A Different Kind of Cross Burning June 20
I’m an atheist, but I have no problem with believers who don’t force their religion on me. I’m OK with In God We Trust on our money. If school kids want to have prayer meetings, I don’t object as long as they don’t try to convert others and adhere to the same standards as any other school group. I couldn’t care less if you call the holidays Christmas or pledge allegiance to one nation under God. Personally, I view Jeremiah Wright as the flip side of the same wacky coin as John Hagee, but I believe both of them can say what they want because our Constitution and laws say they can - even if it’s the biggest load of hogswallop I’ve ever heard.
But, I’m not OK with John Freshwater, a Mount Vernon, Ohio “science” teacher under fire for teaching creationism. It’s not even the creationism that bothers me. I think it’s a wagon load of crap, but it might be usefully taught as one of many cultural concepts in a world studies, religion, or philosophical program - anything but science. Creationism aside though, Freshwater also showed bad judgment for failing to remove religious materials from his class - an infraction that had already cost his school system a lawsuit.
But the thing I’m REALLY not OK with is this idjit of enlightenment burning crosses onto his students’ arms. Let me emphasize this, Freshwater is a dangerous bigot much worse than Jim Piculas, the Toothpick Wizard. Freshwater used a “high-frequency generator” to burn his students, an act disturbingly close to other “religious” practices like genital mutilation and stoning unmarried pregnant women. To make matters worse, he tried to weasel-speak it away as an “X” instead of a cross. Some performance for an acolyte of a benevolent God, eh?
Some, including some of his students, are now defending Freshwater as a First Amendment patriot. They support his violation of classroom rules by keeping the religious paraphernalia on display and his crosses - which are no longer “X”s now that he has the soapbox - burned into another’s flesh.
I’m sure Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly will disagree, but here’s a newsflash - courts have already made many decisions on what’s allowable in the classroom and I don’t believe using kids as life-size wood burning kits has been approved. Further, court rulings already support the concept that religious paraphernalia isn’t allowed. You may say it violates your First Amendment rights, but the Supreme Court of your country begs to differ. You can prattle on about how you believe the decision should be something else, but we’re not living in a theocracy, we’re living in a democracy where the law of the land isn’t the King James, but the Constitution.
Many of the most conservatively religious people have absolutely no trouble condemning Muslim suicide bombers while defending this type of behavior as somehow superior. Those actions are what makes atheists and those of less-popular faiths cringe. The Freshwater’s of the world believe they live under a “higher” law than the Constitution. I’m tempted to recommend they leave for other, similarly intolerant theocracies or that simply firing Freshwater isn’t enough. But I won’t. I’ll charitably take a familiar page from their Bible instead.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
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Lew Scannon Jun 20
Yes, a wise and benevolent God wishes for us to burn and permanently scar the flesh he has encased our souls with in. The fact that there are parents who haven’ called for his immediate dismissal is a scary thought indeed.
Lew Scannon’s last blog post..Good Riddance
Tengrain Jun 20
What a groady little toad to do such a thing. I mean this Fishbreath or whatever his name is, not you Godling.
Regards,
Tengrain
daveawayfromhome Jun 20
Freshwater can believe in his “higher” laws all he wants. But he’s going to have to get God to come down and personally enforce them, otherwise we need to stick with the locally derived ones.
I agree; as a philosophy, I see nothing wrong with creationism, and I suspect that there are a lot of scientists who think that the hand of God was somehow involved in evolution, at least in the setting up of the system. But science it aint, and anybody with half a brain and no agenda should be able to see that.
daveawayfromhome’s last blog post..musings
Joanna Andani Jun 20
There is an interesting article in Scientific American titled “Should Science Speak to Faith?” which is a debate between Lawrence M. Krauss and Richard Dawkins about whether or not science and faith can occupy the same space in harmony or should science try to eliminate any relation with religious beliefs.
I see no reason why students and teachers can’t talk about what could or could not be possible, as long as there is a basis of reason and respect. Is there no freedom of expression in school? There should certainly be boundaries (separation of church and state-funded schools) and Freshwater clearly broke them, but most of his students don’t seem to have a problem with his beliefs and neither do their parents. As long as everyone in that class does not feel offended and as long as everyone can separate what science accepts as a fact and what is a personal belief, then there can be a discussion of whether or not God created the universes…
I don’t agree with the burning crosses on the students’ arms though… I don’t care what you’re trying to prove.
mariamariacuchita Jun 21
Creationism is nothing more than wishful conjecture. Burning kids is a crime. This guy should be put away.
mariamariacuchita’s last blog post..Price of the pumps
c0y0te Jun 21
OMFG!
This story didn’t make it across the big pond, or at least I didn’t see it until now. I can’t believe this idiot was branding the kids… that’s just insane.
Why is it that religion, any religion, tends to draw in their fair share of wingnuts and whackos?
I’m with you OP. Athiest all the way. Live and let live, but this mofo needs to be locked up and have the key thrown away.
c0y0te
c0y0te’s last blog post..No ‘Deal’ On Lisbon Treaty, But Another Referendum On The Way?
Hiromi Jun 21
Wow. That’s a hard-core nutjob right there. Bible on desk…eh. Creationism in a science classroom? Bad. But the branding? Isn’t that, like, child abuse? Battery? Or some shit? It’s got to be criminal. If he did that to my child, I’d do him serious physical harm.
John Good Jun 23
My devoutly religious mother often told me that “the heart grows harder with age”. People such as this asshat are likely the reason why.
I have no use for theologians - They don’t know nothin’ ’bout my soul, at least according to Wilco.
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