Tom Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 A federal appeals court ruled Friday that a California teacher could not be sued for criticizing Christianity and Creationism during a college-level European history course."This was a really important ruling for academic freedom," University of California constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, who took on the case pro bono, told The Orange County Register. "There has never been a precedent set for something like this before. Teachers should be able to criticize religion just like they can criticize government, business and similar groups without the fear of being sued." A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out a lower court's decision, which held that teacher James Corbett violated a student?s First Amendment rights by making comments during class that were hostile to religion in general, and to Christianity in particular. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said that Corbett could not have known he was violating a constitutional right, noting there were no prior cases holding that a teacher violated the First Amendment by criticizing religion during class. Corbett said during his class that serfs opposed social, political and economic that were in their best interest because of religion, compared Creationism to "magic," and made twenty other comments that then-sophomore Chad Farnan alleged were disparaging to Christians. Farnan dropped out of the class and sued Corbett in 2007. "In broaching controversial issues like religion, teachers must be sensitive to students? personal beliefs and take care not to abuse their positions of authority," the court wrote in its decision (PDF). "But teachers must also be given leeway to challenge students to foster critical thinking skills and develop their analytical abilities." "This balance is hard to achieve, and we must be careful not to curb intellectual freedom by imposing dogmatic restrictions that chill teachers from adopting the pedagogical methods they believe are most effective." Robert Tyler, a lawyer with the Faith and Freedom legal organization who represented Farnan, said he would appeal to case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme court, if necessary. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoredBozirini Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 This is excellent news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charisma Veteran Posted August 21, 2011 Veteran Share Posted August 21, 2011 If she is allowed to and does "bash" other religions, fine. But it sounds like this professor was just reporting the facts from what happened during that time in history... no personal beliefs involved..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakem1 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 The title makes it sound like it's OK to assault christian students. I'm all for that but I guess this news is good too :laugh: It just seems strange that anyone would even question a teacher's right to criticise religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheElite Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 The title makes it sound like it's OK to assault christian students. I'm all for that :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compl3x Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 The title makes it sound like it's OK to assault christian students. I'm all for that but I guess this news is good too :laugh: lol wtf. I'll take it from your :laugh: you were joking. Anyway, religion is fair game, just like everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMH Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 The title makes it sound like it's OK to assault christian students. I'm all for that but I guess this news is good too :laugh: Yes it does! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCordRm Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Yay, freedom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Reporting the thread as an ad hominem. Bigotry is bigotry, regardless of the target. You should know better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Reporting the thread as an ad hominem. Uh... erm... why? This isn't an ad hominem, by the way. An ad hominem would be something like "you can't trust anything Christians say because they follow a God who doesn't exist." (And, no, I'm not saying that -- I'm saying that would be an ad hominem attack). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 There is an official religion thread where this could be posted, and some of the replies are offensive to those of us that are Christian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 There is an official religion thread where this could be posted, and some of the replies are offensive to those of us that are Christian. Being insulted by an opinion doesn't have any bearing on the forum rules. And I think it's safe to say this is news that goes beyond the general scope of the official religion thread. Tip: don't let it get to you. You have your beliefs and your own faith, and if you think/know it's true, who cares? Not everyone has the same belief systems, so don't fret over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 cool -- when can we start bashing Jews ? :shifty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 So now teachers are allowed to run roughshod over peoples religious rights? What ever happened to the Human Rights Code? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurizer Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 So now teachers are allowed to run roughshod over peoples religious rights? What ever happened to the Human Rights Code? Theists have been trying their best to run roughshod over people's social and legal rights for ages now by lobbying against things like marriage, abortion, stem-cell research, etc, and trying to pollute legislation with religious agendas. It's called karma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I'm amazed that this lawsuit was even allowed to progress far enough to get such a ruling. What about your coveted right of free speech, and constitutionally mandated right for freedom of religion? Have things gotten so bad over there that unsubstantiated beliefs are now allowed to run roughshod over them? This teacher should never have been sued in the first place, especially as they only seem to have been teaching the facts of the time rather than passing along a personal opinion (which I wouldn't have a problem with either). Some religious folks just seem to get butthurt over the slightest of things these days... A couple of the replies in this thread would seem to reinforce that, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolvesHunt Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 hold a gun to my head and I'll still proclaim that Jesus is lord. what a teacher may tell you or say, and what you know in your heart and soul are 2 different things. No point getting butt hurt over it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phouchg Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I'm amazed that this lawsuit was even allowed to progress far enough to get such a ruling. What about your coveted right of free speech, and constitutionally mandated right for freedom of religion? Have things gotten so bad over there that unsubstantiated beliefs are now allowed to run roughshod over them? This teacher should never have been sued in the first place, especially as they only seem to have been teaching the facts of the time rather than passing along a personal opinion (which I wouldn't have a problem with either). Some religious folks just seem to get butthurt over the slightest of things these days... A couple of the replies in this thread would seem to reinforce that, too! Well said. QFT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireTalon Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 hold a gun to my head and I'll still proclaim that Jesus is lord. what a teacher may tell you or say, and what you know in your heart and soul are 2 different things. No point getting butt hurt over it though. Maybe you will get to see if he exists then yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Veteran Posted August 22, 2011 Veteran Share Posted August 22, 2011 From what I've read, she didn't directly bash a Christian, she merely aired her views on both Creationism and Christianity. The title of this thread is incorrect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Veteran Posted August 22, 2011 Veteran Share Posted August 22, 2011 So now teachers are allowed to run roughshod over peoples religious rights? What ever happened to the Human Rights Code? Did you even read the article? It seems the teacher merely aired her views of Creationism and Christianity; someone expressing their views about a religion does not infringe on anyone's religious rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudslag Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 So now teachers are allowed to run roughshod over peoples religious rights? What ever happened to the Human Rights Code? LOL WUT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 someone expressing their views about a religion does not infringe on anyone's religious rights. I know that, you know that. Rather a lot of religious folks don't seem to get it, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worthington Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 The fact that theists and atheists are fighting in this thread shows how awful the existing education system is. There should be no public education system. This way, no minds are polluted by atheist or theist dogma, nobody can sue over separation of church and state laws, and kids actually get a proper education about the facts rather than being fed emotional programming by some education department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Caro Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 theree is a difference between "bashing christian" and "chriticizing christianity" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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