…and this is a 
Fire John Freshwater … for the right reason
Category: Creationism
Posted on: April 23, 2008 8:13 AM, by PZ Myers
There's an ugly case brewing in Ohio. A popular middle school science teacher has been ordered to remove his copy of the bible from his desk. On the face of it, I think letting a teacher have a bible on his desk or on his person should not be a problem — it's nothing but a personal tchotchke, and it's not worth fighting over. John Freshwater, though, has made it more than an expression of personal preference. He is proselytizing in the public school classroom. Freshwater is responsible for turning this into a church-state separation case; he's one of those particularly obnoxious Christians who wrap themselves in sanctimony and loudly demand that they have more than a right to believe (a right I would defend), they have a right to tell their students what they must believe, and who uses every opportunity to evangelize in defiance of his professional responsibilities.
The school has a right and an obligation to tell him to knock it off, and if he won't comply, they should hold him in violation of his contract and fire him. But I wouldn't have him fired for being a pretentious Christian, only for refusal to do his job.
There's another reason he should be fired, however, and the school district should take advantage of his intransigence over his stupid bible to kick his sorry ass off the faculty. He's an incompetent science teacher.
In one class, Freshwater used Lego pieces to describe the beginning of the world. He dumped the pieces, then asked students if the Legos could assemble by themselves, said Joe Stuart, 18, assistant editor of the high-school newspaper.
When Freshwater taught students about electrical current, he used a device to leave a red mark in the shape of a cross on the forearms of some students, Stuart said.
"If it were just about the Bible, I don't think people would have a problem with it," Stuart said.
In his evaluations through the 21 years he's worked for the district, Freshwater has drawn consistent praise for his strong rapport with students, broad knowledge of his subject matter and engaging teaching style.
In 2006, he was instructed to remove from his curriculum a handout titled "Darwin's Theory of Evolution — The Premise and the Problem." A parent had questioned its validity and use in a science classroom.
Mr Stuart is wise. It's not the bible at all. It's that he's a deluded creationist teaching lies to students in a science class. Unfortunately, there's little recourse for expelling bad teachers (and his popularity is not an indication that he's a good teacher, don't make that mistake) on the basis of incompetence.
And the cross thing is just plain bizarre. Burning religious symbols into students' flesh is not a way to teach them about the physics of electricity; what next, will he teach about the chemistry of oxidation reactions by burning heretical students at a stake? Even religious parents in the community are disturbed by this kook:
The fax stated, "We are religious people, but we were offended when Mr. Freshwater burned a cross onto the arm of our child. This was done in science class in December 2007, where an electric shock machine was used to burn our child. The burn was severe enough that our child awoke that night with severe pain, and the cross remained there for several weeks. ... We have tried to keep this a private matter and hesitate to tell the whole story to the media for fear that we will be retaliated against."
These same parents also expressed the key issue in separation of church and state:
Short said it is alleged that Freshwater used his classroom to advance religion and that he teaches his own beliefs from the Bible and not the approved curriculum. In the fax, the parents also said, "We are Christians who practice our faith where it belongs, at church and in our home and, most importantly, outside the public classroom, where the law requires a separation of church and state."
Freshwater can believe whatever he wants. When he decides to use his public school classroom to shove his beliefs down student throats, he's in the wrong and should obey the order to keep his class secular. And when his personal beliefs so scramble his judgment that he can't even teach the evidence and logic of science, his professional duty, fire him.
Education & Careers
Comments
What's frightening is all the Freshwaters around the country that we *don't* hear about who are doing this kind of thing every day.
Posted by: Madam Pomfrey | April 23, 2008 8:21 AM
Sorry, "teacher brands students" = "teacher gets fired", I don't care what symbol he chose to brand the students with. And to think that my teacher was satisfied with lighting up little LED bulbs to teach about electricity...
Posted by: Shygetz | April 23, 2008 8:25 AM
He burned a child?
He should be in jail.
If he had burned a pentagram into a students arm what would have happened to this teacher?
Posted by: spurge | April 23, 2008 8:25 AM
At some point, you almost want to raise your hands in disgust and give up.
Posted by: Derik N | April 23, 2008 8:27 AM
How is branding a child in such a way as this not being seen as child abuse?
Posted by: Dan | April 23, 2008 8:27 AM
Huh? Why isn't the guy being fired for harming his students? Teachers shouldn't be deliberately burning their students.
Posted by: Bob O'H | April 23, 2008 8:30 AM
What a sicko! Of course, since they're singling him out for having a bible on his desk and not, y'know, BRANDING STUDENTS, he will probably raise a big stink about religious discrimination and get all the fundies riled.
Posted by: Vegan Atheist | April 23, 2008 8:30 AM
Well, duh. Of course god made every single tadpole and gazelle by hand. After all, Legos don't assemble themselves!
What a putz.
Posted by: Daniel | April 23, 2008 8:34 AM
News of this type always saddens me...that ignorance can be allowed to flourish. No, I have no problem with him keeping a bible on his desk, or a torah, or a fuzzy haired troll, they all being equal in my eyes. I have a problem with telling kids to believe what the bible, torah, or troll tell him he should believe.
The only bright spot is that some parents who are religious think he is over the top.
First post on this site, and have spent all morning catching up on my reading. Wonderful site and wonderful comments. Pretty sure I will be a regular here, even if not much of a contributor. Cheers.
Posted by: Keltixx | April 23, 2008 8:35 AM
Assault and battery. Press charges.
Posted by: Anon | April 23, 2008 8:35 AM
Hey Freshwater...
Some simple facts:
1) Lego can't mutate or reproduce...
2) Branding hurts...
3) You are a looney...
Posted by: Rowan | April 23, 2008 8:38 AM
When Freshwater taught students about electrical current, he used a device to leave a red mark in the shape of a cross on the forearms of some students, Stuart said.
Child abuse?
Posted by: firemancarl | April 23, 2008 8:41 AM
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk | April 23, 2008 8:42 AM
"We are Christians who practice our faith where it belongs, at church and in our home and, most importantly, outside the public classroom, where the law requires a separation of church and state."
I would just like to offer a round of applause for those parents for such rational words. I just find it frightening that the community they live in is such that they were in fear of retaliation for complaining about their child being branded.
Posted by: Carlie | April 23, 2008 8:42 AM
I believe the correct term in this case is assault by battery ......
Posted by: Brian Coughlan | April 23, 2008 8:43 AM
"Assault and battery. Press charges."
Pun intended? (It was supposedly a lesson in electricity, after all...)
Posted by: Aaron Golas | April 23, 2008 8:44 AM
I would fire that moron in a heartbeat, in fact so fast that his imaginary god would not have the speed to save him! This is getting to be a onerous problem, with all these halfwits thinking that can they smear their brand of insanity wherever they want. Would I as an atheist teacher be able to wear a sign around my neck that proclaimed "All religions are fairy tales" and start telling the class each day why this is so? Damn it, we will have to institute a policy in all schools that it will be understood that all religious talk and symbols will be banned, have them all sign to that effect with the explicit understanding that you will be fired for violating this edict. Keep your insane crap to yourself when you are on somebody else's time; there are plenty of places to rant your crap, such as town dumps, bars, churches, sanitary filtration plants, and against the wailing wall and in mosques.
Hey, the latest news on the floating moron: they found the balloons but not him! He's probably in the belly of a great white shark; poor Jonah, not to be freed!
Posted by: Holbach | April 23, 2008 8:44 AM
No, he has the right to be religious. He does not have the right to alter the public school curriculum and force others to listen to his beliefs. I'm always amazed at the "rights" people suddenly aquire when they feel they are being persecuted.
Posted by: Bad Albert | April 23, 2008 8:45 AM
If a teacher ever burns one of my (not yet existant) children he better hope there is a God, he's going to need it.
Posted by: Schmeer | April 23, 2008 8:48 AM
Being that I live in Ohio (not born here), somewhere inside me, I feel ashamed. But then I remember that I work with about 300 very religious people that on a weekly basis try to convert me back from my sinful ways, after learning I was an atheist. One even stating that "You shouldn't even exist if you don't believe in Jesus." So it really doesn't surprise me.
I just pleasantly remind those around me that I have a cup of coffee, that is so hot that it was freshly made from the pits of Mount Doom, and that they are within throwing distance.
Posted by: DB | April 23, 2008 8:49 AM
Quotemine about atheistic oppression in the science classroom in 3...2...1...
Posted by: Ranson | April 23, 2008 8:49 AM
I think this is a fantastic demonstration of the sleight-of-hand that goes on with religious issues: make any sort of outrage "about religious freedom," and suddenly a cut-and-dry issue is complicated. It shouldn't be.
When religion behaves like this, it gives up its right to special protection.
Bravo to those religious parents who have it right: religion doesn't belong in the classroom, and it sure as shit doesn't belong branded on a child's arm.
Posted by: Dana Hunter | April 23, 2008 8:52 AM
He should be prosecuted for assault (regardless of whether it's also child abuse or any other criminal or sacking offence). Why isn't that happening?
Posted by: SEF | April 23, 2008 8:54 AM
There has long existed an expression fitting to this situation:
The stupid, it burns!
Also, I agree with Carlie @14: that is just about the scariest part.
Posted by: Jason Failes | April 23, 2008 8:55 AM
I'm genuinely shocked this case hasn't developed along the lines of teacher gives electrical burn in shape of religious icon to child > teacher receives parental beatdown and gets fired.
I wonder what they would've done if it had been a darwin-fish brand?
Posted by: tai haku | April 23, 2008 8:57 AM
@ DB #20
While I work in a fundieland, as well, my areligiosity has yet to come up. However, as my old "funny" stories about high school (giving a speech on how to build an antipersonnel landmine from scratch; unknowingly helping plan what became a hostage situation, etc.), I doubt anyone's going to say much.
@ Schmeer #19
My kids do exist, and I feel much the same way. People can do what they want to me; I can take it. Go near my loved ones, and you'll disappear. I'm not talking about bloody, screaming vengance; I'm talking that your empty car is found by the side of the road between your house and work one day, and that's the last anyone knows.
I'm actually a nice, easy-going person. But don't touch my family.
Posted by: Ranson | April 23, 2008 8:57 AM
Let me second Carlie @14. I no longer share these parents' religious beliefs, but I certainly share their view that religion is a private matter that should be kept in its proper sphere.
People often ask, "Why don't all those 'moderate Christians' take a stand against their lunatic fundamentalist co-religionists?" Well, here's one small but important example of them doing just that, and fair play to them.
Oh, and yeah: fire the dude. Leaving everything else to one side, that electrically-burnt cross thing is shocking (and probably criminal, had any of the parents pressed charges). And that would be true whether he burnt crosses, pentacles or a big red atheist "A"; the technical term for what he did is, I believe, battery.
Posted by: Mrs Tilton | April 23, 2008 8:57 AM
"He has the right to express his religion."
"No, he has the right to be religious. He does not have the right to alter the public school curriculum and force others to listen to his beliefs. I'm always amazed at the "rights" people suddenly aquire when they feel they are being persecuted."
@#18, I think that the thing people who say things like "he has the right to express his religion" miss, forget, or ignore, as that in the U.S., education is *compulsory*. It is against the law for children not to attend school of some kind. If the school is a public school -- public meaning government provided, provided by public funding -- then religion cannot be expressed by teachers (who, as public school teachers are agents of the government) to their students, as that amounts to the government, by force of law, subjecting students to religious instruction.
Does anybody want the government telling their kids what religious beliefs they must hold? If anyone advocates for public school teachers having the right to proselytize, then they must want the government teaching your kids religion, or fail to understand the consequences of what they think they want.
(Searching back, I'm not sure who you were quoting, actually).
Posted by: SteveC | April 23, 2008 8:58 AM
"Why isn't that happening?"
Religion.
Posted by: spurge | April 23, 2008 9:03 AM
I keep a little Buddha statue on my desk. I'm not Buddhist, I just liked it. I had planned to use it when students fall asleep or don't behave in class...you know, whack them on the back of the head or something. If I get in trouble for that, can I claim my religious freedom is being stifled?
I also have a little gnome, but it's not heavy enough to use as a head-bashing implement. I could probably stab a student with it. Would it be anti-gnomism if they tried to stop me from using it in that way?
Posted by: Heather | April 23, 2008 9:04 AM
This is absolutely ridiculous. This criminal branded a child with a cross, and he's still free, much less teaching children? I agree with spurge in #3 above - even if it hadn't been a pentagram - if this guy had burned anything except a cross into this kid's arm, he'd have been gone the second it happened, regardless of the situation. And since when does teaching require tactile confirmation?
Personally, I'm glad this didn't happen to any children I know. I do not take it well when I hear of child abuse, and it would be a conscious choice for me to go to jail for a few weeks in order to put this guy in his place. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an advocate of violence, but I have been trained in how to use it effectively and judiciously, and when it comes to the safety of children I'd much rather spend my time in a cell than have any child spend their time in a hospital room. The bare fact is that I can recover much easier from a stint inside, but damage done to that child could be irrevocable.
To answer the above question, the name of the charge is 'assault (intent to commit and 'battery' (actual physical contact).
From Wiki:
Modern American statutes define assault as:
- an attempt to cause or purposely, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to another; or,
- negligently causing bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon.
(And once they meet that second requirement by making contact, battery has been committed.)
Posted by: brokenSoldier | April 23, 2008 9:05 AM
This idiot burned a student with electrical current badly enough that the burn did not heal for several weeks, and he still has a job? I can't believe those parents didn't complain. In any school district I've ever been associated with (and my wife has worked in several), the parents would have sued for big bucks.
Posted by: Orac | April 23, 2008 9:10 AM
As a high school science teacher myself, I find it incredible that Mr. Freshwater assumes that preaching his brand of gospel in a public setting was going to be met with approval even if his community is predominantly Christian. Predominantly Christian still means there are dozens of faiths represented, and they tend not to agree on the finer points of theology. In fact, they fight about it quite a bit. Not only will he get nailed by people who rightly object to his abrogation of his primary job in the teaching science, he'll also get hammered by those who do not agree with his particular take on Christian theology. It will be a special little hell of his own making and it's a totally predictable outcome. No doubt he'll remain blissfully comfortable in his knowledge that his philosophy is true and correct, but it is pretty entertaining to watch such certainty implode as antagonists from all directions pile on.
Posted by: 938Mev | April 23, 2008 9:11 AM
@ Orac # 32:
I agree. I usually scoff when anyone pulls out a lawsuit, but this situation is begging for one. These parents should own half of this man's wages for the rest of his life, as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: brokenSoldier | April 23, 2008 9:14 AM
Don't worry. After seeing what happened with the football game prayer case in Texas, where the lawsuit came from Catholic and Mormon parents, the loons will blame the atheists for persecuting Christians in 3, 2, 1....
Posted by: Aquaria | April 23, 2008 9:16 AM
I know my Dendrology teacher used to nail us to a tree crucifix style so that we could really see the nature of wood.
I don't see a problem here.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | April 23, 2008 9:17 AM
Go near my loved ones, and you'll disappear. I'm not talking about bloody, screaming vengance; I'm talking that your empty car is found by the side of the road between your house and work one day, and that's the last anyone knows. (Ranson @ 26)
There's a story about John Gotti that he had a two-year-old son who was killed in an accident; he was playing in a neighbor's driveway and the neighbor backed out on him. The neighbor was given a week to get his affairs in order. Basically, what you described happened. He just disappeared.
Gotti did a lot of terrible things, but this one, I understand.
Posted by: Molly, NYC | April 23, 2008 9:17 AM
He burned students? WHAT?! I'm dumbfounded.
How did he not get suspended at the least? He's just being "observed?" He's not the only person that needs to go. There are a few administrators who deserve to lose jobs over this as well. You don't protect someone who is abusing children.
Posted by: MAJeff, OM | April 23, 2008 9:17 AM
I guess there happened to be no Kenyon College faculty kids in this guys classes. Unlike the local yokels (ah, my wonderful adopted state of North Alabama!)I'll bet they would have complained about this idiot a whole lot sooner.
Posted by: Steve LaBonne | April 23, 2008 9:17 AM
This religious teacher tortures children, but because he is religious means he is not immediately fired.
A group of religious paedophiles (Yearning for Zion ranch) rape children, but because they are religous means the abuse continues for over 5 years.
This fear of upsetting the religious community is a bane in American, indeed, any society.
Fire him. I will provide the stake.
Posted by: CosmicTeapot | April 23, 2008 9:18 AM
Leviticus 19:28 "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD."
What no tats? What a pillock that LORD is.
Posted by: Peter Mc | April 23, 2008 9:20 AM
Oh, you meant terminate his employment!
Sorry, my bad.
I still have the stake though ;)
Posted by: CosmicTeapot | April 23, 2008 9:20 AM
Ohio?
Should I take my grandfather's geologist hammer to the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting? Or is the city of Cleveland far enough away from a place where religious people "tried to keep this a private matter and hesitate to tell the whole story to the media for fear that we will be retaliated against"?
I mean, this is like the teddy bear incident in Sudan.
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | April 23, 2008 9:25 AM
I've been following the story a bit, and it seems that the original complaint was about the Bible, then about his conduct. As the school started investigating him, it just got worse and worse.
The parents mentioned in the fax also said they were going to keep it a private matter until the investigation started. ugh.
But he's been a problem there for a long while. Just this week, the local paper ran a reprint of a story that they published in June of 2003. At that time, he proposed a "teach the controversy" approach be added to the science curriculum. Fortunately for them, the school board rejected the proposal.
Here's the article:
http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/08/04/16/060303.mv.boe.shtml
Posted by: Katrina | April 23, 2008 9:26 AM
Well, surely those kids are now linking the bible with getting branded like cattle by a deluded teacher. So maybe there is a good outcome for them, a Pavlovian condition for rejection of the bible. Probably not what parents are expecting their children to develop, though...
Posted by: Alfonso Armenta | April 23, 2008 9:29 AM
This story is exactly why I have given up a perfectly dignified career in neuroscience to get a Master's in Education (because I need ANOTHER degree) and teach High School next year.
It sickens me to see this. All I can do is try to be the best science teacher I can.
Oh... and DON'T BURN THE CHILDREN! Animal.
Posted by: Heather | April 23, 2008 9:32 AM
Now, out in the boonies around 35 miles east of the city, where I live and work, there are more of those people. But definitely not as many as in Mount Vermin. ;)
Posted by: Steve LaBonne | April 23, 2008 9:33 AM
Prediction: If/when this idiot is finally fired, the fundies (every single one of them) and a whole bunch of moderates will completely ignore everything they might hear about him abusing children by branding them, and complain about religious discrimination. Then again, that's just par for the course; as soon as a cross, bible or religion in general is involved, it seems like a whole bunch of otherwise intelligent people go completely batshit crazy, and start frothing at the mouth.
Oh well, kudos to the parents of the abused kid for sending that letter, I just hope they'll do something (more substantial than just sending a letter) and actually stand up for their child.
Posted by: Kaerion | April 23, 2008 9:33 AM
MAJ: "You don't protect someone who is abusing children."
I agree. But if the pope has problems figuring out his position on this, what hope is there for the average religionist?
Posted by: MacT | April 23, 2008 9:33 AM
Oh, and according to this article, there were hundreds of students who rallied Wednesday in his support.
The original complaint wasn't just about the bible, he also had a copy of the ten commandments on the classroom wall.
Posted by: Katrina | April 23, 2008 9:35 AM
Those parents are idiots. My response would be more along the lines of "have fun convicting me without a body, chumps"
Posted by: DaveX | April 23, 2008 9:38 AM
Um, Molly, NYC - "...was killed in an accident; he was playing in a neighbor's driveway and the neighbor backed out on him."
And you find murder understandable in this circumstance?
Posted by: SC | April 23, 2008 9:43 AM
If he did that to my son I'd make them use the device to brand either his ass or his forehead, though I'm not sure we would be able to tell which is which.
Posted by: Steven | April 23, 2008 9:43 AM
Posted by: Schmeer | April 23, 2008 9:45 AM
absolutely right. The problem isn't the bible. Let him keep his stupid boring and miswritten book. The problem is that he's trying to shove his religion on the kids. It's none of his damn business.
It's a shame really. If the kids rally behind him it's because he was friendly and had energy. Otherwise they wouldn't support him. It's too bad they can't see what the problem is here.
Posted by: Michelle | April 23, 2008 9:46 AM
Steve LaBonne wrote
They tended to steer their kids away from his classes. Freshwater's been known to favor the teaching of ID creationism for years. In 2003 he proposed that the district add Wells' crap to the science curriculum. That was rejected by the board of education on a 4-1 vote, with a number of Christians of several denominations speaking against it in board meetings.Freshwater's closest adviser is "Coach" Dave Daubenmire, who has a small fundamentalist ministry, (Pass the Salt), and is a founder of Minutemen United. The latter sent troops to demonstrate in support of Judge Roy Moore. It's noteworthy that Daubenmire's district (London, OH) was sued for his practice of praying with his athletes when he was a high school coach. He claims the ACLU suit was unsuccessful, but in fact there was an out of court settlement that paid ACLU's attorney costs and Daubenmire is no longer a high school coach.
There's not a little town-gown (well, county-gown) tension with Kenyon seen as a hotbed of uppity left-wing elitists, and the Freshwater incident is going to rip pretty hard at the community much as the Dover trial ripped pretty hard at their community.
Local talk radio is right-wing politically (surprise) and has a strong Christian Nation component. Calling in, it's real hard to get across the point that a teacher in the classroom is an agent of the government, not a private citizen, and that the Constitution puts limits on what agents of the government can do. The callers (and posters on local web fora) are indignant that some malcontent parents are attempting to abridge Freshwater's free speech and free exercise rights. They put it in terms of being "offended" by Christianity, and play the poor persecuted Christians card left and right. They do not believe in the separation of church and state, and regard opinions of the Supreme Court as either invalid readings of the Constitution or merely advisory. They misrepresent the term "opinion" -- as in "a unanimous opinion of the Supreme Court" -- in the same way creationists misuse "theory." It's just the Court's opinion. And, of course, the phrase "separation of church and state" doesn't occur in the Constitution and is therefore nonsense.
The most serious allegations so far include:
1. The cross incident, thought it's not yet clear just how that was done. It was apparently some sort of demo of electricity, and it's not clear if it went wrong. That the demo produced a cross on flesh is apparently true -- several other students have claimed it, too.
2. Keeping Bibles in the classroom to hand out to children.
3. Having the 10 Commandments displayed in the classroom.
4. Having his personal Bible on his desk.
5. Holding a "healing" in a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting, and participating in the FCA rather than monitoring as was his ostensible role.
Posted by: RBH | April 23, 2008 9:51 AM
A student, quoted in the article:
Bingo, Kaerion. It didn't even take THAT long. And no doubt when the Fox News fundies get into this story, they'll parade these people out in support of this man, despite the fact that they are ignoring the actual crimes he has committed in his classroom so that they can play this game of make-believe with religious discrimination.
Maybe Ben Stein will make a movie about it - "Fired: No Electrodes Allowed"
Posted by: brokenSoldier | April 23, 2008 9:53 AM
I agree with some of the others here--his being fired should be about physical abuse to students. Everything else is minor in comparison.
The child's parents should have called the police the minute they discovered what had happened. There wouldn't be any discussion about this now if the police had gotten involved early because the teacher was burning his students. No one would care about the other stuff. It would be just another small story of some teacher getting fired for physically abusing his students. That's it.
What am I missing?
Posted by: Nate | April 23, 2008 9:54 AM
I should add that the county also has a strong institutional conservative religious cast. There's a Nazarene college and a district headquarters of the 7th Day Adventists in it. The 7th Day adventists were historically the main pushers of young earth creationism, and there are a whole lot of YECs around.
Posted by: RBH | April 23, 2008 9:57 AM
Luckily you don't often get this sort of loon in England. Though aged 16 I was condemned to hell by my religious education teacher. That was fun...
Posted by: Exitus | April 23, 2008 9:58 AM
Thanks, RBH, that was quite enlightening.
I'm thinking I won't encourage my daughter (now in 10th grade)to apply to Kenyon...
Posted by: Steve LaBonne | April 23, 2008 9:59 AM
Wow, am I really that militant? I think it's a pretty unambiguous violation of the Establishment clause.
Now, if he were a good teacher I wouldn't give him a hard time about it. There are few good teachers, I tend to give them a lot of leeway.
PS teachers can wear some religiously-themed jewelry. Apart from that, school districts pretty much get to regulate what teachers wear. In fact, Freshwater's letter complaining that a Muslim would be allowed to wear a burqa is in complete ignorance of the fact that there was such a case where a Muslim woman was prevented from wearing her head covering, and the Supreme Court indicated the school district could act in this manner.
Posted by: CrypticLife | April 23, 2008 10:00 AM
PWNED!
Posted by: Pablo | April 23, 2008 10:16 AM
I'm sorry but if some teacher burned my kid with a brand at the very least he'd be up on assault charges. Fuck what the school wants to do. To hell with firing him. His ass should be learning what the term 'tossed salad' means in prison. I don't give a damn if he burned my kid with a cross, a swastika, a pentacle or a straight line. Assault is assault.
Now, if he were a good teacher I wouldn't give him a hard time about it. There are few good teachers, I tend to give them a lot of leeway.
Good teachers do not deliberately burn children.
Posted by: E in MD | April 23, 2008 10:17 AM
Kenyon is an enclave in a pretty conservative county. But it's not extraordinary in that respect (take that, Oberlin!)
Like many college and university faculty, with some notable exceptions it's hard to get Kenyon faculty to get actively involved in the community outside the college. It's not just in local education and politics. In the 1970s there were five faculty members on the volunteer fire department; now there are none (well, except me, who's no longer a full time faculty member). But I hope they'll wake up to this one.
Posted by: RBH | April 23, 2008 10:19 AM
Yeah, this guy needs to be marched out of his school unemployed as soon as is humanly possible. Force him into the arms of his fundamentalist bretheren se we can see him out in the open, and know the damage he wishes to cause civil society.
Posted by: BlueIndependent | April 23, 2008 10:25 AM
Doesn't Yellow Springs pretty much put both to shame in that regard?
I'll admit that I haven't been to Kenyon, but Yellow Springs makes Oberlin look like the John Birch Society.
It will be interesting to see how this Antioch thing turns out.
Posted by: Pablo | April 23, 2008 10:26 AM
You're right, RBH, it's not really fair to the college for me to have that reaction. I must say though that I really don't have the impression that the city of Oberlin is quite as bad. (Lorain County as a whole certainly isn't.)
Posted by: Steve LaBonne | April 23, 2008 10:26 AM
You're quite right that the most popular teachers aren't the best. In my experience, the best teachers are neither most popular nor least popular - they don't let the kids have as much leeway in class, but they engage them and make learning interesting
In NZ there was a teacher who shoved tennis balls into his students' mouths as a punishment, and no one told the authorities until he became a Member of Parliament. Never underestimate the fear factor of challenging the reputation of an authority like a high school teacher.
Posted by: wazza | April 23, 2008 10:29 AM
According to wikipedia, Gotti's son was 12 and rode his bike out into traffic. The accident was investigated, and the man cleared. He disappeared a month later and was declared dead in 1983. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Favara
Posted by: Kerlyssa | April 23, 2008 10:33 AM
It's also amazing to see the sense of loyalty that some teachers can engender. I have a close friend who has discovered (after the fact) that groups of her students were engaging in some, er, "vigilante discipline" when it came to people acting up in her presence and showing disrespect. It was generally just people saying "Not a smart thing, understand", but she was totally shocked that a student would show that kind of loyalty to her. She's not the most popular teacher, by far, because she isn't an easy grade, but she engages them and doesn't allow them to get away with spouting off things they obviously haven't put thought into.
If this Freshwater schmuck has found a similar group of kids that like his style and find him engaging, outside of his obvious deficiencies, it's no wonder that kids are speaking on his behalf or that others are afraid to speak against him. It cuts both ways.
Posted by: Ranson | April 23, 2008 10:42 AM
Naw, there's no question that Kenyon is embedded in a more conservative part of the state than Oberlin. Antioch, as noted, makes 'em all look like something to the right of the John Birch Society.
Posted by: RBH | April 23, 2008 10:43 AM
I suspect what was meant in the original comment was leeway about the bible on his desk. I tend to agree: if it were just about the presence of the bible (or, analogously, a buddha statue, or a torah, or a plastic troll) on his desk, this would be a non-issue. If he weren't preaching, and if he weren't misbehaving in other ways, I wouldn't find the bible alone objectionable.
I'm reminded of the born again teacher at my (small, rural, of course) high school. He always told of his experience of the holy spirit coming into him, as though that would be convincing to someone else. My response was always, "If I ever see a flash of blue light and hear the voice of god assuring me that christ is my personal savior, I'll consider what you've said." (I am open for god to announce his existence to me at any time, I assure you.) I never took classes with him--I got enough preaching in study hall--but I understand he was more subdued when he was actually providing instruction.
Posted by: lytefoot | April 23, 2008 10:46 AM
The most outrageous part of the article: "...through the 21 years he's worked for the district..."
In 1994 I took over the physics & chemistry classes at Belle Chasse (public) High School, in one of the more affluent suburbs of New Orleans. The teacher who was leaving was there for decades and universally praised... apparently he was so good, he was leaving to teach at LSU. When I entered the classroom, I found a giant Jesus poster front and center. There was an anti-evolutionary poster over the door (showing some fat guy holding a banana worshiping a bust of an ape), and some other prayer poster in back I don't remember so well. Apparently no one, no students, parents, teachers, or administrators, ever saw a problem with this. Things are different in the bible belt.
One day he came back to visit, and was rather miffed that "someone" had torn all his posters down.
Posted by: efp | April 23, 2008 10:46 AM
Sister Claire Marie didn't do anything like that. She just hit us. Usually with anything she had in her hand, like a ruler or the handle of a scissors. If she didn't have anything in her hand, she would just turn her big-arse nun ring around and hit us with the stone in the back of the head.
If she wasn't hitting you, she was humiliating you in front of the other students. I always tell my students these days that one thing I learned from Catholic grade school was that hitting and humiliating students was not a good way to teach penmanship.
Fortunately, she never went into government. I would loved to have seen her in jail, though.
I have often commented, there aren't many people in life who I hate. I am naturally a friendly person, and try to be nice to everyone. But I can't say that if I happened to meet Sister Claire Marie Meyer on the street someday, that I wouldn't punch her lights out. She is probably 90 years old now, but I don't care. WE were only 7!
Posted by: Pablo | April 23, 2008 10:51 AM
Branding a student. I would call the police and have that teacher taken out of the school in handcuffs. He really shows what religious extremism is all about.
Posted by: Michael Hogan | April 23, 2008 10:56 AM
SC @ 52 -- I'm not saying it's how I'd handle it myself, just that I understand it. Do you have kids?
Posted by: Molly, NYC | April 23, 2008 11:08 AM
Next up, a lesson on anatomy by hanging, drawing, and quartering a catholic.
(/snark)
Posted by: NWells | April 23, 2008 11:08 AM
How about using this tactic. Give parents the option for their kids to opt out of biology classes in high school, then present them with the enormous list of colleges that will ignore their kid's applications for admission. Shackling a kid and keeping them from participation in civilized society has GOT to at least make some fundy parents think twice.
Posted by: ash | April 23, 2008 11:13 AM
Isn't this always the way of things?
First you hear a story about some poor, devoted Christian teacher being viciously persecuted by the Secular School System. Then the rest of the details come out, and this meek, humble soul turns out to be a massively egocentric nutbag with delusions of grandeur.
I believe the last instance of this was a teacher who was (allegedly) fired simply for honestly answering her students' questions about whether she believed in God and Heaven (in response to the death of a classmate). Cue the righteous indignation.
Then, fairly quickly, we discovered that she had not, in fact, merely answered questions. She used them as a launching point for a passionate sermon on how all of her students needed to accept Jesus or they would end up in Hell.
Oh, and most amusingly, the complaint in that case was not brought by atheists. The parents who objected to this teacher's behavior, and brought her to the attention of the school board, were Jehovah's Witnesses.
Posted by: Russell Stewart | April 23, 2008 11:16 AM
If he branded my kid, they wouldn't need to fire him.
Posted by: Anthony | April 23, 2008 11:18 AM
Two things here that tend to get me in a snit:
First any whiff of the suggestion that the mafia is anything but a horde of psychopathic killers. I hate this glamorization of the mafia, and the frequent suggestion that it's some sort of champion of the little guy. It isn't, and it never has been. Generations of Sicilians have suffered from the dominance of the mafia's brand of "justice," and I'm sure they can tell us how great that's been. (Molly, NYC, I know you didn't say that, but anything that hints of it sets me off.)
Second, the fixation on religious symbols. People certainly have the right to them and to their personal display, but really. Religious groups in Germany were roused to mass protest about the Nazis' removal of crucifixes from classrooms, but their friends, neighbors, and colleagues being denied their civil rights and then loaded into cattle cars and shipped off to death camps didn't stir them to action? Appalling.
Posted by: SC | April 23, 2008 11:23 AM
From this article.
"If he was doing something wrong I could understand it. He's not doing anything wrong," she said. "They have taken everything away out of the schools. ... When I was in school, we prayed in the morning. Now, they don't. That's what's wrong with the schools today. The discipline has gotten so out of control. The kids have gotten so out of control. They've taken everything [the values] out."
She's absolutely right. The biggest problem with schools today is that they don't pray in the morning. All the discipline problems in all high schools across the country wouldn't exist if everyone held hands and prayed in the morning.
I agree that Freshwater should be held accountable for the burning he did, but I'm a little leery about screaming that he's branding kids with the cross. Without more details, I'd imagine it was more of a "+" shape, since I've seen classroom demos with little tasters with heads that shape. Still asinine, but distinct from burning full-blown crucifixes on students.
Posted by: hbar | April 23, 2008 11:23 AM