Teacher Sued For Bashing Christianity -- Will Others Be Censored?

[AxisMundi]

Personally, I don't see how you can ban religion from schools, but then allow people to bash religion. It's too much of a double standard for my liking.

Religion isn't "banned from schools", it is banned from school curriculum and endorsment by educators during school hours.

But yes, this teacher needs to be hung out on the clothes line to dry.

Here's the USDOE guidelines for religion in public schools...

http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/prayer_guidance.html

 

[Twilight Hue]

Schools are not a private soap box for teachers.

There is no room for such comments in the classroom.

Agreed as the classroom can be construed as a "captive audience".

 

[linwood]

I might have more sympathy for the complainants if they weren`t so underhanded and contradicting themselves.

 

[logician]

Nobody's religion should be bashed by a teacher or by any other public figure. I just hope that people learn from this and we can stop bashing all religions. I wonder how serious they would have taken it if it was a religion other than Christianity that were bashed.

Let's hope they stop bashing "godless" atheists too.

 

[Walkntune]

I might have more sympathy for the complainants if they weren`t so underhanded and contradicting themselves.

I find the wrong doing here in the Christians themselves and also the reason Christianity is getting such a bad rap.Such little persecution to go through to hear comments from a non-believer and run to a law suit. It is completely not biblical and not Christ like.Just because you can use the law in your favour does not make it righteous.

 

[dogsgod]

Filing such a lawsuit only serves to prove the teacher correct about his opinions regarding religion.

 

[ChristineES]

I think a teacher can teach without bashing someone's faith or religion or bashing anything else. I agree with other's who have said that a teacher shouldn't give his/her personal opinion to students- unless it is outside of class and only when the student asks for it.

 

[Alceste]

Schools are not a private soap box for teachers.

There is no room for such comments in the classroom.

This teacher's performance, according to the test scores of his students, was much better than the state average, year after year. Comments from his students are overwhelmingly positive. Debate was welcome and he went out of his way to let his students know it was safe to challenge his opinion. He went out of his way to ensure access to the best possible Christian university for a brilliant Christian student who wanted to study divinity. He is not a bigot by any stretch of the imagination - he just thinks creationism is nonsense. Just like all the rest of us.

Take a moment to think back on the teachers you remember - those that inspired you to think for yourself, to learn new skills and pursue new knowledge. Those you admired and would go out of your way to be admired by. Were any of them bland, emotionless automatons who simply delivered an unembellished stream of facts, revealing nothing of themselves and discouraging classroom displays of personal opinion?

I thought not.

You can not teach effectively without putting your heart into your class and freely expressing your passion for the subject, inviting students to express theirs. Good teachers know this. Activists like this Republican pawn's ruthless mother are out to purge the public school system of good teachers for the most ridiculous reasons - a minor difference of opinion - to the detriment of their own children (and everybody else's).

She should be ashamed of herself. Surely her god is ashamed of her for the lack of faith she displays by seeking to silence those who openly and honestly question the value of it.

 

[Alceste]

I think a teacher can teach without bashing someone's faith or religion or bashing anything else. I agree with other's who have said that a teacher shouldn't give his/her personal opinion to students- unless it is outside of class and only when the student asks for it.

You're taking it as a given that "bashing" is the correct word to apply to this teacher's comments.

In fact, out of the dozens of comments the angry right-wing-nut mother edited out of hours and hours of the raw material she made her son collect, all but one were found to be completely relevant to the subject under discussion.

I really think everybody here should read the whole article.

 

[Tiapan]

It would depend on the type of "bashing". Suggesting logic is superior to faith is justifiable outright, canning of belief is unacceptable unless logical argument is debated.

I would welcome him with open arms to teach my children, because he has demonstrated he can think.

Cheers

 

[Falvlun]

You can not teach effectively without putting your heart into your class and freely expressing your passion for the subject, inviting students to express theirs. Good teachers know this. Activists like this Republican pawn's ruthless mother are out to purge the public school system of good teachers for the most ridiculous reasons - a minor difference of opinion - to the detriment of their own children (and everybody else's).

She should be ashamed of herself. Surely her god is ashamed of her for the lack of faith she displays by seeking to silence those who openly and honestly question the value of it.

I dunno. Would you support a teacher who said that we need to put our Jesus glasses on in order to see the immoral effect of a godless society? I mean, afterall, he could have been talking about the gay rights movement. It is a current event and therefore applicable to the subject matter.

I think the comment he was actually reprimanded for was a strange choice. And he sounds like he's a great educator. It just wouldn't hurt to tone down the anti-religious sentiments as a government employee.

 

[gnomon]

I might have more sympathy for the complainants if they weren`t so underhanded and contradicting themselves.

This teacher's performance, according to the test scores of his students, was much better than the state average, year after year. Comments from his students are overwhelmingly positive. Debate was welcome and he went out of his way to let his students know it was safe to challenge his opinion. He went out of his way to ensure access to the best possible Christian university for a brilliant Christian student who wanted to study divinity. He is not a bigot by any stretch of the imagination - he just thinks creationism is nonsense. Just like all the rest of us.

Take a moment to think back on the teachers you remember - those that inspired you to think for yourself, to learn new skills and pursue new knowledge. Those you admired and would go out of your way to be admired by. Were any of them bland, emotionless automatons who simply delivered an unembellished stream of facts, revealing nothing of themselves and discouraging classroom displays of personal opinion?

I thought not.

You can not teach effectively without putting your heart into your class and freely expressing your passion for the subject, inviting students to express theirs. Good teachers know this. Activists like this Republican pawn's ruthless mother are out to purge the public school system of good teachers for the most ridiculous reasons - a minor difference of opinion - to the detriment of their own children (and everybody else's).

She should be ashamed of herself. Surely her god is ashamed of her for the lack of faith she displays by seeking to silence those who openly and honestly question the value of it.

And agreed.

I would welcome him with open arms to teach my children, because he has demonstrated he can think.

And agreed again.

The one good thing out of all this is a judge has essentially upheld the notion that creationism is nonsense and it's religious nonsense. So at least maybe that BS will be kept out of the schools and left in the churches where BS belongs.

 

[dogsgod]

Religion should never be criticized, only believed.

 

[Apollonius]

Religion should never be criticized, only believed.

Philosophy poses questions that may not be answered while religion often poses answers that may not be questioned.

 

[Riverwolf]

Philosophy poses questions that may not be answered while religion often poses answers that may not be questioned.

Often, yes, but not always.

This unquestioning trend is primarily in religions that claim you simply believe and that's that, such as the Abrahamic religions. However, while they do represent the largest religions on the planet, you really can't say that they represent the majority of religions.

 

[AxisMundi]

This teacher's performance, according to the test scores of his students, was much better than the state average, year after year. Comments from his students are overwhelmingly positive. Debate was welcome and he went out of his way to let his students know it was safe to challenge his opinion. He went out of his way to ensure access to the best possible Christian university for a brilliant Christian student who wanted to study divinity. He is not a bigot by any stretch of the imagination - he just thinks creationism is nonsense. Just like all the rest of us.

Take a moment to think back on the teachers you remember - those that inspired you to think for yourself, to learn new skills and pursue new knowledge. Those you admired and would go out of your way to be admired by. Were any of them bland, emotionless automatons who simply delivered an unembellished stream of facts, revealing nothing of themselves and discouraging classroom displays of personal opinion?

I thought not.

You can not teach effectively without putting your heart into your class and freely expressing your passion for the subject, inviting students to express theirs. Good teachers know this. Activists like this Republican pawn's ruthless mother are out to purge the public school system of good teachers for the most ridiculous reasons - a minor difference of opinion - to the detriment of their own children (and everybody else's).

She should be ashamed of herself. Surely her god is ashamed of her for the lack of faith she displays by seeking to silence those who openly and honestly question the value of it.

1. His scores does not permit him to act outside of SOP, such as challenging people's core beliefs (I am not a Christian nor a Creationist, BTW).

2. My best teachers challegned ME, not my religion or politics. They earned my respect by being fair and consistant.

 

[monta]

My best teachers challegned ME, not my religion or politics. They earned my respect by being fair and consistant.

A good teacher teaches you how to think, not what to think.

 

[AxisMundi]

Religion should never be criticized, only believed.

Religion should always be criticized, just in the proper venues.

Public school isn't one of them.

 

[ChristineES]

Teachers should not talk about religion in class- whether it is for it or against it. If they teach a class about various faiths, they should remain neutral about it.

 

[fantome profane]

1. His scores does not permit him to act outside of SOP, such as challenging people's core beliefs (I am not a Christian nor a Creationist, BTW).

Garnsarnit! Challenging people’s core beliefs is exactly what a good teacher should do!