May I just say, sir, that YOUR SON ROCKS! I

Seconded. Huge kudos, sir. Your family’s bravery and integrity are greatly admired.

David, thank you. We’re all in it together.

May I just say, sir, that YOUR SON ROCKS! I have been incredibly impressed with his activism — and, considering the response your family received from the school and the community, with his bravery, especially to take on a second issue of that nature. Please tell him that, for whatever it’s worth, he has many fans out here.

—————————-

As for the original topic, I find that some of this teacher’s comments are quite defensible (e.g., the one about Aristotle), but some are clearly unacceptable (e.g., the “Jesus glasses” comment — there’s no way that’s not demeaning to his Christian students, and while I don’t disagree with him, that kind of expression is not acceptable while on the job for someone in his profession). I would hope that he gets disciplined for this and stays off his classroom soapbox in future (not least because we don’t need to be giving the fundies evidence that teachers *are* teaching atheism!), but I do hope that he doesn’t lose his job over this.

~David D.G.

I strongly disagree with the poster who said that a teacher should not state his/her opinion in class, at least if we are talking about older school students. Some of my best teachers felt free to give their opinions, and one teacher who I remember was very careful never to give an opinion on anything was perhaps my worst teacher of all. The important thing is that they manage to draw a line between fact and opinion – indeed that such a distinction exists is one of the most important things one can teach.

Having said that, under “opinions” I am talking about different ways of looking at the facts. I do not include positions which are in blatant contradiction to the facts (as with creationists).

I wonder about the context too. Is it impermissible for a teacher to give his opinion? Would you think differently if each paragraph listed had started with “this is just my opinion, but…”?
This is an AP history class. I remember taking AP classes (though not history) and I remember there was a lot more freedom for discussion and expression in those classes than in others. You can get college credit for an AP class so it is taught more like a college class. Does that make a difference?

One significant moment in my deconversion came in college when I suggested that a miracle in a medieval narrative may have been an actual miracle and my prof said something like “if you are asking me to accept that something supernatural occurred, I won’t. I’m just not even going to entertain that.”
Was he attacking my religion? I don’t think so.

So while I side with the student to the extent that Dr. Corbett made one comment that clearly crosses the line, what is the remedy? Clearly, Dr. Corbett should not disparage Christianity, and in particular should avoid disparaging phrases like “your Jesus glasses.” But where are the young man’s damages? He doesn’t have any. As for positive injunctive relief, where’s the legal basis for that? There is no legal basis that I know of for insisting that Corbett no longer teach that class, any more than there was a legal basis for insisting that David Paszkiewicz not teach his. And it’s pointless for a court to tell him that he has to follow the law – that’s not legal relief, that’s just an admonition. The school might do that, but that’s not what courts do.

I am offended by Dr. Corbett’s comments in paragraph (a), being made as they were in a public school. Some of his other remarks are questionable pedagogically, but not legally. So if this is litigated to the end, Farnan may win technically, but the relief will be minimal. For that reason, Farnan’s legal team may choose to settle the case for some concession that both sides can live with. That’s my prediction.

Yes, I am Matthew LaClair’s dad, and for those of you who do not know me, I am also a practicing attorney for the past thirty years.

Teachers spend hours every week with their students – they’re not going to be able to avoid giving their opinions altogether… perhaps in a maths class it might not come up so often, but classes with a social context won’t be able to avoid these things. I’m also going to guess that he’s perhaps not joined unanimously by his colleagues in his views on religion, which might mean that students will end up hearing both sides of the argument (gasp!).

Sounds to me like the real issue here is that in not allowing open debate, in banging on his drum over and over again, they guy just doesn’t seem to be a very good teacher! Para 17 of the Complaint says that the teacher “has created an atmosphere where he cannot effectively learn, both because and regardless of his religious beliefs”, and this is where the lines of battle will be drawn, I guess. I think a teacher should be able to discuss these issues in a class without making a student feel this way – IMO it’s not the content that is at fault, however much the Complainant may allege this to be the case, it’s the delivery. A more compassionate teacher would have been able to raise these issues, even using the same examples perhaps, but deliver them in a way that would engage student debate. The statements as recorded in the Complaint sound like demagoguery.

The comments mentioning Sweden seem to add some context – and I would say it’s pretty much impossible to discuss European History without some reference to religion and European secularism.

We are, after all, a continent very clearly divided – the secular democracies are wealthy, and the religious nations are quaint little throwbacks with no economy to speak of. In recent years, we have seen Ireland become a much more robust economy (which co-incides with a liberalisation and secularisation of Irish government, as well as a reduction in the power of the church).

Comparing modern day Sweden – wealthy, high quality of life and completely secular and Poland – poor, miserable and 90% religious is very telling about Europe’s development.

and the simple fact that he’s right!!

And yes, it’s always fun to hear a professor passionately talk about how Fellini’s films demonstrate the decreasing relevancy of religion. Art and literature is all about readings, and our professor was definitely not out of line in reading nearly every film we watched with an atheist agenda if his reading was well-founded.