"Christian school: Teen banned from graduation ‘not because she is pregnant but because she was immoral.'

A small Christian school in western Maryland is not backing down from its decision to ban a pregnant senior from walking at graduation next week.

Despite a public outcry and growing pressure from national antiabortion groups to reconsider, Heritage Academy in Hagerstown says that senior Maddi Runkles broke the school’s rules by engaging in intimate sexual activity. In a letter to parents Tuesday evening, school principal David R. Hobbs said that Runkles is being disciplined, “not because she is pregnant but because she was immoral. ... The best way to love her right now is to hold her accountable for her morality that began this situation.”

Runkles, 18, is a 4.0 student who has attended the school since 2009. She found out she was pregnant in January and informed the school, where her father was then a board member, in February. Initially the school told Runkles that she would be suspended and removed from her role as student council president and would have to finish the rest of the school year at home.

After the family appealed, Heritage said it would allow Runkles to finish the school year with her 14 classmates but she would not be able to walk with the other seniors to receive her diploma at graduation. The family believes that the decision is unfair and that she is being punished more harshly than others who have broken the rules.

“It’s because I’m pregnant and you can see the results of my mistake,” Runkles said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “There have been kids who have broken the student code and they could have hurt people or even gone to jail and they only received an in-school suspension and they’re allowed to walk this year. The school is worried about its reputation, but I think they’re missing out on an incredible opportunity to set an example for the pro-life community and Christian schools about how to treat guys and girls like me.”

WashingtonPost.com

Once again, a so called "Christian" organization ignores the teachings of its founder--let they who are without sin cast the first stones, judge not least you be judged, and why do you seek to remove the speck in your neighbor's eye when you can't see the plank in your own.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2017 08:10PM by BYU Boner.

Right?!

Regardless of what her GPA was, she was a 4.0 student; student council president; her father was on the school board.

Where is the love?

Beautifully stated, Boner. You da man, buddy.
-edz

Would be an interesting statement if the other 13 graduates decided against walking.

Yes, that would be nice but since they are being indoctrinated into the same mentality, it's not likely. The fact that the graduating class is only a bakers dozen says a lot about what a wretched "school" it must be.

Funny, I graduated from a Catholic high school and one of my classmates was pregnant but allowed to walk with our class.

The following is a statement from Principal Hobbs to the Heritage "family," published May 22, regarding this 'situation.'

http://heritage-academy.net/

It's really just hyperbole that has nothing to do with what Jesus would do if he were in Hobbs shoes.

Publicly shunning Maddi is no different than disfellowshipping of Mormons, or ex-communication by the LDS church. Or regarding gays not being able to become baptized, or their children.

That's hurtful, that's shaming, that is what's immoral.

Straining at gnats and swallowing camels...the letter of the law is so much more important than the spirit of it...seems mankind are a bunch of handicaps...just when you think progress is made...the stupid returns...at least she wont be stoned at the city gate...so theres that

Incremental progress is better than none at all.

She has a long road ahead as a single mom among fodder like that.

To Christ pure religion was thus: to look after the widow, the orphan, the fatherless, sick, and those in prison. Not to cast judgment upon the poor, lowly, or meek in heart.

She has a bright future if she can put the past of that particular brand of religion behind her, concentrate on her infant son, her future, and preparing for a vocation. Her family is there for her.

I feel sorry for this girl. Ironically, she'd be better off if she left them behind anyway, but it must hurt tremendously to be cast aside and reviled this way.

Amyjo hit the nail on the head here:


Amyjo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> She has a long road ahead as a single mom among
> fodder like that.



A friend of mine's wife grew up in an ignorant self-styled cult of personality masquerading as one of the many variants within the Baptist church. Her mother was a monster, so she ran away with a guy at 16 and wound up pregnant. When she came home a year or two later, her mother made her "apologize" to their congregation.

You would think that a reasonable pastor who understood Christ's message of love, forgiveness, and--in particular--being nonjudgmental, would have said to the mother: "are you crazy?" But no, he facilitated the "apology" by providing time for her to do so.

She's been wearing a scarlet letter ever since. We knew her at the time, but my friend married her a few years later. He's Catholic, which drives the mom apoplectic. My friend's wife continues to go to this church, even all these years later (the son just graduated from high school this week), trying to prove and/or redeem herself with these people.

My friend goes with her each week, and she goes with him to Catholic services too. He said being assailed and preached at each week (at her church) reminds him how lucky he is to be Catholic.

I don't know why some people will go to such lengths to be "accepted" by clearly wretched people. Cult programming will do that I suppose.

Oh, I meant to add that rejecting people in such a judgmental way is certainly not practicing Christ's message.

It's primal, animalistic thinking: you brought a mouth to feed into the clan without a man on the hook to provide for it...

And the eagerness with which people will pile-on is animalistic too. These same people would stone her if that was the accepted custom. Fortunately for the girl in question, it is not.

Of course, I am old--but when I was in school, if a girl got pregnant, she was kicked out as soon as they knew it (when she started to show). Freshman, sophomore, junior, senior--didn't matter. Of course, that was also back when teachers were forced to resign (or take a long leave of absence or whatever) if they got pregnant. I'm talking MARRIED teachers. If a single teacher had showed up pregnant, she would have been fired immediately. But I'm talking the 1950s--you know...what some refer to as "the good old days."

well, she made a huge mistake ........ she should have been a lot more like a long time (former) associate of mine who wanted .......demanded! indulging in all of the (sexual) privileges and pleasures of being an married adult while still a teen ager. He managed to do that without any of the creating a new family style burdens. I could go into a lot of details, but I will condense it down to this: Any time that he is honored with a MORmON priestDUD leadershit position since he actually reached adulthood, a lot of (completely unmentioned/ unacknowledged) credit goes to the mother of his high school girl friend who so successfully managed his non member high school girl friend's birth control regimen. Without that intervention, there would have been No full time MORmON mission for that associate as he would have been a Teen age father instead, with out his missionary "service" that associate would not have been AP. with out being AP he probably would not have gotten his FULL ride scholarship to BYU so he could be a big time white collar professional, with out being a big time white Collar professional he would not have been made bishop.

Please note that I am not trying to discount that associate's considerable willingness and ability to LIE in order to get what he wants. That is another key aspect of his MORmON suck-cess.
He really does have an amazing MORmON suck-cess story, One where he Screwed his non member girl friend like crazy, LIKE CRAZY!!!, and he fucked the (MORmON) system even more. He also created a situation where it is completely impossible to take him seriously as any kind of official moderator of morality acting on behalf of LDS inc, regardless of how willingly he will take on that roll and how willingly LDS inc will allow it.

Your post reminds me that there is usually a double standard in play in these situations. The boys traditionally fly under the radar and suffer few consequences.

If I were Maddi, I'd be over it already. She's got her 4.0, and she'll get her diploma. Time to make plans for the future and move on.

The school districts in my neck of the woods have programs to help pregnant high school girls get their diplomas. It's unfortunate when an unmarried teen gets pregnant, but it's not the end of the world.

I agree that it's hypocritical for a "Christian" school to be so down on her pregnancy. If she had gotten an abortion instead, the school would have been none the wiser. And who is the father, BTW? A fellow classmate?

How do they know it wasn't an immaculate conception? The HG really gets around.

Another example showing why people need to stop enabling these religions that damage women.

That girl will eventually realize how cruel, judgmental and hypocritical that was to publically shame her like that. She earned her diploma.

She might ditch Christianity, wanting nothing to do with that kind of crap. Or maybe she might perpetuate this on to the next generation because she has learned to accept her religion's thumb on her life.

I hope she succeeds in all she does.