A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on December 15th, 2009 in General

Chalk this up as the misleading aimed-at-inciting-the-fundies headline of the day: Mayor: School boss should apologize to boy who drew cross

The story goes that a boy drew an image of Jesus on the cross and was sent home for it. Or, as this story lies:

Taunton Mayor Charles Crowley called School Superintendent Julie Hackett from his vacation today and asked her to apologize both privately and publicly to the family of an 8-year-old special needs student sent home from school and ordered to undergo psychological testing after drawing a stick-figure picture of Jesus Christ nailed to the cross.

The real non-story is hidden:

The Lowell M. Maxham Elementary School second-grader was booted from the school on Dec. 2 when school officials feared his artwork – drawn to depict what he did on his Thanksgiving break – might be exposing violent tendencies. The child was allowed to return on Dec. 7 after a two-day risk assessment by psychiatrist Helene Titelbaum determined there was nothing wrong with him.

“(The boy) does not appear to be a threat to himself or others at this time. Therefore, I recommend that he return to school as soon as possible,” Titelbaum concluded in her report, a copy of which was obtained by the Herald.

The boy’s father, Chester Johnson, 40, a part-time maintenance worker for the Taunton School Department, told the Herald his son drew Jesus after visiting the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Attelboro to see its Christmas display. He then put his own name on the cross instead of Jesus.

The boy was not sent home for drawing a picture of Jesus on the cross. He was sent home for drawing a picture of himself being crucified. And the Superintendent should apologize for…what?

Of course, there’s someone stoking the fires of nonsense:

Toni Saunders, an educational consultant with the non-profit Associated Advocacy Center in Sandwich, who was asked to help the family by their pastor, said, “I heard the story and I was appalled, to put it mildly.”

“My intention is to shed light on what is happening to children in schools because of zero tolerance,” she said. “I’m sure they expected Santa Claus or a reindeer, but that’s not where this child’s mind was.”

Johnson, she said, ”just wants to get his son out of the school. His son is really traumatized from this event.

“This is one of those ‘How is this possible?’ scenarios,” she said. “We live in a society where we’re supposed to honor children and their imagination.”

I’m not sure what she means by “honor children and their imagination.” But I’m pretty sure the teacher would have been satisfied with a picture of Jesus on the cross. But when children draw a picture of themselves being hurt…well, that is a major warning sign for abuse. Not to mention wanting to hurt others.

Now, to show how stupid this all is:

Chester Johnson told WBZ-TV that his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his second-grade teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the holiday.

Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross. Johnson, who is black, told WBZ he suspects racism is involved. He said he thinks the school overreacted and wants an apology.

Can someone – anyone – explain the racist aspect to this? Are white kids allowed to picture self-mutilation and a torturous death for themselves and it goes unnoticed?

Superintendent Julie Hackett said she could not discuss an individual student and did not address the drawing specifically or the teacher’s reaction to it, but did say the school has safety protocols in place that were followed.

Hackett did not return multiple calls from The Associated Press on Tuesday.

In June 2008, a Taunton fifth-grade student was suspended for a day for a stick figure drawing that appeared to depict him shooting his teacher and a classmate.

No word on whether the artiste was black or not.

Now, here’s something of interest – notice the difference between these two pics?

The one on the left is taken from Yahoo News’ AP feed – and it clearly shows the boy’s name on the cross. The one on the right is from the Boston Herald – and you can clearly see that it was altered (erased) to match the more hysterical nature of their story.

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