Posting some photos from the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference. This is my new friend Sonya Lee. Check back for more on Monday!
An American flag flying outside the home of a U.S. Marine veteran was set on fire just days before the Memorial Day weekend.
Elizabeth Hawley told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune she discovered the ashes of Old Glory as she was preparing to send her children to school.
She called the act “very disturbing.”
Hawley told the newspaper her husband is Marine veteran. “He’s keeping his feeling extremely reserved,” she said. “But I know that he’s extremely upset.”
Police Sgt. Bill Palmer told the Star Tribune they are searching for suspects. “We’re very lucky that the home didn’t burn as well,” he said. “We’re not going to turn a blind eye to somebody risking the lives of six individuals inside a home.”
Folks who live in the neighborhood are shocked and outraged that someone would desecrate an American flag – especially one hanging from the home of a military veteran.
“It’s sad,” Jo Rockwell told KAAL. “It’s scary to me to think that somebody is walking through our neighborhood that would do that kind of thing.”
One neighbor wondered if the culprit is a college student. The University of Minnesota is nearby.
Hawley said she thinks it was a random act of vandalism.
What do you think, readers?
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School districts in New York and Texas are cracking down on students who wear religious jewelry.
Raymond Hosier, a student at Oneida Middle School in New York, said he the principal told him to remove his rosary beads or he would be suspended. He didn’t – and he was.
“I think it’s not right to kick me out of school for wearing rosary beads,” Hosier told WXXA. “They’re in honor of my brother and uncle and that’s how it’s gonna stay.”
Hosier’s brother was killed by a car in 2005 and his uncle died of cancer several weeks ago.
The school district told WXXA the bead ban is based on concerns that the beads might be gang related.
Hosier denied being in a gang and his mother said he does well in school.
“He’s got rights as a citizen,” Chantal Hosier told WXXA. “He’s got the right to demonstrate his religion.”
A spokeswoman for the school said they can’t comment on cases involving suspended students – but the family hopes the school will have a change of heart.
Meanwhile, an eighth grader in Texas City, TX, found himself in a similar situation. A resource officer at Blocker Middle School confiscated a necklace that resembled rosary beads and a cross.
Christian Thompson told KENS the necklace was in memory of a friend who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
“It helps me remember him and makes me feel safe,” Thompson told KENS. “I think it’s not fair that they won’t let me wear it.”
Thompson’s mother, Marissa Harper, said she will fight the ban. “This is more than a necklace,” she told the television station. “It’s a memory and an honor for a soldier who fought and died for our country.”
However, Texas City Independent School District said the policy is designed to protect all children whether they’re part of a gang or not.
“It’s about any item or accessory that’s been linked to gang activity,” spokesperson Melissa Tortorici told KENS.
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