Posted on 06/10/2007 4:52:45 PM PDT by Alien Syndrome
LONDON, June 9 A British teaching assistant is suing an elementary school in London after being disciplined for refusing to listen to a child read a "Harry Potter" book. Sariya Allen told a tribunal she resigned from her post at Durand Primary School after being suspended for "her obstructive conduct over time," the Daily Mail reported Saturday. Allen claims she was "harassed, humiliated and discriminated" against because of her religious beliefs. Her last alleged act of "obstructive conduct" before resigning in 2006 was refusing to listen to a 7-year-old girl read a "Harry Potter" book because she said it was against her Christian faith. Her employers disciplined her after she told the girl "I don't do witchcraft in any form" and said she would be "cursed" by hearing the novel. She is seeking about $100,000 in damages from her former school for religious discrimination.
"I admit I said to the child that I don't do witchcraft in any form," she said. "I was put in the position that listening to the child reading this book would compromise my religious beliefs."
Is there a difference between witchcraft in fantasy and just magic? I ask seriously, because I have a mage and sorcerer. Both use different forces of magic.
Oop! I meant I have a mage and sorcerer in my story. I don’t want it to sound like I keep them hidden in my closet or anything.
I don’t know what a mage is. But I believe sorcery is wrong.
I thought basement...
I can’t. I don’t have a basement. If you’re at all interested in what I have so far, freepmail me. I need motivation once in a while.
While in (I think) second grade, we had counting exercise (and this I remember like it was yesterday) where we were given a handout and were instructed to color certain numbers of items certain colors. “Color 10 ducks green”, it said (there were 13). I colored 10 green, and to compliment them, I colored the remaining ducks yellow. WRONG! I still remember the shame and humiliation of being pointed out is class as the kid who did it wrong. The teacher never explained to the class what my true transgression was, but led them to believe I had yet to learn to count to 10. I’m 49 years old and still pissed about that.
The movies are a very thin broth compared to the rich stew-based full meal of the books.
Did she teach on the Base at Beaufort?
Fundamentalism is anti-intellectual, and exalts our "obedience" (in reality, our legalism, since so many rules are designed to "protect" us from things not even overtly unbiblical) and downgrades the sovereign protective work of God, as though He were powerless to keep our minds from running off into apostacy if we read "wicked" works.
The ugly effects of this approach are evident to me lately in working with a number of Latino evangelicals. As some know, Guatemala is now over 65% protestant, and El Salvador is over 70%. But when you get with these people (many of whom are VERY sweet and loving and godly persons), you see the same legalistic and unbiblical "rules" approach that characterized American fundamentalism in the 50s and 60s (no wonder! Our missionaries left our bible colleges and seminaries and taught them!). It is the same old stuff. No movies, no make up, no haircuts for women, NO drinking, NO dancing, and varied other prohibitons. It is like stepping back in time. What is really interesting is that there is a kind of a consensus that "Doing these things (or not doing them) is a sign that we are different and not "worldly." This makes us attractive to the unregenerate world." In fact, this obsession with rules keeping is repellent to the unbelieving world around them. When questioned, the unbelievers will often say "I would like to be a Christian. They are really good people. But I don't think I could live that way." Either that, or they are just thought strange.
How Christian of her.
As opposed to simply beheading the offending kid...
Haven’t been so excited about seeing the movies, since the third one was so messed up. The third really bothered me, since it was my favorite of the series. I still haven’t seen the last one.
That’s what I figured. Most movies are. And it’s also the reason I want to wait until I read at least the first book. But I think I need to read all of them.
That's not what I implied.
Idiocy attached to a religion isn't a one way street.
OTOH, you may loathe the series. That's fine, in matters of taste there is no right or wrong, and at least at that point your opinion won't be ignorance based!
*wink* Sometimes it is...
Oh good grief. I come from an evangelical background and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t wear make up (or if they don’t, it’s not because of a religious belief), doesn’t dance (I don’t, but its because I look like a goon when I do, not because I believe it’s wrong), my hair is short, and I’ve always watched movies. The list goes on. I teach ESL and two of my students are brothers from Guatemala. They seemed to indicate that they were not Catholic which surprised me, but now I see why by your post. These brothers were extremely nice young men, but I do not recognize them by your descriptions. They were even educated in those horrible “fundamentalist” schools you mentioned.
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