Jun 13 2009
Another Teacher Who Thinks He’s a Preacher
Growing up in the public school system I got involved in various school activities. One was a group of kids who formed an after school Bible Study that happened to meet on campus. It was pretty informal, and didn’t show up officially on any club roster. One teacher joined us, but completely on their own time, and they did not talk about it in classrooms or create fliers or any of that. It was a kind of ‘underground’ project. Honestly, I don’t have a problem with this. I think any students who want to gather, should be able to, no matter what it is for. Religion, Atheism, Science, Music, etc. I do think that there needs to be a realization by people (as there was with our little group) that religion is separate from state, and that the public school system, by nature, is state.
Apparently, this concept of separation of church and state has been completely lost on Josh Freshwater. A teacher in Ohio, who was part of such a group (no problem with that for me, honestly), but went beyond just meeting with the group. He chose to speak about Christianity and his beliefs in the classroom, and that is where the problem lies. He was (thankfully) fired for this, but is fighting it by pulling the ‘religious freedom’ card. The executive director of an organization that Freshwater is a member of had this to say (see my post on forefathers and religion to see how I feel about them being used, once again, in a case they abhorrently oppose):
Finn Laursen is executive director of Christian Educators Association International, of which Freshwater is a member.
“I am pleased to see a public school teacher like John Freshwater willing to go outside his comfort zone and fight for the religious freedoms our forefathers guaranteed is through the U.S. Constitution,” says Laursen. “It is imperative that all Christian educators, students, and parents be willing to step forward to insist on their rights — or those rights will slowly be forfeited.
“John is proving to be a hero of the faith,” he adds.
Well, I’d like to know whta would happen if a teacher who were Muslim, Jewish, HIndu, etc. started ‘preaching’ their beliefs in the classroom. Don’t you know that all of these Christians yelling about ‘religious freedom’ would be the same people looking for these teachers to be fired, immediately. They already yell about the teaching of SCIENCE, so just imagine if a religion they aren’t fond of were being discussed. I do believe there would be riots at the school.
I for one am happy to see that this pubic school took the stance it did. I do hope they win the lawsuit, and that the teacher is forced to pay their legal fees (i.e. the tax payers dollars at work for something that never should have been questioned to begin with). I hope this is a lesson to all teachers out there… that it is not. okay. to. preach. in. the. public. school. classroom. I pay for those classrooms, and would appreciate your religion staying out of it.
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