I’ll be the first to admit there are a lot of details in this story we don’t know yet… but the parts we do know are pretty damning.
According to reports in Newport News, Virginia, the principal and secretary at George J. McIntosh Elementary came inside of a classroom to deal with a potentially misbehaving student. They cleared out everyone else in the room, then “placed holy water or oil on the child’s forehead and prayed for the child.”
The child’s mother was at the school, perhaps volunteering in some capacity, and was okay with all this. But at least one staffer, if not more, complained about it and told District officials.
The two administrators are on paid leave while the District conducts an investigation.
Again, we don’t know any more details… but are there any details that would somehow make everything okay? This is a school that seems to be run like a church, and even if a parent wanted the administrators to use holy water on a child, that doesn’t mean they’re supposed to go along with it.
How often do they use these religious punishments? Are other students subject to them? Will this District punish these two staffers the same way they would if they weren’t Christians? Because imagine the national outcry if they performed some sort of Satanic ritual on the kid instead.
Let’s hope we get answers soon.
(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Brian for the link)
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