Making the baby jesus cry, again

What is it with the new “christians” that they have to keep presenting themselves as a persecuted minority? This week’s poor “christians” story supposedly involved a five year-old being told that she couldn’t talk about god in school. (There’s a good summary in the Times.)

The Daily Telgraph headed their version of this tale:

Primary school receptionist ‘facing sack’ after daughter talks about Jesus to classmate
A primary school receptionist, Jennie Cain, whose five-year-old daughter was told off for talking about Jesus in class is now facing the sack for seeking support from her church.

Well, it seems not. The BBC reported that

But the head teacher said Jasmine had told her friend she would ‘go to hell’ if she did not believe in God.

Which isn’t quite the same thing. The teacher- as you might expect – told the child that maybe it wasn’t really a good thing to threaten your classmates with hellfire…..

The mother claimed that her daughter was “upset” and interpreted this as meaning her daughter had been told she couldn’t speak about Jesus again.

It has clearly not occurred to this woman that the other five-year-old might have been rather “upset” on being told by a classmate that she’d go to hell. But, then, her own unfortunate daughter has obviously been exposed to this poisonous nonsense for so long that it’s obviously never occurred to the mother that it might be in any way cruel….

She sent an email, from her home internet account, to members of her church asking them to pray about the situation.

One person in the congregation forwarded it to the head teacher. Now, maybe I’m too hard-nosed, but I’d think that spreading malicious gossip about your employer is not normally considered acceptable. (Granted, making malicious prayer calls is a whole new category of industrial conduct that might not fall under standard employment law.) . So you might think that she could indeed be facing the sack, but it turns out that she isn’t.

The head confirmed that Mrs Cain was being investigated for making “unfair allegations” about the school, but denied she was facing the sack. That’s not enough to satisfy the latest “christian” defence group.

Mike Judge, from the Christian Institute, which is supporting Mrs Cain, said: “A six-year-old girl and her mother have been slammed for nothing more than expressing their Christian faith.
“I am particularly concerned about the way in which Mrs Cain’s private email to her church friends ended up in the hands of the head teacher.
“This is the latest in a series of cases where Christians are being persecuted for their religious beliefs.

D’uh? an issue that vaguely involves religion in passing takes place (A five year-old is asked not to scare the shit out of her schoolmates. Her mother blows it up into a church issue.) Yet another spurious “christian” defence organisation gets involved. The Daily Mail and the Telegraph get in on the act…

Is there some sort of template somewhere?

There must also be some sort of template for the graphics. I’m not going to say “Hang your heads in shame, Renaissance masters” because the inspiration photos tend to be more Victorian sentimental saint pictures than Renaissance masterpieces, but there is still a clear line of ancestry. The Telegraph shows this woman looking heavenwards with an expression that signals “suffering terribly but still full of faith” ROTFL.

Who are this Christian Institute anyway? (These fundy organisations seem to be popping up in all directions. Who could keep track?) Their website has the standard stories from a set outrage list that these “christians” are working their way through: the nurse who prayed which was last week’s “christian nonsense, “christian” registrar fired for refusing to do her job, boy scouts being allowed to make an islamic pledge, etc.

The website doesn’t try to milk this story for every drop of outraged “christian” emotionalism at all (;-D):

A five-year-old girl from Devon was left in tears after her teacher reprimanded her for talking about Jesus in class – and her mummy could be facing the sack.

They are still rank amateurs compared to Daily Mail when it comes to emotive language, though. Daily Mail gives this story an even more thoroughgoing emotional makeover:

The child

“was ticked off by a teacher for discussing heaven and hell with a friend, and came home in a flood of tears.”

The sobs intensify as the piece progresses.

After comforting the distraught little girl, her mother sent a private email to ten close Christian friends asking them to offer prayers for the families and the school.

…The case has sparked fresh outrage among the Christian community, which fears its members are becoming the most discriminated against people in society.

And so on, ad nauseam. I’ll spare you more quotes except this one:

Today former minister Ann Widdecombe said: ‘There is now daily evidence of Christianophobia in this country and it is high time that it was tackled.

6 thoughts on “Making the baby jesus cry, again

  1. Did the child age a year during all this?

    whose five-year-old daughter

    and then

    A six-year-old girl and her mother have been slammed

    I like the way the Christian Institute seem to imply it is the evil world that allowed the personal email to get a wider circulation, rather than the crackpot woman sending it to someone she shouldn’t have.

  2. “Christianophobia”?

    Normally, I hate it when Xtians make up words, and people, and whole belief systems just to further their pointless cause, but that word . . . I have to say, it’s working for me. Except that fear of Xtians isn’t irrational. It’s totally, historically justified. Necessary, even.

    When I was six, I knew a young Jehovah’s Witness who used to tell me and my friends that we’d go to hell forever because we weren’t saved, and that used to scare the crap out of me. Anyone who’s responsible for scaring any child–even their own–with bullshit like that, should be brought up on child endangerment charges.

  3. “Christianophobia” jumped out at me, too.

    It’s true that their presence brings on a nameless dread and frequent bouts of frothing at the mouth.

  4. Is Christianophobia the same thing that Rick Warren referred to as Christophobia? *sigh* I really need to get a 21st century dictionary. The problem is, I think it would be outdated within a year. Maybe I can buy a cheap one.

    Anyway, just in case you haven’t seen it yet, this may give you a head start on next week’s Poor Christians story:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1138701/Foster-parent-looked-80-children-struck–Muslim-girl-care-Christian.html

  5. Vitamin R and Postamn
    Yes Christianophobia manages to be, at on end the same time, both eminently ludicrous and a pretty good idea. It’s hard to make your mind up on this.

    And, I tend to agree that scaring the shit out if children with the fear of hellfire should constitute child endangerment. . I would hope you would find yourself in deep trouble if you threatened your child with a torching if they refused to go to sleep. Obviously threatening them with hellfire for not believing in Jesus doesn’t count in the same way- for some unspecified reason…

    Chappy
    As ever, I am in awe of you. You found a Daily Mail story that I’d missed completely, and it is indeed set fair be next weeks Christianophobia story. It even has the Christian institute involvement plus any amount of “outrage”,

  6. Chaplain – that story is indeed eye watering. 80 children in 10 years… How on Earth is that giving them any form of stability or actual care.

    This made me laugh as well

    ‘This is my life,’ she revealed. ‘It is not just a job for me. It is a vocation. I love what I do. It is also my entire income. I am a single carer, so that is all I have to live on.’

    Single carer…. Hmmm.. Only source of income… Hmmm. Methinks this is some one certainly unsuitable to be a protective role model for children. I am surprised the Mail hasn’t savaged her already…

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