Sister Margaret Josephine walked fast. She was angry
and her voice was loud as she grabbed his shirt collar.
"Hitting is wrong, Tommy!
Animals fight -- People can talk to each other.
There is NEVER an excuse for fighting.
God gave you intelligence and a soul,
THAT is what distinguishes you from an animal!
Are you a human being? Can you talk? Or, are you a dog, Tommy?"
Tommy looked down at the ground and said,
"A human, S'ter."
Sister Margaret Josephine was nicer then; she said
in that warm, hugging voice,
"Okay then, Tommy. Go tell Robert you're sorry you hit him
and you two talk it out until you wind up shaking hands. Okay?"
Tommy looked a little doubtful, but he said
"Okay, S'ter."
He and Robert did wind up shaking hands
(of course, they knew they would go to Hell if they didn't);
they even got to be friends again.
Even though this story had a happy ending, I'm no fool.
I watch the news, and I can see that
Sister Margaret Josephine might fool some kids,
but she is shamefully Un-American.
-- Mary Evans, Seattle (January 30, 2003)
Last updated: February 13, 2003