The assistant principal said Kendra was sent to In School Suspension as a
matter of protocol. She was allowed to leave at the end of the class period.“In this case, this was not a religious issue at all, but more of an issue the teacher felt was a distraction
in her class,” Garner told the newspaper.
To be clear
– the school would have us believe that a child telling a classmate “bless you” after a sneeze somehow caused
a classroom commotion so severe it warranted a punishment? It’s a good thing Kendra didn’t offer her classmate
a tissue.
Kendra’s pastor is among those not buying
the school’s explanation and he’s taking a public stand in defense of the young girl.
“I believe this young lady,” said Steven Winegardner, the pastor of the Dyersburg First Assembly of God.
“Everything she said took place.”
Winegardner told
me he’s hoping students will lead a petition drive to force the school to overturn the classroom ban on the words “bless
you.”
“Christians have been told to be quiet, to
shut up,” he said. “It’s ridiculous. Everybody has a right to their beliefs. I’m glad Kendra stood
up.”
Winegardener’s wife told WMC that the teacher
had issues with other students using the words “bless you.”
“There were several students that were talking about this particular faculty member there that was very demeaning
to them in regard to their faith,” she told the television station.
Every now and then a story will land on my desk that seems too outrageous to be true. And to be certain there are
two very different versions of what happened in that classroom. But I’m prone to believe Kendra, too.
That’s because Tuesday, a school official tried to convince me this young
lady was a trouble maker. They were clever with their words – but that was the impression I received.
That same school official told me there was no ban on the words “bless you.”
But a classroom photograph proves otherwise.
They said she was
not punished. But Kendra’s pastor saw the slip of paper that ordered her to In School Suspension.
For whatever reason, the school will not explain why the teacher has an issue with
the words “bless you.” This one is a head-scratcher, folks. But one thing is clear – religious intolerance
is nothing to sneeze at.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations.
Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book
is "God Less America."
