Utah teacher facing discipline for making Catholic student remove Ash Wednesday mark

[mystery-ak]

Utah teacher facing discipline for making Catholic student remove Ash Wednesday mark
By Morgan Gstalter - 03/07/19 07:32 PM EST

An elementary school teacher in Utah is facing disciplinary action after forcing a student to remove the cross mark on his forehead commemorating Ash Wednesday.

William McLeod, a fourth-grader at Valley View Elementary in Bountiful, Utah, said he was confronted by a teacher on Wednesday, Fox 13 News reported.

McLeod said he tried to explain to his teacher the significance of the cross made of ashes on his forehead, marking the first day of Lent for his fellow Catholics.

“She took me aside and she said, ‘You have to take it off,’” William described. “She gave me a disinfection wipe — whatever they are called — and she made me wipe it off."

more
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/433150-utah-teacher-facing-discipline-for-making-catholic-student-remove

[Smokin Joe]

If Muslims can wear their do-rags, then just once a year, on Ash Wednesday, Catholics should be able to wear the ash cross mark from the blessing...

[mountaineer]

The teacher probably was a Mormon, and unaware of Catholic practices during Lent. I found some of the following comments on  Facebook (some of the posters are former Mormons):

Things like this happen more often than folks in Utah think. A granddaughter was told she had to wear her cross inside her blouses, since it offended many children in her class. Second grade!!
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 I listened to a coworker patiently explain to their deskmate what Lent/Ash Wednesday was yesterday. It is very possible that they didn't understand the significance. (The Utah bubble is very very real) I don't think that excuses their reaction however.
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 As a former teacher, I know that mistakes can happen especially when teachers have a whole class of kids. It was certainly the wrong choice, but mistakes happen. I had a student who was from India. I saw a red mark on his forehead and I stupidly asked him if he hurt himself. He was deaf and could speak well but didn't have all the words to explain. He said no and made the gesture of praying. I said oh I'm so sorry. They were Hindu, duh, lol. I guess they were going on a trip to India and prayed before they left.
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In all honesty, I didn’t know much about Ash Wednesday for a good part of my life. When you are raised in a region that has a predominant religion things can be unusual if you see them for the first time. I think we need to be a lot more gracious when someone has made a mistake as clearly this teacher has. If I had seen this for the first time in Utah or Idaho where I was raised I probably would have questioned the student and might have been a little alarmed seeing someone with a cross drawn on their forehead with ashes. Of course this is a religious tradition, but LDS usually avoid crosses and seeing one on someone’s forehead I would be a little concerned. Plenty of people make fun of odd things LDS do, so we should be full of grace when someone doesn’t understand what other religious groups are doing.

[Wingnut]

The teacher probably was a Mormon, and unaware of Catholic practices during Lent. I found some of the following comments on  Facebook (some of the posters are former Mormons):

There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.

[GtHawk]

I realize it's been decades since I was in school but I don't ever recall a teacher or any school official telling someone to remove any article of faith or being so blatantly ignorant of a major religion in America. Of course back then we still had Christmas and Easter vacation instead of neutered seasonal breaks and 99.9% of kids had no idea what a Muslim was except for what they read in their history books, that is until 1979. Now it seems that the majority of leftists in school believe there is only the religion of Mohammed, are aware only of it's holidays and expect all others to bow before it. 

[jmyrlefuller]

I listened to a coworker patiently explain to their deskmate what Lent/Ash Wednesday was yesterday. It is very possible that they didn't understand the significance. (The Utah bubble is very very real) I don't think that excuses their reaction however.

Which is particularly odd.

I'm a Methodist. We've always had Ash Wednesday services, complete with the ashes and all. I know Mormonism has its own, well, quirks, but at its basis is the same Christianity other denominations practice. Even if they don't do the whole Lent thing, you'd think they'd know about one of the basic holy days in the Christian liturgy.

[mountaineer]

I know Mormonism has its own, well, quirks, but at its basis is the same Christianity other denominations practice. Even if they don't do the whole Lent thing, you'd think they'd know about one of the basic holy days in the Christian liturgy.

Not really. I grew up in the Methodist and Presbyterian churches and no church I attended ever did the ashes. It wasn't until a few years ago that I noticed protestant denominations participating in the practice. Personally, I couldn't care less. It's not a scriptural requirement, just a tradition or custom, but if it draws people to repentance and thoughtfulness about what the crucifixion means, great.

It's not accurate to say LDS is "the same Christianity" as denominations like Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian, however. What you call quirks are part of what distinguishes it from orthodox (small o) Christianity.

No, I'm not proposing a big discussion on religion here, because I know Myst does not want that for the forum. So I'll say no more.

[rangerrebew]

Media Ignore Case of Utah Student Asked to Remove Ashes From His Forehead
By Ryan Foley | March 8, 2019 4:04 PM EST

A teacher in Utah asked one of her fourth graders to remove ashes from his forehead, giving him a wipe so he could wipe off the ashes; which millions of Catholics receive on their foreheads in honor of Ash Wednesday to celebrate the beginning of lent. This sounds like a story cable and network news would be interested in covering. But they didn’t.

Only Fox News bothered to mention the story. The fourth grader, William McLeod, and his grandmother appeared on The Story With Martha MacCallum Thursday night. McLeod told MacCallum that his teacher told him “that’s not appropriate in this school” and told him to wipe off the ashes even after he explained the significance of them to her multiple times.

McLeod later said that he accepted her apology and said he felt bad for her because she might not have known about Ash Wednesday (Utah is a heavily Mormon state). Perhaps the media would have demonstrated a lot more interest in this story if it was about another faith. This story just didn’t fit the media narrative of anti-Muslim bigotry in the United States.

 
Source URL: https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/ryan-foley/2019/03/08/media-ignore-case-utah-student-asked-remove-ashes-his-forehead