Posted on 03/01/2018 12:17:33 PM PST by nickcarraway
A Pennsylvania school district will be moving its elementary students for the day on Wednesday due to a nearby church’s decision to bless couples carrying AR-15 rifles.
The Wallenpaupack Area School District will move students out of Wallenpaupack South Elementary School in Newfoundland due to its proximity to the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary church, where couples will be blessed alongside their semi-automatic rifles.
The district in the Poconos sent letters to parents on Friday notifying them that students would attend class at another elementary school further from the church on Wednesday. Students who miss school that day will be marked as excused. The move will impact about 260 students.
Both the Pennsylvania State Police and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office will have a presence at the school to protect the maintenance and support staff remaining behind, assistant superintendent Keith Gunuskey said. An extra school resource officer will also be deployed at the school. No other schools in the district, which spans parts of Wayne and Pike counties, are moving students.
Gunuskey said parents were rattled by the news of the gathering, particularly since three years ago the district was forced to shutter classrooms during the manhunt for Eric Frein, who gunned down two state troopers outside their Pike County barracks in 2014, killing 38-year-old Corporal Bryon K. Dickson.
“It has definitely had put some parents on edge,” Gunuskey said of the church’s ceremony. “For us, there are no templates to follow, so it does cause some anxiousness within the community, which is understandable.”
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
The Blessing of the Rifles.
In a number of port cities, there is a tradition of “Blessing of the Fleet.”
Precedent?
Reward the clueless, and you’ll reap what you sow.
I’ve heard of a shotgun wedding, but not an AR wedding. My Dad (from Kentucky) used to say you could tell if it was a formal wedding because the shotguns were painted white.
I’m with you, I’ve been an NRA member for 50 years and I’m a Benefactor Member now, but that’s kinda nuts!
“...but that is just WEIRD!!!!”
Agreed.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
I grew up(for 6 years) in MD/VA area. I hate Timber Rattlers!!! On a Scouting campout a TR bit one of the kids on the calf. 60 years later the guy is still gimped up.
I once lived near a snake-handling church in southwestern Virginia.
= = = = = = = =
I have always had a ‘healthy’ respect for snake handlers.
They are certainly committed (or at least committable)to their beliefs.
HOWEVER, I would not want to spend ANY time in a foxhole or in a life and death situation as he may suddenly believe that whatever is ‘shielding’ him will extend to me....
I am Jewish, so you and I almost certainly have a different opinion regarding my distant cousin.
Its a tie.
Holy Water is just regular water that's been blessed. Nothing weird about it to me to do something to evoke thoughts of God when we see/touch certain items.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.