| Persecution of Christians | |
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And sometimes, the harassment came
from the school administrators - people who were supposed to be neutral and protect
all kids. At a school sports banquet, the McCord and Bell children, who all were
active in sports, were the only ones not mentioned in the listing of athletes.
Marc Bell had won all but one of the available ninth-grade academic prizes, but administrators
refused to give him his at the school banquet - instead they were handed over afterwards
without ceremony or appreciation.
One time, when Lucille Bell had to go to the school because of a bomb threat, a school employee physically assaulted her even as she tried to exit her car. Corine Spurlock battered Lucille's head and shoulder against the door frame of the car, pulled out her hair, broke her glasses, and more - all the while screaming that she would kill Lucille. Spurlock later pled guilty to assault but was only fined.
Jared McCord was in kindergarten at the time the ACLU suit was filed, but the teachers wanted to hold him back for another year because of alleged learning problems. But in fact, the truth was that the teachers had simply refused to teach him - they simply sat him in a corner and ignored him. Because of things like this, the Bell family had to move away to a different district.
It is uncertain whether or not the final act of hate and assault came from a student or a school administrator, although it is without question that a school administrator made it worse. These are Joann McCord's own words, as she described the incident to Robert S. Alley in 1996:
Jason [a fifth grader] had the hardest time of the four. He was shy and he had a vision disability. In the spring of 1982 he was swinging on a swing on the playground at morning recess when the superintendent, Paul Pettigrew, who had been very hostile to us, came out of his office, which overlooked the playground, and called the teacher who was on playground duty into his office, leaving all the children unattended.
While she was away someone pushed Jason out of the swing from behind. Jason said it was big hands. That's all he could say. He didn't see who did it but he felt like it was a big person who pushed him from the swing. The resulting fall caused what was latter found to be a compound fracture of his arm. Mr. Pettigrew reappeared and took Jason to his office. He kept him there in the office all day without a nurse and without calling me. He would pick up Jason's arm and say, "Oh why are you crying? It's not broken. You just bruised it."
Jason had to have emergency surgery that night and was in the emergency room all night because of the pain. And so the McCord family had to leave, too - their safety and the safety of their children could no longer be assured, not even at the school which was supposed to treat all children equally.
The hysteria on the part of the supporters of the school is quite telling. Clyde Rollins, a Moral Majority field director, told school board members over and over that if the ACLU lawsuit won, communism would have to be taught for an hour each day in the Little Axe schools. One witness for the school reported that American public schools were descending into "fascism" because of the lack of religion.
Dr. Paul Schmidt, a Christian psychologist who testified for the school, told the court that unless religious activities like the Son Shine Club were permitted, God would be seen by the children as an "impotent" and "irrelevant" figure because he was unable to get into schools. But why is it that Christians will only see their God as having power when the state officially supports and endorses that God?
The Tenth Circuit Court eventually found in favor of the parents and against the school, five years after the first problems started. But did the school learn anything? Probably not - in 1983, after the court had told the school to stop the early-morning prayers but before the final ruling, the school required all junior high classes to attend a religious assembly at 1PM. The assembly was completely religious, with Christian songs, testimonies, and an invitation to church.
According to the school, this assembly was nothing like the Son Shine Club meetings. The assembly was during the school day, while the Club met before the school day. The assembly was mandatory, while the Club was voluntary. The assembly was organized by the school administration, while the Club was directed by students. All of these were supposed to be reasons why the assembly was less of a problem than the Son Shine Club.
There are no words to adequately convey the profound disgust which events like the above should create in any mature, loving adult. And despite what some might have us believe, it cannot be argued that the people who did such things are not "True Christians (tm)."
Such denials remind one of a parent denying that their child is a bully at school, or a spouse denying that their mate is an abuser. Denials might make a person feel better, but they only serve to make the problem worse in the end. Instead of refusing to acknowledge that there is a problem within the American Christian community, people should instead ask why such violence erupts and what can be done about it - both to try and prevent it and to try and deal with it when it happens.
These people are Christians. They do have hate and anger in their hearts. They do contemplate and engage in violence towards their neighbors and fellow Christians when their control over social institutions is challenged. And the above is not an isolated incident - I had planned on describing more, but it's too depressing to go on. If I can get depressed by going through material I already know, I must be depressing a few people out there who are reading it for the first time.
So I'll continue with more stories in the coming weeks and depress you then...
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