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It's about time
A High School teacher in Mission Viejo, Ca is being sued over an anti-Christian statement he made during a lecture in a class on the development of Europe, of which Christianity was, right or wrong, good or bad, a large part. I say it's about time someone on the non believer side was called on the carpet for their words and/or actions of intolerance. Had a Christian teacher made a simalar disparaging remark about athiests(or anyone else for that matter)heads would be rolling, as they always are. It's about time the anti-Christian crowd was made to see that tolerance is a two way street. In fact, I, as a Christian, am FAR more tolerant of non believers than they are of me. Their belief or lack of it, is not my business, but I am always made to see that my belief IS their business. Was the teacher in question being intolerant? Sure seems like it even though you can't say what is really in a mans heart, but that's not the point. The point is that he is in a position to influence young minds as an authority figure with a captive audience and his personal views on religion should not be part of any lesson in which he may be involved just as a Christian teachers should not be brought into play in the same situation. If the guy was hosting an honest, open debate on the pros and cons of religion in the lesson in question, inviting discussion and debate from both sides while utilizing his views as a tool to enhance and contribute to learning I would have no issue with it, but that is not what was happening. He was simply engaging in namecalling and belittling Christians.
The phrase used was "When you put on your Jesus glasses you can't see the truth". A student siding with the teacher stated the teacher was being sarcastic to prove a point. Um..What point was that? The point that being a Christian and having faith is tantamount to living a lie? Who is this man to make that case, especialy in the classroom of a public school. What if he had made a similar comment about Mohammed, Vishnu or Moses? What if a Christian teacher had made a similar comment about rose colored glasses or blinders that athiests may wear? The outcry would have been instantaneous, vocal and widespread, the teacher would, most likely, be place on administrative leave and apologies would be demanded by parents of anyone who had been remotely offended by such remarks. The people who speak with such conviction about the separation of church and state(another gross misinterpretation of the constitution, but that's for another debate)have got to realize the double standard they consistently support as they pound the nails into the "One Way" signs on any street whos direction they disagree with. Intolerance seems to be a matter of convenience to such people and the aforementioned double standards seem to be the rule rather than the exception. Why is it that I am expected to be tolerant of a groups views when they aren't expected to be tolerant of mine? They say I am narrowminded, which is poppycock, but even if I were, how is that their business? I make no demands of them and their views. I don't expect them to agree with me, but I am expected, on pain of litigation or castigation, to agree with them. The disparity in fairness in my beliefs to theirs is incredible and their suing me over my right to voice my opinion where my beliefes are concerned is in violation of MY first amendment rights, but that fact is largely ignored by the opposition and the media. Let's see what the media will have to say about this incident, if it even covers it again. The fact is that America is not becoming more tolerant at all. The squeaky wheels are simply being allowed to disguise their own intolerance as progressive free speech and positive change using self serving, demeaning and vitriolic language and actions without fear of reprisal while Christians are nearly always taken to task for voicing their opinions. It seems that you are only able to safely exercise free speech if you don't mention Jesus Christ. The other side gets to pick and choose what they will and won't tolerate and anyone who disagrees with them, even if they aren't outnumbered, may find themselves involved in expensive and time consuming litigation because the "No Christians" crowd understands that most groups and people just don't have the time and resources to legally defend an issues as intangible as faith. I wonder if this teacher has the resources to defend his lack of belief and the right to teach "anti-Christianity" when it has been made so crystal clear that teachers cannot teach the other side. I don't know. As I have stated many times in this and other posts, his non belief is his affair, but I am glad HE will now have to defend it. 12 comments from 9 users
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posted by
samheath
on Dec 19, 2007 at 03:23 PM
What should be obvious to anyone is that this teacher would never have dared refer to "Allah glasses" or he would have at the least lost his job or at the worst risked being murdered in an "honor killing." posted by
Wayfarer
on Dec 19, 2007 at 03:30 PM
One of the atheist myths is that Christians are supposed to be weak and defenseless. I have gotten complaints that I wasn't being Christian by the same haters who were attacking me for being Christian in the first place. posted by
sagefever
on Dec 19, 2007 at 03:34 PM
I read this in the paper,it will be interesting to see how it all works out. Clearly there will never be "too much " tolerance for anyone/belief. We can all do a better job,and most of our belief systems ask that we do so.
posted by
johnburnssucks
on Dec 19, 2007 at 03:56 PM
I have gotten complaints that I wasn't being Christian by the same haters who were attacking me for being Christian in the first place. No one really cares whether or not you're a Christian, Buffoo; Nancy is a Christian, and we all like her. The reason so many people have such an aversion to you and your postings is due to the fact that you aren't firing on all of your cylinders. posted by
robbwillis
on Dec 19, 2007 at 04:00 PM
One of the atheist myths is that Christians are supposed to be weak and defenseless. Oh, you're going to repeat that lie again? Tell us again how, before you arrived to save The Californian's blog, you read that numerous times. Geez, what a blowhard! posted by
adampayne
on Dec 19, 2007 at 04:21 PM
Tolerance is definitely a two way street. Your labeling of those who wish to have people keep their religious beliefs confined to their church or to themselves as "atheists" (in the most pejorative usage) simply demonstrates your bias and your own intolerance. I happen to know many spiritual individuals who are offended every day by the gross commercialism of religion today and that the intent of these zealots seems to be immersing every aspect of life around their religious views. There is actually much more to life than intolerant religious dogma! What troubles me about this case, from the articles I've read, is that once again some person was deeply offended by an off-hand remark from a professor trying to make a point about critical thinking, which requires viewing problems from many different perspectives. The losers are the majority of students trying to get an education. From my perspective this is just another Jesus freak kid trying to undermine the class and the teacher with a bogus charge. What a waste of time! posted by
samheath
on Dec 19, 2007 at 04:46 PM
Most of us would agree bullies should not be tolerated, and this goes for the religious bullies as well as those in the schools as teachers. My personal view as a teacher of many years is that there is no justification for someone to use such sarcasm against anyone in their class. An experienced and qualified teacher knows how to deal with situations like this without their getting out of hand. In this case, no matter the outcome the teacher remains guilty of being very unprofessional, and I resent that as a reflection on the profession.
posted by
sagefever
on Dec 19, 2007 at 05:07 PM
Sam~ that is an excellent point. As soon as I can hold myself to that standard, I will let you know. I am sure you never crossed that line,and I commend you for it. I have had one or two teachers use sarcasm at me,it never endeared me to them and made for an adversarial relationship.
posted by
johnburnssucks
on Dec 19, 2007 at 05:11 PM
From my perspective this is just another Jesus freak kid trying to undermine the class and the teacher with a bogus charge. What a waste of time! It is a waste of time. This will go nowhere, and will quietly fade away. posted by
NancyII
on Dec 19, 2007 at 09:26 PM
I guess the point about using "Allah glasses" was missed. How surprising. (a hint of sarcasm there) A teacher intending to help kids learn critical thinking has no business bring ANY reference of any religion into a classroom. Or at least that's what all the hullabaloo lately has been about. How easily we switch from "Oh my God we can't say In God We Trust in the classroom" to basically saying "what's the big deal about a teacher telling a kid to take off his Jesus glasses. And no one sees the irony. posted by
AudreyB
on Dec 20, 2007 at 07:43 AM
Nancy I totally agree with you. The irony of the two situations underlines why the 1st Amendment guaranteeing the separation of church and state is the only fair way to treat individual religious beliefs (or lack of them) in a public setting. Why waste one school minute bringing up religion at all? No wonder American children are falling behind the rest of the world in education. posted by
motopoet
on Dec 25, 2007 at 09:41 AM
Adam..as usual you have not read my post corrctly. I did NOT lump anyone into anything. I merely used athiests as an example. Should I have to use a plethora of commas, backslashes or other such punctuation to insert every form of non-belief such at agnostics and the like? I don't see anyone doing that where Christianity is concerned. I just get lumped into the same basket with Catholics, Mormons, Baptists, Methodists...You get the picture. The common thread between all Christians that they believe Jesus is their Savior. The common thread between all non believers is that they dont believe in God. It's really not that confusing. I don't like religious zealots either, but then I don't like zealots of any kind and if you expect me to believe that a huge number of athierst, agnostics, etc, aren't zealous about their point of view, you have unrealistic expectations of me. I am, if nothing else, a realist. I have stated in past posts that I don't even go to church anymore, that does not make me a bad Christian any more than attending a church service would make you a bad athiest(or whatever you classify yourself as). I have also stated, even in this post, that I don't care if you believe or not and I mean it. That is not intolerance. It is, in fact, MUCH more tolerance than I generally get as a believer. Just another Jesus Freak Kid? Do you hear yourself? Is that what you classify as tolerance, Adam? It is people like you who create tension among people who disagree with each other. You seem to be incapable of not allowing yor intolerance and anger to show through and taint your arguments and it has poked its ugly nose into the fray with name calling, the cheapest form of argument and/or debate. You open your post saying tolerance is a two way street and end it by proving you don't feel that way at all! Again, I dont care what a person does or does not believe and that includes what YOU do or do not believe. I'd sit down and have beer with anyone and debate any subject and, as long as it all remained civil, would buy the rounds and end up telling jokes and having a good laugh. Hell Adam, we could even have a good jam session! I LOVE playing AC/DC songs! And for teh record, it was NOT a professor who made the comment and it was not in a college where such talk and ideas are more easily tolerated due to the adult nature of the students, it was at a High School and in that situation there is no such thing as an "offhand remark". Offhand remarks by teachers should be saved for the staff room. Someone said this would quietly fade away. Maybe it will and maybe it should as far as the media goes, but this teacher is in for a rough ride no matter what happens. He is teaching in a public school and needs to be called on the carpet for his attitude toward what is probably, at least, half of his class just as such a glib remark by a Christian teacher would need to be. I guess one of the points I am trying to make is that had this been the other way around, the outcry, even on this board, would have been stupendous and all the people on the other side of the fence would see to it that it didn't just fade away. Well..my kids are waking up..Time to go open Christmas(not X-mas, kwanza,festivus, etc.) gifts.
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