Saturday, April 14, 2012

how is it going to look to a fourth grade girl

I read this week that a women's volleyball coach in a religious school is being fired because she is pregnant and unmarried. A spokesperson for the school said that the coach/teacher was fired because "how is that going to look to a fourth grade girl who sees her teacher is pregnant and not married." The school's philosophy is that all teachers are essentially ministers. Ministers, apparently, should not be sending this kind of message.

I am wondering whether the principal of the school fires teachers/ministers for being obese. What kind of message does that send? Does a teacher get fired for smoking cigarettes, or carrying a gun, or implicitly preaching racial superiority? Are teachers fired if they believe that non believers are inferior.

I figure if what is key is how is it going to look to a fourth grade girl, there are significant fish to fry and this issue with the volleyball teacher is not one of them. I am wondering who anointed this principal as interpreter of religious values.

Apparently, the school believes that sex outside of marriage is unconscionable. My recommendation to someone of this mindset is that they do not have sex outside of marriage. I might suggest to such a person that the year is 2012. And I will bet my bottom dollar that they are hippocrites. If they are not hippocrites and just a wee bit like most people, the advertisers, movie makers, novelists, and playwrights sure have their heads in the sand.

I can think of nothing more reprehensible than an educator dictating mores of this nature to a fourth grade kid. You want to teach values. Fire people who carry guns, laugh at racist humor, DON'T respect the value of physical and emotional intimacy, force people to think the way they do, and take up two parking spots in the garage because "they are in a hurry" as if nobody else has a care in the world. Fire those who are insensitive to people who love them and insensitive to those whom they purport to love.

The fourth grader that you are trying to protect, Herr Schoolmaster, is going to look back at you with anger unless your sick brainwashing was successful.

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