A six-year-old girl in America was stopped from talking about the Bible during a school project on Christmas, according to religious liberty group Advocates for Faith & Freedom.
Brynn Williams, who attends a school in California, was told: “Go take your seat!” by her teacher as she was giving a presentation, according to the non-profit legal group.
The school district said it “respects all students’ rights under the Constitution and takes very seriously any allegation of discrimination” but would not comment further on the case.
Bethlehem
The girl’s project involved bringing in an item that represented a family Christmas tradition and giving a one-minute presentation on it.
She brought in a star from her family’s Christmas tree and said: “Our Christmas tradition is to put a star on top of our tree.
“The star is named the Star of Bethlehem. The 3 kings followed the star to find baby Jesus, the Savior of the world. John…”
At that point she was stopped from highlighting the verse John 3:16, and told to sit down.
Hurt
According to Advocates for Faith & Freedom the teacher told her in front of the other children that she was not allowed to talk about the Bible.
She was the only one not allowed to finish her presentation, and later the principal of the school stood by the teacher’s decision, according to an article on Fox News.
The girl’s father, Shane, said she felt “hurt” by the incident and that: “She felt that she had done something wrong and was going to be punished for it.”
“The disapproval and hostility that Christian students have come to experience in our nation’s public schools has become epidemic”, Advocates for Faith & Freedom warned.
Inappropriate
The group added that it hoped the school district “will take the lead role in adopting a model policy to prohibit this abuse that has become all too common place for religious-minded students”.
The Temecula Valley Unified School District said: “Due to the fact that District officials are currently investigating the allegations, it would be inappropriate to provide further comment at this time”.
Last year schools in a region of Canada were forced to change their policies on distributing Gideon Bibles following a challenge by an atheist.