{"id":1729,"date":"2006-12-19T07:13:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-19T07:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2006\/12\/free-speech-vs-freedom-from-sp.html"},"modified":"2006-12-19T07:13:00","modified_gmt":"2006-12-19T07:13:00","slug":"free-speech-vs-freedom-from-sp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2006\/12\/free-speech-vs-freedom-from-sp.html","title":{"rendered":"Free Speech vs. Freedom from Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is too much of an entitlement mentality today, where we expect not to be offended by the actions of others. That this guy’s supervisors<\/a> were so quick to cave shows how bad the problem is:<\/p>\n

A Commack School District bus driver says he nearly lost his job because he refused to take off his Santa Claus cap while driving his route.
\nWith his long white beard and generous midriff, 65-year-old Kenneth Mott bears more than a passing resemblance to St. Nick. The Bayport resident says he has been wearing his furry red-and-white hat every December since he started working for the Baumann and Sons bus company, which transports students in the Commack School District, five years ago.
\nBut after Mott completed his morning route on Thursday, shuttling kids to Rolling Hills Primary School and Commack Middle School, he said his supervisors at Baumann and Sons called and demanded that he take off his Santa hat.
\nMott said he was told that a parent of a child complained to the district about Mott’s headgear, saying that the child doesn’t believe in Santa Claus and was bothered by the hat.
\n“I said, ‘What, are you kidding me?,'” Mott recalled. “I thought it was a big joke.”
\nHe resolved to keep his hat on that afternoon.
\n“Nobody is going to tell me what I can do and can’t do,” said Mott, who added that he doesn’t pretend to be Santa Claus while driving, nor does he play Christmas carols or decorate his bus. “This is America. I’m not hurting anybody.”
\n[…]
\nCommack School District Superintendent James Feltman said he told the district’s transportation supervisor that the hat could stay since it was not a religious object, was not distracting to the driver, and didn’t interfere with the driver’s duties.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Good for the school district superintendent! I think it’s fun for the kids and sets the mood for the season, just as Halloween does (they allow the drivers to wear costumes at Halloween). The school needs to teach their kids to show tolerance to others.
\n(via<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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