This is appalling!

[fabrisse]

THIS ruling appalls me.

As far as I'm concerned, the teacher's first amendment rights have been violated. I must say, I'm not sure why creationism was being discussed in AP European History, but referring to it as "superstitious nonsense" is not out of line.

School introduces everyone to new ideas. That includes the family that brought this lawsuit. The reparations they are requesting, like having the teacher's classes monitored, put a cold chill on my academic heart.

Comments

[innerslytherin]

Well, you know, the Catholic Church has a huge influence in European History for well over a millenium, and then there's the Lutheran church and the Reformation movement...there are plenty of good reasons for religion in particular (and MAYBE even Creationism, though as a medieval studies minor I can't think of when I even might have talked about it in class) to be brought up, but I can't think of a single good reason for a history teacher to dismiss it as "superstitious nonsense" when he's clearly not a religion or a science teacher.

Personally, had I been a student in that class, I would have walked out of the class and requested permission to sit out of the class until the man could refrain from insulting my religion. Honestly, if he were talking about Mohammad's visions of Allah's angels as superstitious nonsense, the man would be in serious shit. If he were talking about the Torah as superstitious nonsense, he would have the Anti-Semitic League all over his ass.

I believe 100% in freedom of religion, but that means ALL religions, which means that Christianity is just as free as any other. That means that no one of faith should be persecuted for their faith, even if it is that all blue M&Ms should be worshipped as tiny alien gods. (Okay, maybe that's a little extreme, but still, as long as they aren't hurting anyone, why does it matter?)

BUT.

All that said, I also think that the teacher has a right to free speech. So where do we draw the line? Where does his exercising of his rights to speak freely cross the line into my exercising of my rights to believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead after three days of truly being 100% dead and not just mostly dead?

It's a fine line to walk, and maybe the teacher erred a little and maybe the students' parents overreacted. Either way, I think it's sad that they had to resort to a lawsuit instead of just agreeing that they have different beliefs, and maybe a history class wasn't the appropriate place to discuss them, anyway.

*sigh* Um, sorry, you want your soapbox back? *sheepish grin*

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, there are plenty of soapboxes to go around. That one's for 100% organic soap. *G*

One of the problems with "accepting the scientific method into my heart" a couple of years ago is that free thinking -- as my bosses at the Vrije Universiteit called it -- is not accorded the same respect in American discourse as religion.

Had the kid gone and spoken to the principal, or even if the parents had spoken to the superintendent or school board, I would have no problem with it. But however personally offensive the remark was -- and however out of line it might have been within the context of the class -- a teacher cannot be afraid of expressing an opinion in his classroom.

The students are supposed to be exposed to all points of view.

Part of my problem is that, even when I was devout, and I was, it never occurred to me that evolution wasn't part of God's plan. The Muslim idea that God put us here to understand him and science and mathematics are the clues -- and our brain the tool -- He gave us was closer to my beliefs than creationism.

[innerslytherin]

Well, I personally am of the opinion that it honestly doesn't matter whether evolution or creationism is correct. I believe 100% that God created the world, and I don't sweat the details of HOW He did it. *shrug* If He felt like taking all the years that the scientists say evolution took, that's cool. If He felt like doing it in 7 days and just put fossils and stuff there to baffle us, okay, fine.

LOL I'm afraid I'm too much a Liberal Arts major to give a crap either way. I think it's fascinating to discuss either possibility, but a 100% correct answer? What the hell's that, I have a BA! *G*

I do agree that teachers shouldn't have to be afraid in their own classrooms. Of course, this is one reason I wouldn't want to be a teacher. It's a frightening amount of responsibility and a terribly thankless job, obviously. I do take exception to calling someone's belief system nonsense, but I also take exception to suing over something ridiculous like that.

Then again, I am a strange creature politically. In an ideal world I would be a Libertarian, but in the world we're stuck with, I'm an elitist bitch snob, because I think that people are too stupid and lazy to take responsibility for themselves.

>.>

It's possible that opinion also makes me a bad Christian. I'm working on that.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

My father went to a Baptist university, back in the day. His physics teacher taught them the Big Bang (and in the 1950s, that was waaaaay out there), but reminded them that something had to say "Go."

I was always taught that belief in God did not preclude science. It bothers me that mainstream protestantism, which used to be the hotbed for religious humanism, is now leaning toward biblical literalism.

Sadly, too many Americans seem to think taking responsibility for themselves means bringing a lawsuit. Had there been active discrimination, that would be one thing.

Your "elitist bitch snob" comment (welcome to the club, by the way.) reminded me of a guest we had in my "London Theatre" class in college. He was talking about his very Labour party views. When he left, the teacher turned to me and said, "that man is one of nature's aristocrats."

A really bad Christian wouldn't be worried about it or working on it. ;-)

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

A teacher potentially has a great amount of influence over their students and what's more, as a student I always feel pressured not to piss off my teachers by pointing out their flaws because they control my grades. I rely on their judgment. I think a lot of students will feel like they can't speak up if they're uncomfortable, or even disagree with a teacher's opinion, out of fear of the consequences.

I have to say, this honestly never occurred to me.

I was used to having my grades docked, being sent to the principal's office (didn't happen often, but it happened at least twice -- in sixth and seventh grades), and being ridiculed by my teachers because I would call them on their mistakes in front of the rest of the class.

My fourth grade teacher went out of her way to make me cry as often as possible because it was funny, and she thought I was a bad child for questioning her. The rest of the class hated me, and they still rallied to my defense because they thought she was unfair.

It also worries me because in the Technology and Ethics unit I've been working on with my scholars, they have argued that computers or robots can never achieve real intelligence because humans made them (as opposed to being made by God). What I'm trying to do is make them define intelligence. I'm not questioning their beliefs -- and I must admit it surprised me that I have more Muslim than Christian students -- I am trying to get them to think the problem through as fully as possible.

On the plus side, I think at least one of my scholars came up with the idea of the Turing test without my telling her about it.

[riverfox.livejournal.com]

This is seriously screwed up. >:( He's being vilified for not being Christian and that's so very, very wrong. *scowls*