Culture

Brickbat: Phil Robertson Understands

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Zachary Golob-Drake won first place in a speech contest at his elementary school in Tampa, Florida, and as the winner, he was slated to deliver the speech to all the fourth- and fifth-graders at the school and compete in a regional speech contest. But an administrator told him there was a problem with the speech, which focused on how religion has sparked conflict and even mass murder. She said the religious references had to come out before he could speak to the assembly. When Golob-Drake said he wanted to think about it, she threatened to take his first-place ribbon away and not allow him to compete in the regional contest. School officials say Golob-Drake misunderstood, it wasn't the religion they wanted him to take out but the parts about mass murder.