Most people in this quiet all-American town describe themselves as devoutly Christian, but even here they are deeply divided over what should happen to John Freshwater.
Mr. Freshwater, an eighth-grade public school science teacher, is accused of burning a cross onto the arms of at least two students and teaching creationism, charges he says have been fabricated because he refused an order by his principal to remove a Bible from his desk.
After an investigation, school officials notified Mr. Freshwater in June 2008 of their intent to fire him, but he asked for a pre-termination hearing, which has lasted more than a year and cost the school board more than a half-million dollars.
The hearing is finally scheduled to end Friday, and a verdict on Mr. Freshwater’s fate is expected some months later. But the town — home to about 15,000 people, more than 30 churches and an evangelical university — remains split.
Characteristic of the tepid faith of most cultural inheritors of church we read
[blockquote]“We are Christians,†she said, “who practice our faith where it belongs, at church and in our home …â€[/blockquote]
…but of course, never in public or polite society…
[blockquote]“and, most importantly, outside the public classroom, where the law requires a separation of church and state.â€[/blockquote]
Actually the Law requires no such thing, but as graduates of secular public schooling one shouldn’t expect much from them beside recitation of the Party line.
Actually, the law [i]does[/i] require such a thing. Would you change your mind if the teacher were Muslim, had a Koran on his desk, and burned an Islamic symbol onto two kids’ arms?
According to the article:
[blockquote] Mr. Freshwater, who declined to be interviewed, has said he did not mean to burn a cross on any student’s arm. Instead, he said he intended to leave a temporary X on the skin using a device called a Tesla coil during a science demonstration. He says he had done that, with no complaints, hundreds of times in his 21 years as a teacher at Mount Vernon Middle School.[/blockquote]
And, No, the simple presence of a Koran on a teacher’s desk should be no problem.
I don’t see that we here at T19 can properly comment on this case because so many of the key facts are in dispute.
For example, is Freshwater’s explanation of the cross burning correct or is the family’s (including was it really an X or did it look much more like the typical Christian cross)?
Is it true that Freshwater said:
“Science is wrong,†Mr. Freshwater was reported as saying, “because the Bible states that homosexuality is a sin, and so anyone who is gay chooses to be gay and is therefore a sinner.â€
And if so, who did he say it to? Did he say it as a schoolteacher to a student?
Did he tell students that they should use the Bible as a science textbook?
Is it true that his teaching of evolution in his biology classes was so slipshop that the subject had to be retaught to his students by other teachers?
I can imagine all of these things being true, none of them being true, or some of them being true.
So it’s hard for us to meaningfully comment on this particular case without knowing the facts. The guy may be totally out of line or a victim or some of both.
Jon #4 is absolutely correct. We can move on. Not enough here to talk about.
‘Separation of Church and State’ is not in the Constitution of the United States. I say again, the Law requires no such thing. Admittedly it requires a certain education level to be able to read the document but such a task should not be beyond the capacity of the educated. Unless you are a victim of public education or the NY Times or NPR. If this the case, you are excused.