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Teacher trashed religious legend from candy canes a first-grader brought to class, says non-profit group<\/p>\n
Kit Daniels<\/strong><\/p>\n A school teacher told a first grader that \u201cJesus is not allowed in school\u201d while tearing off a religious legend that the student attached to candy canes he brought for his class, a non-profit group claims.<\/p>\n Even the mention of Jesus Christ, who is a noted teacher, will get students in trouble at this school. Credit: waitingfortheword via Flickr<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Each candy cane that first grader Isaiah Martinez brought for his classmates came attached with the legend that a candy maker created candy canes to symbolize the life of Jesus Christ, which the teacher reportedly tore off of each cane and threw in the trash under the direction of the school principal.<\/p>\n After telling Martinez that \u201cJesus is not allowed in school,\u201d the teacher handed him back his candy canes without the messages attached.<\/p>\n \u201cIsaiah then nervously handed the candy canes to his classmates in fear that he was in trouble for trying to bring a little Christmas cheer and \u2018good tidings’ to class,\u201d the non-profit group Advocates for Faith & Freedom said in its press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n The non-profit group demanded that the school stop \u201cofficials from bullying and intimidating Christian and religiously-affiliated students.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdvocates for Faith & Freedom has experienced a surge in phone calls from students and their parents across the country who are victims of religiously motivated bullying; not bullying by other students, but bullying by teachers and school officials,\u201d Robert Tyler, the general counsel for the group, stated. \u201cThe pendulum has swung so far in the opposite direction that public schools are becoming a place of hostility toward Christian and other religiously-based worldviews.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s time to push the pendulum back in the right direction where kids can experience true tolerance without religiously motivated hostility from their teachers and school officials.\u201d<\/p>\n