Utah teacher forces Catholic student to wipe ashes off his forehead

[Ohiogal]

A Utah elementary school teacher apologized to one of her Catholic students Wednesday - and may still face disciplinary action - after she forced him to wash off the Ash Wednesday cross on his forehead, the boy’s family said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/utah-teacher-forced-student-to-wash-off-ash-wednesday-cross-on-forehead-family-says/ar-BBUv3Yi?li=BBnb7Kz#page=2

How did this woman ever become a teacher if she never read the First Amendmen?

(Sorry about the source of the article... I couldn’t find it on another more reputable site)

[NightWatcher]

1. Oh crap, did student's forehead lose it's magical powers?

I don't care what the teacher did, I just wish we could get passed the "mythology phase" of the human experience.

[theboss]

2. First post in.

Boom!

[LanternWaste]

4. Just as valid and realistic to realize nations, economies and politics are just as imaginary.

Just as valid and realistic to realize nations, politics, economies and philosophy are just as imaginary, and that we should "get over it"

But I get it... some imaginary constructs are more real than others, or something.

[hunter]

10. Hopefully, the same rules that protect "mythology" also protect atheists.

Imagine a classroom where the teacher singled out the kid who didn't have ashes...

I grew up Jehovah's Witness and then Quaker after the Witnesses became intolerant of my mom's politics. I never participated in the flag salute and believe me, it was uncomfortable at times. But I'll bet a kid who refused the flag salute for non-religious reasons would have faced even more difficulties in most of the U.S.A..

The same authoritarians who would wipe ashes off a Catholic child's forehead might also force an atheist's child to say prayers in school.

[sarisataka]

11. May I inquire

If you would also support a teacher requiring a student to remove a yarmulke or hijab?

[Jake Stern]

19. You know the answer to that

Apparently, it's okay to mock and belittle a Christian student who was compelled to remove a religious symbol but the shit would hit the fan if a DUer mocked and belittled a Muslim student who was forced to remove her hijab.

[MicaelS]

24. Absolutely.

Only certain Faith's are "protected". Otherwise, it is open season.

[workinclasszero]

34. Yeah the contrast is jarring

[harumph]

13. It's not about "magical power" it's about humility and accepting one's mortality.

I would think that sentiment would also be valued by agnostics and atheists. It's about
being mindful and repentance.

I'm a mostly lapsed - "Chreaster" Catholic... but the anti-Catholic bias at DU is hard to take at times.
But hey - the Klan were (and are) anti-Catholic too - if that's any consolation.

[pnwmom]

16. Good post, harumph. Thanks! n/t

[Chin music]

26. +1

[area51]

41. +1 n/t

[workinclasszero]

31. Yeah that could work in other ways too

Like punishing atheist kids in school for what they don't believe.

If we aren't all free, none of us are.

[Panich52]

3. Is she anti-catholic or just managed to reach at least

her mid-20s without ever hearing of the importance to them of Ash Wednesday?

I'm a confirmed atheist, but I just can't think of how a teacher could be so disrespectfully ignorant.

[BeeBee]

14. I actually attended this elementary school some forty-odd years ago.

My old hometown of Bountiful, UT is about 80% Mormon. I would be willing to bet that she probably didn't have any idea what it was. Unfortunately, a lot of people there live in a Mormon bubble.

[LanternWaste]

5. Maybe the teacher thought the student was just trying to get attention.

That seems the trendy bumper sticker week, so maybe she could co-opt it.

[Hortensis]

6. Well, she's apologized. As long as it was an overdue learning experience

and attitude is what it should be...oh, well? The latter is in question, of course, but time and feedback can be big factors in developing awareness.

We used to live in a neighborhood with a lot of Mormons, if that's part of what happened here. Same as any other people -- some by nature (assuming liberals and some conservatives) could be open to and respect others, while many others took pride in not. Their church didn't exactly encourage ecumenicalism, and I'm very sure it just didn't occur to some to wonder if they should know something about, and respect, other religions anyway.

[CatMor]

7. What that teacher did is outrageous ....

I question her ability to be a teacher. What could she have been thinking to treat a child in that manner. How could you be an adult teacher and not know of Ash Wednesday.

[Chin music]

27. Never saw Ash Wed Ashes before? Ever? Good Lord.

[FreeState]

33. Easy - you ever been to Utah

I never once saw Ashes on foreheads there - I lived there for 8 years. I worked with people that had never ventured outside their town.

[jcmaine72]

8. " How did this woman ever become a teacher if she never read the First Amendment? "

Sadly, a person doesn't have to be smart or well-read to become a teacher. Before switching my major to history, I was an education major. While I generally found the majority of my fellow education majors to be intelligent, intellectually curious, highly dedicated and motivated people, there were more than a few dim bulbs in the group who were passing their classes that caused me to think to myself: "Man, I feel sorry for any future kid who gets saddled with that dope as a teacher".

So, yeah, unfortunately, it happens.

[Wellstone ruled]

9. It is afterall Utah.

The predominant Religion in Bountiful runs the show in every School in the County as well as the local Government.


This Teacher just scored points at her Ward House.

[Chin music]

28. Woot there it is.

[Wellstone ruled]

38. There are Communties in Utah were

you conform to their norms and Religious beliefs,or they drive you and yours out. Been there and lived to tell about it.

[Blue_Tires]

12. Is there some deep-seated Mormon grudge for Catholics?

Or is it just some garden variety weaksauce douchebaggery?

FWIW, sometimes I used to tag along to my ex-girlfriend's church (Seventh Day Adventist) and the anti-Catholic invective in the sermons made me feel so embarrassed and I'm not even Catholic... So I stopped going.

[dalton99a]

30. Yes, there is

The root of the conflict is doctrinal. The premise of the Book of Mormon is that the Bible is a corrupt and incomplete account of God’s revelation—an implicit criticism of Catholic doctrine. The Book of Mormon also makes reference to an evil “church which is most abominable above all other churches,” described more colorfully as “the mother of harlots.” Though the Book of Mormon does not identify this evil institution as the Catholic Church, many Mormons have believed the two to be one and the same since the publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830.

Mormon mistrust of the Roman Catholic Church came to a head with the 1958 publication of Bruce R. McConkie’s encyclopedia-like Mormon Doctrine, which was not an official LDS publication, though McConkie was a low-ranking church leader. McConkie’s entry for Catholicism simply referred readers to another entry called “Church of the Devil,” which explicitly identified the Roman Catholic Church as being “most abominable above all other churches.” McConkie’s book so upset the Catholic bishop of Salt Lake City that he visited the LDS church president in tears, which convinced the LDS leader to rein in anti-Catholic sentiment. Derogatory references to the Catholic Church were removed from later editions of Mormon Doctrine (which is now out of print), and Mormon-Catholic relations in Utah became much friendlier in the 1960s and thereafter.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/08/mormon-catholic-relations-the-two-churches-havent-always-gotten-along-as-well-as-mitt-romney-and-paul-ryan-do.html

[madinmaryland]

15. I never get why people willingly smear toner dust on their forehead.

WTF.

[OnDoutside]

17. Tradition, bearing witness, pride in their Faith.

[TheBlackAdder]

25. It's also a show of who is more pious, to put pressure on those who do not attend service.

.

Besides being a tribal bonding ritual.

The more who go to church, the more the collection plate fills.

.

[OnDoutside]

32. Meh, sure there are some like that, but in general, that's tosh. When I was young, I used to get up

for the early mass on Ash Wednesday because it was tradition, and it was a nice thing to do, just as it was a tradition to get our throats blessed on the feast day of St Blaise. In my years of doing so, I never once heard someone say they were doing so to browbeat anyone else to do so.

[TheBlackAdder]

36. It's not that some were like that, it that was one of the church objectives that fed the tradition.

[OnDoutside]

39. I'm able to give the Church a kicking as well as the next person, but that just isn't true.

[WillowTree]

40. Do you really think that's what was the reason a 10 or 11 year old kid wore his ashes?

[TheBlackAdder]

42. No, it's because he's slowly being indoctrinated into the church.

[pnwmom]

18. The ashes come from burning the palms used on previous Palm Sunday,

which commemorates the Christian story about Jesus's welcome into Jerusalem shortly before he was imprisoned and crucified.

Now, on Ash Wednesday, some Christians wear them in a ritual of repentance for their sins -- so it's similar to Yom Kippur for Jewish people.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

37. And I've been telling people they're from burning last year's Paczkis.

[Dr. Strange]

20. People are weird.

I've seen people wearing a yarmulke. I've seen people wear a hijab. And believe it or not, once, while driving through the south, I saw a dude wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey. How do you explain behavior like that? It's inexplicable, if you ask me!

[MicaelS]

35. Wow, I bet you also wonder why people wear yarmulke and hijabs.

WTF right back at you.

[csziggy]

21. Not everyone is used to being around practising Catholics

What are those black spots on peoples forheads on msnbc?
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11894177

I grew up in the south and never saw anyone with that mark until people started showing up on TV with them. Fortunately, at some point it was explained in a public discussion and I never had to ask the question in my ignorance.

[musicblind]

22. CNN is now carrying this story on their website. n/t

[Dorian Gray]

23. The teacher was suspended

(which I believe was right.)

The teacher apologized to the boy. (Which I believe was right.)

She said she made a mistake in doing this. (I don't know if she knew what it meant, but she refused to listen to the boy when he explained.)

When asked, the boy said he felt sorry for her and what she is going through. (Which shows a big heart.)

I think she should be reprimanded, and this can be chalked up to a BIG GIANT learning experience for everyone involved.

[imavoter]

29. teacher just sounds kina clueless to me

but you would think.....oh wait