God? She must decide how to balance obedience to her husband with her overriding obedience to Jehovah.
At other times, her husband may ask her to cook a certain food, whether it is because it is his favorite or because he is used to having that meal in a particular season. She will desire to show love for him and recognition of his headship. Could she do so even if he made the request on the occasion of a holiday? Some Christian wives might be able to do so with a good conscience, simply considering it as a normal task of preparing the daily meal. Certainly no loyal Christian would attach any holiday significance to it, even if her husband did. Similarly, he might require her to be with him when he visits his relatives at various times each month or year. Could she do so even if it was the day of a holiday? Or would she normally be willing to purchase things at his request, without judging what he intends to do with the items she buys for him while doing her shopping?
Of course, the Christian wife should think of others - the effect on them. (Philippians 2:4) She would like to avoid giving any impression that she is linked to the holiday, just as the three Hebrews may likely have preferred that others not see them travelling to the plain of Dura. So she might tactfully try to reason with her husband to see if, out of consideration for her feelings, he might do certain holiday-related things for himself to accommodate a wife who loves and respects him. He might see the wisdom of not putting both of them in a potentially embarrassing situation if she would have to refuse to engage in false religious acts. Yes, calm discussion beforehand might lead to a peaceful solution. - Proverbs 22:3. Does insultingly referring to someone else's religious traditions as "pagan" qualify as "tact"?
In the final analysis, the faithful Christian wife must weigh the facts and then decide what to do. Obedience to God must come first, as it did with the three Hebrews. (1 Corinthians 10:31) But with that in mind, the individual Christian has to decide what non-compromising things can be done at the request of one having authority in the family or in the community.
144001:
I tend to disagree with your view of multiculturalism. A person who chooses to not participate in religious observances at all can still participate in an art class. For instance, the way the teacher put up winter-themed artwork was a non-observance of the holidays. As a teacher, she just can't excuse herself from doing her job... which includes teaching kids about art and getting them to express their creativity. I was excused from doing "Christmas" stuff in school, but I still had to do SOMETHING, I couldn't just sit in class with my arms crossed and do nothing. The objectives of the curriculum still had to be achieved, even if it was in art class.
Love, Scully