JW schoolteacher order to put up XMas tree

blondie

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/kr/20021224/lo_krnewyork/out_on_limb_over_christmas_trees When told to put up tree, teacher says: "No one can be made to put up a Christmas tree," Attio said. "This is America." Read rest of article Out on limb over Christmas trees

1 hour, 31 minutes ago

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By ALISON GENDAR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

You can't dis the Christmas tree and get away with it - at least, not if you are a city teacher.

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Ingrid Attio, a Brooklyn kindergarten teacher, is being hauled up on disciplinary charges because she refused to put up a holiday bulletin board outside her classroom at Public School 179 in Kensington.

As a Jehovah's Witness, the 25-year classroom veteran said her religion did not allow her to put up "pagan" symbols such as Christmas trees.

"It is stupid," Attio said of the school's action against her. "If I wasn't teaching the children their letters or their numbers, yes, then discipline me. But for this? It is not normal. I don't think I should put up a Christmas tree. It is just pagan stuff."

Attio said she had her children draw winter scenes of snowmen, and she put those up on her bulletin board instead.

Not good enough, said Principal Maria Cotto - who demanded that Attio put up a multicultural holiday display, complete with Christmas trees, menorahs and the Muslim crescent and star.

When she refused, she was ordered to report to the principal's office Jan. 8 for "noncompliance of display of secular holiday symbol decorations."

Cotto could not be reached for comment.

Attio said she doesn't ask her students to draw what is often standard fare in schools for any holiday. There are no Easter bunnies, no Halloween jack-o'-lanterns - and no Christmas trees.

"But other teachers who come into my classroom have the children draw Christmas trees and such, so the children are not missing out on anything," she said.

"No one can be made to put up a Christmas tree," Attio said. "This is America." Originally published on December 24, 2002

breeze

Like a CHRISTMAS TREE , is important and actually has something to do with CHRIST!!!!

Gopher

A lot of stuff in this article is strange to me.

The principal's remark that the multicultural displays were "SECULAR holiday symbol decorations" (emphasis mine) seems strange. What exactly is secular about a Christian symbol, a Muslim symbol and a Jewish symbol? The principal should at least admit that these are religious symbols, even if the purpose was just to educate the kindergarteners about different religious cultures.

And the JW teacher should have just said "putting up such symbols is out of harmony with my religion, and I should have been excused from the exercise". Instead the students and the parents and taxpayers (who indirectly pay her salary) have to hear her religious bigotry, as she slams the whole display as "pagan". Didn't they read the scripture at her Kingdom Hall "let your words be seasoned with salt"? I guess not. She declared spiritual warfare. I wonder if her job is in jeopardy.

Oh... and then this teacher gets all patriotic on us. The reason she shouldn't have to display the symbols is that "this is America"? JW's preach that the nations are God's enemies... soon there will be no America, if she gets her wish and JW's are right. But she invokes the "I am an American" clause in her own defense? In the words of John Stossel (correspondent on American TV show 20/20), "Give me a break!!!"

Edited by - Gopher on 24 December 2002 9:39:52

Scully

I wonder if she chose to be a kindergarden teacher just so she could torment 5-year olds over "pagan" holidays. If you can't accept the fact that 5-year olds believe in Santa and Christmas trees, or observe Chanukah or Kwanzaa or Ramadan, maybe you need to re-think your career. Being a kindergarden teacher isn't about imposing your belief system on 5-year olds. It's about accepting them for who they are, and encouraging them to learn through play and art, and expanding their world. What she was doing was giving the children a message that everything important to them - in their 5-year old minds - was wrong.

While she is free to believe whatever she wants on her own time, when she's in the classroom, she has to respect the beliefs of other people. If the children are the ones drawing pictures of Christmas trees or menorahs, why can she not display their artwork?? The school's display boards are for the children and their families, not for her.

By the way... our "holiday" theme is largely snowmen. If she can get the children to draw pictures of snowmen without violating her religious beliefs, why were the JW elders who visited us last week so disdainful of our snowmen?? We have NO Santa Clauses, NO Nativity scenes, or anything that could be considered to be "false religious symbols". Just snowmen. Go figure.

Love, Scully

wednesday

Yes she is very much the hypocrite. She or her husband (if he is jw) would not do anyyhing to protect the freedms we have as americans, yet she dare evoke that as her right to deprive her classroom of their rights

144thousand_and_one

While she may indeed be a hypocrite, I don't like the idea of a public school ordering a teacher to display religious symbols of any nature. I wonder if the WT legal team has time to make a case out of this, or are too busy dealing with pedophile related suits?

Scully

144001 writes:

I don't like the idea of a public school ordering a teacher to display religious symbols of any nature

The way the school board gets around that "separation of chuch and state" issue is by introducing and embracing "multiculturalism". It's seen as a very "politically correct" way of allowing the students and teachers free expression of their own religious beliefs without offending a particular group of people.

Love, Scully

Shakita

Guess Santa won't be visiting her tonight!

The entire school year is surrounded around Holidays. How does a JW teacher maintain neurtrality when it comes to Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Hanukkah, Valentines Day, Presidents Day, St. Patricks Day, Memorial Day, All the Children's Birthdays, and last but not least Flag Day?! And, I am sure I left some holidays out here. Boy, she must have a real time working around all these in her school curriculum.

Mrs. Shakita(who wishes everyone here a Happy Holiday!)

IslandWoman

"But other teachers who come into my classroom have the children draw Christmas trees and such, so the children are not missing out on anything," she said.

As a child in a NY state elementary school my experience was that most of the holiday art work was taught/made by the Art teacher who came around once or twice a week. So the statement above makes sense to me.

I tend to side with the teacher on this issue. The children are not being neglected as far as being able to express their religious traditions and the teacher should be able to also express her religious tradition which is not participating. Ironically, if there was a child in the classroom who at this time of year celebrated the season with Wiccan symbols would they be able to have their drawings included in the religious display? Would a JW child be able to draw Jesus not as an infant in a manger but as a child living in a house when the Astrologers came bearing gifts? 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? (She should though be barred from teaching her religion to the students as should all elementary school teachers.)

To castigate a teacher for her religious beliefs sends a message to the students that "People who are different are wrong." This is not what should be taught in a country which claims to welcome differences!

IW

avishai

Oh, c'mon IW, what's she doing teaching bad little worldly children who are gonna die horribly @ armaggedon anyway? Is'nt it just an excercise in futility? Would'nt her time be better spent in field service?

JW schoolteacher order to put up XMas tree

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