Ed Brayton is a freelance writer and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Matt LaClair has been named Student President of CFI (Center for Inquiry) on Campus. You may remember LaClair from the controversy at Kearney high school in New Jersey, where he recorded his history teacher blatantly proselytizing students - telling a Muslim girl that she was going to hell if she didn't become a Christian, telling the class that there were dinosaurs on Noah's Ark, etcf - during class. The teacher, good Christian that he is, lied about it and denied having said any of those things until Matt produced the audio recordings. As a result of his actions, Matt has predictably received harassment and bullying from his classmates. He's a very courageous young man and it's great to see him honored by the Center for Inquiry. I predict great things from him in the future.
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More recently, Matt also exposed blatant falsehoods in a widely used American history textbook, written by two conservatives (James Q. Wilson and John DiIulio) which repeatedly states that, because of the Supreme Court, students are not allowed to pray in school.
It's good to hear he's come on board with CFI. I saw him speak at their conference last November, and he struck me as a brilliant, brave young man with maturity far beyond what's usual for his age. I, too, think we can expect great things from him.
Posted by: Ebonmuse | May 17, 2008 11:18 AM
I wrote Matt an email during his original troubles, and he wrote back the greatest email about courage. Sadly, I didn't save it, but I even read it to our two children. It was uplifting and kind. This guy is going to go places.
Posted by: Keith | May 17, 2008 11:56 AM
As a Christian, I hear this "they won't let us pray" and think -- what wimps.
There are still places where it is actively dangerous to be a Christian. So in the U.S.A if you want to pray in school, do it.
If someone actually (and foolishly) tries to stop you, I bet you'll have lots of support.
Posted by: Jim Ramsey | May 17, 2008 12:05 PM
He's also active with the Secular Student Alliance. I have a feeling we'll be hearing more from him in the near future.
Posted by: FishyFred | May 17, 2008 1:13 PM
Great post, with only one slight edit I'd suggest...
The teacher, typical Christian that he is, lied about it and denied having said any of those things until Matt produced the audio recordings.
There, that's better.
Posted by: Martin | May 17, 2008 7:48 PM
Is there any way we can set up a college fund for this kid?
Posted by: Chad | May 17, 2008 10:45 PM
I don't think he needs one. His dad is a lawyer, remember?
Posted by: FishyFred | May 18, 2008 2:59 PM
LaClair's op-ed in the LA Times was countered by an op-ed from one of the authors of the textbook. The problem is, his rebuttal was just as deceitful as the textbook itself.
There's some details in the second half of this article: http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/controversy_bias_in_textbook.html
Posted by: Molly | May 19, 2008 12:07 PM