'Stand for God' costs teacher his job
 

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1640&u_sid=1291280

So, we have a good teacher, that knew his shit, but just couldn't keep his prosthelatizing out of the classroom. Good ridance, says I. But this same poll, on the Omaha World Herald web site is garnering some rather disturbing (for me) results.

This poll should state "Should the math teacher have been fired for repeatedly disobeying instructions from his superiors."

I believe you will find that it is for this reason that he was fired, not necessarily for the topics he discussed.

I was raised a Christian, but if I sent my children to a secular school and a teacher repeatedly ignored instructions to desist from bringing religion into the classroom, then I would support his dismissal.

Poor choice of wording for the poll and poor journalism in the quoted story.

Of course, that's just my opinion and many people on this board (more particularly the politics board) seem to take exception to my opinions. :)


Mr Mephisto

I have to say yes I think they were correct in their decision to dismiss him. He had been asked to stop and he didn't. Whether or not he felt the kids needed God in their life is not up to an Algebra teacher. I think his calling may be best suited elsewhere in his community.

He should be writing 2+2=??

Yes, he should have been fired. If he wants to teach religion, then he needs to get himself into a school/college that offeres religion courses and teach those.

Definately fired. Religion has no place in a public school.

Teach at a religious school if you want to preach.

Looks like he's taken an a play out of Bush's playbook... Nothing like living in a black and white world where greyscale is blasphemy.

Persecution is the price many Christians pay for their beliefs. However, I'm pretty turned off by militant evangelists myself, and I firmly believe that there is a time and a place for everything. I can't tell by the article what they're referring to as "preaching in the classroom." I mean, it's one thing to make a profession of your own faith, but quite another to impose beliefs onto others. I strongly disagree with the latter, but to me it seems like he was just talking about himself. Lots of teachers do this with their students. Still, that is crossing a line unless he was asked about his faith, which is still not concluded. Nevertheless, to take up class time discussing his spiritual convictions is inappropriate by most regulations. He’s young – live and learn.

Mr M...I actually thought about rephrasing the poll question, but left it as is, because that is how it's worded in the OWH poll. Last time I looked (about an hour ago) it was pretty much a dead heat. Welcome to the "Bible Belt".

pinkie..."He admitted that on some days he spent up to 10 minutes per class discussing religion, though school officials said they had reports of longer periods." That's 10 minutes, at least...per class...per day! It's not a offhanded response to an innocent inquiry regarding his beliefs. If that were the case, I'd have no problem with it.

Actually, I think he's confused. The hearing wasn't about God or belief in God. It was about him, and his refusal to do his job as given. I'm glad he was fired. Good riddance. If he wants to preach, let him do it in a church.

Pinkie,

He was asked, actually he was instructed, repeatedly to "stop his preaching".
He was told his job was on the online.
He was hired to teach mathematics, not religion or ethics or sociology or anything else
He himself stated that his preaching was what "[his] authority, [his] God, [was] telling all believers to do."
He was therefore acting illegally (if my understanding of the laws banning religion from US schools are correct).

In other words, this guy was asking to be fired.

I have nothing against someone with strong religious beliefs. Indeed, my wife, mother and my mother-in-law are all devout Catholics. But I don't believe we should treat them differently, or consider them above the law, just because they think God is talking to them.

Fired and good ridance. He may have been "a marvelous young man", but he was patently a shit employee as he couldn't understand his contract, his duties, his responsibilities, his obligation to act as instructed and his underlying job.

Mr Mephisto

Why are you addressing me? I agreed that is was inappropriate.

I believe he should have lost his job. He broke the rules repeatedly and therefore, had given up his rights to 'teach'.

I also think this guy was trying to do his part to make an uproar about religion in school and to make a point or some such thing like that. I still don't condone what he did, but just had to say it looks like he was trying to put on a show!

What I'm saying is, was he talking about his own faith, or literally "preaching" to others what they should believe in? The article was not crystal clear on that.

Noah took 2 unclean animals and 7 clean animals... and he had 200 unclean and 50 clean.. how many animals did he have?

Samson could lift 300lbs with one arm. How much could he lift after Delilah cut his hair?

would that have been fair for him to teach?

I say, "See you later, Jesus freak!!". Seriously though, he was told repeatedly to cut it out, so why is it a surprise? He should be a minister if religious convictions are so strong, not a math teacher.

I'd have to agree that the poll is worded poorly - one possible reason that the poll on OWH was so even. Other possible reasons include, but are not limited to, the people who voted "no" are A) Illiterate, and so they couldn't read the atricle themselves, B) devout Christians who believe they are better than others, or C) Just plain fucktards.

The man was not "discussing" Christianity. "You're either for him or against him" If this is the guy's opinion, I can't even imagine what he would be telling his students. He believed he was in the right, sure, but that doesn't change the fact that he was trying to indoctrinate students with his beliefs. Many students expressed to him that they were uncomfortable with it, and he was repeatedy told to stop.

Imagine, for a moment, that some teacher is a white supremacist. This said teacher calls his black students "niggers." He spends 10 minutes of each class speaking about how his white students are superior to the others. He grades them better, and he treats them better in class. This guy would be fired WITHOUT QUESTION.

So my question is... why would it be different for a devout Christian? It offends me when someone tries to convert me to ANYTHING. It would offend me greatly if this guy took class time to try to teach me how much Jesus loves me. Why am I any different from a black kid getting called nigger?

Why is it even a question if he should have been fired? He wasn't doing his job, he was using class time for his personal benefit, and he was blatantly offending his students. That's all there is to it.

For two main reasons.

1) I was chiming in, and agreeing, with what you said.
2) Your's was the immediate response above mine, as I replied.


Chill... :-)


Mr Mephisto

Mooseman3000, All teachers disclose themselves personality to their classes. It would be weird if they didn't. There is a big difference in saying "You should do this" and "I do this." Again, the article isn't perfectly clear on that point.
But to compare a group, which teaches hate, to a group that teaches love, is about as ridiculous as you can get. Bad comparison.

Mr Mephisto, Okay, I thought you were arguing what I was saying. My apologies.

It does not matter if he was preaching to convert or he was merely talking about himself. Ten minutes a class to spend on things not even remotely related to algebra is not appropriate for an algebra teacher. He could be talking about his religion or his girlfriend\'s cup size for that matter -- either case, he deserves to be fired.

See, I disagree. That's my point. I am just as offended by white supremacists as I am by Jehovah's witnesses showing up at my door. You may not be, but I am.

Would you rather I make the analogy to a Muslim teacher? What if they were teaching their beliefs in a math class? They'd be out on the street in a minute. So now it's a question of racism in and of itself - the Christian Coalition in Omaha wouldn't tolerate a Muslim teacher teaching Islam, but they support a Christian teacher teaching Christianity. This leads me to believe that Christians and the KKK aren't actually so different. Neither group is tolerant of people who aren't like them.

That doesn't stand for all Christians, of course; it's just to make a point.

As far as the article not being clear on whether he's discussing his own beliefs or trying to teach others, I agree with that. It sounds like he's teaching it, but there's no definite proof of that. However, even assuming that he never once tried to "enlighten" anyone (which I don't believe, given the quotes in the article), the very fact that students repeatedly complained about it, and the fact that he called it a "stand for God" indicates that it went too far. He was on his own personal crusade. That's not OK.


Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Christianity, but my point stands that it is absolutely unacceptable to teach it in a secular school. You can teach ABOUT the religion, sure... but even that would be in a history class. This guy was a math teacher.

Okay Moosman300, I can swallow that pill. Thanks for the clarity. :)

As far as complaints from students go, I think a lot of people are so put off by the topic or discussion of Christianity that anything involving that subject could be considered offensive.

I went to school in a fairly conservative community. Most of my teachers were in tune with the class, talking about their personal life a little to establish a rapport with the students. All of them stayed clear of defining their political and religious agendas. Some of them made it fairly clear that they would not share that information under any circumstance because their job was to teach their subject in an objective manner and produce free-thinking students.

Umm okay that's at about the stupidest thing I've heard all day..


Seriously. Concidering the fact that there are a myriad of different beliefs (both organized and personal) in US and that most of the children living with these different beliefs goes to school it should be severely discouraged to preach another faith to them.

It is not only rude but seriously disrespectfull to the ones being forced to suffer through it. Let everyone have their own belif don't try to convert students, they have enough problems as it is just getting through the day and I don't think that preaching about your personal convictions is helping them in any way.

What really pisses me off is not that he repeatedly failed to stop preaching despite being instructed otherwise, its that he had to be instructed at all.

The man is a fool. I admire his strong beliefs, but I think if he feels that strongly about witnessing and preaching, he should go someplace and be a missionary.

Those kids don't need the preaching time, it is not going to help them pass their finals, nor is it going to benefit them come SAT time.

Well...maybe if they pray hard enough...

I have a teacher who often discusses nascar in class. It isn't relevant, I don't want to hear it.

Can I get him fired too?

I prefer my teachers to be souless robots beating me over the head with information for me to regurgitate.

Furthermore to uphold the Holy seperation of church and state (a new god yippie!) I forward that my university remove all courses related to theology, Philosophy and any Latin derived language while we're at it because they can be used to imply, refer to, or specify religions.

Yes you get fired for not listening to your boss be he benevolent benefactor or rampaging fucktard.

-fibber

Good angle fibber. :thumbsup:

I was thinking earlier, "Where do we draw the line?" My dollars have "In God We Trust" on them! So does my change!!!

*Throws away all my money and pickets the White House*

I agree that after he was asked to stop he should have censored himself, but where do we draw the line? I think it's between saying, "You should" and "I do" personally.

Ever had a teacher prosetlytize in a classroom? Those students can't leave and it is unfair.

State his beliefs - maybe.

Preach religion to math students - absolutely not.

i think he deserved it, especially is he was warned. i dont think religioin has a place in public school, thats why there are private/religous schools.

Heh, hell yeah I've had 'em preach in the class. We would give 'em the fake nod and then talk about how weird they were between classes. I never noticed any rampant conversion to christinity within the rank and file though.

Of course that was high-school. Now I just use the 25 minute cigarette break when nascar boy gets goin.

-tuelpo

If I wanted my kids to have religion taught to them in the classroom, I would have sent them to a private religious school.

Separation of church and state.

People need to recognize this, learn it, and understand what it means.

It would've been better had the students yelled something like, "Fuck Jesus Christ."

That's what I do when people start spouting off religion to me. Maybe not so vulgar, depending on who it is.

[edit]
We had a guy who worked here for a short time who asked one of our tech support agents if they had "been saved." Once I got wind of that, I was so wanting him to come back here and try that stuff on me. I would've tore into him so bad.. it would've been AMAZING.

yes, fired = good.

as for the question about where to draw the line, in my opinion, of course you don't want your teachers to be souless automatons (although it's getting tougher to individualize the material these days, but that's another matter). Funny thing, however, when I was in high school, I don't think that I ever once had a teacher take out ten minutes of class on a regular basis to tell me anything about their private lives, much less to give me a bible thumpin'. I grew up in S.C., so Bible Belt country all the way. Yet, somehow, over the course of an entire year + hall run-ins over another three, I still seemed to have gotten to know all of my teachers about as well as I wanted to. I wouldn't really care if it was, for example NASCAR or football or soccer or the fluctuations in the international gold market, I would still say it's inappropriate to waste that kind of time on a regular basis...I'm no psychologist, but that's a little OC for me. I think it's a little worse, however, when it is religion (or sexual preference, or politics, or whatever) because of course those subjects are quite likely to make students uncomfortable.

The other thought I had when I was reading the article was trying to imagine how much shit this guy would have taken from students in his class, during class, if he had done this at the high school I went to? I mean, where are the smartass 17 year olds when you need them? Lambs to the slaughter...

While I admire the depth of his conviction, it is inappropriate to proselytize in the class room.

In those circumstances, the best evangelization is how you live your life.

Had a student asked him after school what he believed, or had he been asked to lead a student Bible study, I would support him, but I cannot support this.

A couple of data points.

My first, my _very first_ college class many years ago was taught by a woman who spent the first ten minutes of every class talking about herself; just clearing her head, she said. Somebody complained, and the problem was rectified. She wasn't there to clear her head -- she was there to teach. Same argument to be made with this math teacher; he's there to teach math, not talk about spiritual life on a daily basis.

Second: in high school, I had a math teacher who kept a pile of Watchtowers -- Jehovah's Witnesses literature -- in his desk. Somebody snooped around and found them, and we all had a good laugh (not to his face). The point was, they _stayed_ in his desk. They were for him, not us, and he never once preached at us. I'm sure he was out there every Saturday morning ringing doorbells with the rest of them -- but that simply meant that he knew there was a time and a place for proselytizing, and it wasn't _every place, every moment._

This math teacher sounds like a Jesus drunkard; he's so obsessed with his religion that he can't function normally.

The door-to-door goons are the BEST things to fuck with.

"Hey, are you interested in being saved?"

"Yes!"

"I have this book on Jesus, and.."

"Oh wait, I can't talk about Jesus. I promised my savior and Lord, Satan, that I wouldn't worship that lying fuck. Now excuse me, sir, I need to go back to eating my dinner and masturbating to gay porn."

The look on their face: priceless.

I had a teacher who gave us extra-credit if we could discern his political party. It was for an American history class where we covered government, so it was appropriate, and as he had given us no clue whatsoever it was a real challenge. I was the only one who guessed correctly that he was a Democrat (my father's age, long-time teacher and I'd heard or seen nothing to betray any kind of religious belief).

As a future teacher and the daughter of a high school principal, this kind of story always captures my attention. I had a math teacher in middle school who had a bulletin board filled with inspirational quotes and Bible verses. It was small and unobtrusive and behind his desk--and across the top it said "DO NOT READ." :) It was the way he brought his faith into his classroom for himself personally and for no one else--a less observant person would have missed it completely. That I have no problem with. But when a teacher talks about their religion or their politics in class without just cause I get irritated. Teachers DO have just cause to talk about religion--such as when their faith might prevent them from presenting a topic objectively. I had one such teacher in high school who admitted that as a devout Catholic it was hard for him to discuss evolution. I appreciated knowing that. But otherwise, a teacher should leave their faith and their politics at home and keep it out of school completely.

School and the classroom should be a place where kids feel safe, not assaulted. Bringing religion into it just makes people uncomfortable. Even in the Bible Belt, where one or two students may not be Christians, the school has the obligation to protect the minority.

All of that said, the guy should have known better than to disobey a direct edict from his superiors. It's rare for a teacher to be fired, really rare. But it seems to me this guy deserved it--not only because he brought religion into his classroom but because he disobeyed his principal.

I'm all for any teachers with a vendeta being axed. I can't begin to count the number of teachers I've had give endless monologues concerning everything from women's rights,to the platform of their political party, to racial relations. Shut up!

I say, who cares?

I had a fanatic Irish Catholic (from Ireland) history teacher in 11th grade, didnt bother me a bit.

Ug, I think I might have voted no, but I ment yes!
Some of these stories I think suck.
When a teacher says "prase god" once and gets fired because students are little jerks.
But this time, it looks like he should be applying at a private school. Somewhere he may be better suited.

Absolutely should have been fired, and I'll go a step further to say he should never ever teach anywhere again. I never had a teacher tell me their religious and/or the political beliefs. They taught me what they were supposed to.

For shits and giggles I see that "our" poll has:
Yes............40 votes
No...............9 votes
Who cares?...2 votes

Whereas the Denizens of the fair city of Omaha have voted:
Yes............2,458 votes
No.............1,935 votes
Who cares?....207 votes

The OWH poll has this thing a lot closer than what I'm comfortable with.

I wouldn't put to much faith in a poll on this board giving anything close to a fair percentage. While I also think he should have been fired, I think we all know that religion and conservative politics are for the most part shunned on these boards.

Yes you can if...

1) The students repeatedly complained about it
2) He was told repeatedly to stop
3) He tried to convince you that failure to support NASCAR would result in eternal damnation
4) There were other students in the class who supported FORMULA 1 and felt intimidated

Mr Mephisto

As an interesting aside, the Holy See does not object to the teaching of evolution at all. The Vatican has decreed that evolution does occur and that it is simply God's will. I can't see anything wrong with that. Indeed, it seems a very logical and elegant response to the overwhelming evidence (ie, proof) that evolution does occur. They have stated that humans came about due to an "ontological leap", hence describing the emergence of humanity and their spiritual consciousness.

I'm not pointing fingers, but it's mostly devout evangelical and fundamentalist Christians (mostly Protestant) that rail against evolution occuring at all.


Mr Mephisto

Damn, beat me to it.

Another thing I thought of. One of my high school math teachers was (is) a diehard Republican. I am pretty liberal for the most part, but a good friend of mine is a devout socialist (he's half Swedish, so it's not his fault :p ). So this math teacher made a point of making fun of my friend frequently - but not in class. He called him a "pinko," but it was after school, where we were on our time talking to him. At any time, we could have left, had we wanted to. That's one of the big problems I have with this other guy using class time; the kids have no choice but to listen to his rhetoric.

In other news,tune in as OFKU0 goes for his 15 minutes by trying to glue a goat to a tree on city property without a permit. Video at 11.

Sums it up for me and I'm areligious.

What a nutjob. I have problems with people who impose their beliefs. I hated highschool, there is no way I would have sat through 10+ mins every class listening to this guy. For some reason I believe if he taught at my school he would have "666" all over his desk by the end of the day :S

And they have had that on them for quite some time. It is nothing new. But people sure like to get their "separation of church and state" bowels in an uproar over shit like this guy getting canned. This whole separation of church and state thing is something that I think the founders of our country would have thought over and perhaps worded differently had they seen what has become of it. In fact I'd wager had they known how lawyers, The ACLU, special interest groups and others have spent time wiping their asses with the constitution, they may have done a lot of things differently.

Edit: And they guy needed fired. Because as others have pointed out, he was not doing his job. The religion stuff has nothing to do with it.

The man needed to be fired as he wasn't doing his job, and he ignored his supervisor's attempts to rectify the situation. While there is a religious angle to the question, it isn't relevant to the heart of the matter. Hopefully he will be able to find a parochial school where his skills can be better applied.

what's really funny is that this guy went to school in my hometown, I've had a few friends who went to Bethel

well, I put in 25 votes on the omaha website, it seems they don't prevent you from voting multiple times, I imagine some religious nut has likely done what I just did, so I don't feel bad at all

Heheh! Yeah, that might work. But it won't help them on an interview with my editor. He's real hard ass about writing skills.

Would you want some dude preaching the Koran to your children at school? Probably not. There is no place for religion in public schools with the religious diversity of the students.

I don't really care that religion was the topic of his misconduct.

He was a math teacher. His job was to teach math. Doing anything other than teaching math is not doing his job and thus grounds for termination. I mean, if a pizza delivery guy jerked off in the bathroom all day instead of delivering pizzas, you'd fire him too, right?

A pizza guy jerking off in the bathroom gets a verbal warning. If he doesn't wash his hands afterward, it is a written warning. Jerking off in the kitchen is a firing offense.

I know its been said before here, but realy I dont have a problem with you being religious and being proud of that but I do have a problem with someone trying to cram it down my throat.

There aernt enough good teachers out there, why not concentrate on that instead of trying to be a preacher. :confused:

13 "no" votes and not one has come out to defend the no crowd's view. I don't need to add anything because anyone who has seen any remotely political or religious post of mine knows exactly where I stand on this.

I agree with this totally. Would people complain about seperation of chuch and state if it weren't a christian based faith? What if he was speaking of his Buddist or Wiccan beleifs?

I think the newspaper poll would be different in that case.

you want preaching? Go to church. Churches aren't just on Sunday.

Ditto.

He should have been fired a long time ago if he was warned repeatedly in the past.

I also yell "Fuck Jesus" whenever someone starts rambling on about some religion bullshit to me.

hahaha "Fuck jesus christ" I should have thought of that earlier, considering I graduated from a Catholic high school 2 years ago(I'm an athiest and a bit of a nihilist). but I'm gonna have to try that on my catholic nutjob friends :D .

I don't understand this at all. Why was there even a question about him getting fired?

I am relieved to see, from the poll, that the people of TFP have a healthy dose of common sense. As for the Omaha poll - well let's just say that I find it quite on the unsettling side, and leave it at that.

Perhaps their lack of anonymity would tarnish their reputations on this board too much by openly disagreeing with a popular opinion...

You forgot:

5) The constitution of the United States expressly forbade him to do so.

I say yes. Not because it bothers me, but because it is the law. Just because you do not agree with a law doesn't mean you get to break it. Furthermore, he obviously wasn't a very good teacher if he couldnt stay on the subject at hand. I hate teachers that go off on tangents. They should all be fired for wasting my time.

I have not read EVERY post in this thread but wanted to make some comment. I will try to come again later and read more thoroughly.

I grew up strict Baptist. I also attended a strict Baptist college and have a Bachelors of Science in Education. I could not teach in public school for many reasons most of which are not religious.

I am disappointed with this teacher and how he treated his position. I see nothing wrong with talking about your beliefs or praying with students one on one. Doing it with the whole class does not allow those students who have a problem with it to 'opt out'. By pushing his religion and turning people off by doing so he makes it harder for any other teacher of any religion to be the example their religion would dictate and to speak to ANYONE who wanted to hear about it. It makes it harder for a student who IS exploring their own religious beliefs to approach a teacher about that subject. There's nothing wrong with discussing it with a student who wants to know about it or who believes the same. He made that less of an option for students and teachers alike to share in a positive voluntary way.

I had a teacher in 5th grade who had similar beliefs to mine. She did NOT push them. However when (as someone else mentioned) what she was currently teaching conflicted with her beliefs, then she briefly explained her position. She taught it as an option, not as fact when she discussed evolution she also discussed creation as a theory. It IS important for students to learn what a large portion of the world population believes. It is important that they learn to respect other beliefs and are free to make the choice themselves what to believe.

The article sounds as though he was pushing his beliefs as fact and not teaching what he was being paid to teach. He did not use discretion or show respect - a poor example of his religion and beliefs.

I've had experiences with teachers asserting their religious beliefs in the classroom. For the students that disagree with the teachers opinions, it can (and did for me : ) ) cause respect issues with the teacher, and discussing these things in the classroom takes away from the reason (as stated by law) students are in school: to learn. One of the fundamental freedoms granted by the constitution is the freedom of speech, but in a proffessional environment, it is not appropriate to press one's beliefs on others. I think it is reasonable that the teacher was fired, especially since there were multiple complaints and reprimands, and he had been warned before hand that his job was on the line.

Damn Mephisto you raced me to it.

Don't forget harassing you in the halls to watch Nascar with him to save your soul.

Edit:I did not read the rest of post before replying

"You're either for him or against him"

If I were a high scool student and my math teacher said such a thing, I would feel attacked because, frankly, I am not for "him" and haven't ever been. This type of unsolicited advocacy of personal religious beliefs creates a hostile environment in the classroom. Despite teenagers' notorious rebelliousness and defiance, they are still young and impressionable, and are subject to fears about approval. Not being the direct type, I might have felt some sort of pressure to fake a christian outlook to try and pass. Either that or I would have responded by being sullenly resentful and sneaky. It might well have increased my feelings of being "different" and an outcast. Or perhaps I would have developed an aversion to math. High school students have enough problems already without having to deal with a religious perspective in their math class. Fervent christians can be surprisingly insensitive to the feelings of others when it comes to matters of faith, since their church sanctions and encourages proselytizing to an extreme degree. My experiences with christians (including a good deal of historical reading and research) have been overwhelmingly that christianity is not, at its root, a religion that teaches love. I believe the quote above illustrates that.

If I didn't know this guy was an insubordinate asshat, and just read the poll question without any sort of context, I might vote "No". This teacher wasn't fired for discussing his beliefs in class, and I don't think a teacher should be fired for discussing beliefs in class. I do think he should have been fired, but that's not exactly what the poll is actually asking.

THIS is why I feel he should have been fired. NOT because he had religous beliefs or was willing to talk about them. But because he gave non-christians one MORE example of an intolerant, uncooperative Christian bully.

Fervent might not be the right kind of term. I know some very gracious fervent Christians who wouldn't persist in pushing their faith after your first objection. They believe that demonstrating their faith by an example of a good, gracious, respectful individual is a better way of evangelizing. Christian FANATIC may be more what you're looking for.

Raeanna74, I mean this in the most respectful way, but from my perspective your views seem to exemplify what I think of as the "new christian." I work with an entire office full of these people. They are tolerant, respectful, decent people who don't push their views on others and politely ask if they may pray for me when I'm having a hard time. I have no problem with this type of people - why should I? They are very kind and decent, and I show them the same respect. But they seem ignorant of the history of the christian church and believe that their religion is simply about loving others rather than the lengthy and ugly history I am aware of. My stance is that I could never particiate in a religion that has such a history, and I won't elaborate on it here because I don't want to offend. Perhaps the term "fanatic" is more appropriate for what I'm thinking of, but there seem to be an awful lot of them around, both now and in the past.

this is a tough question for me. i am a devout Christian, but also very grounded. part of Christianity is about being 'the light on the hill' and trying your very hardest to spread God. But, conversely, it is unchristian to impose your will on others. I cannot tell here whether he is imposing his will on the children, or making sure that the word of God can be spread to them if they so desire. Part of me says: good for him! go God! but then again, it is not suitable in all scenarios, and i think this is one of them. I voted no because i do not think he should be fired for discussing Christianity in the classroom. Face it, Christianity can be a very life-changing and eye-opening experience that should be offered to everyone if and when they want it. i think he should be fired for not obeying his bosses, and especially because the students themselves complained. that should be message enough, leave the spreading to the church and parents...and if you truly want to spread the word of God (and i extremely admire those who do), do it in a church or an out-of-classroom context.

and now something to add after reading the arguments going on here. Christianity has had some dark history - no doubt. It went through times of fanaticals and murderers...and i will not try to make any justifications for it. The crusades are an example, so is the KKK, and there are many more. but these are not Christianity, these are sick fucks' bastardizations of it. That does not mean that Christianity is not a religion based on love, it only means that along the way, many people lost sight of the fact that it is. Islam is going through somewhat of a same phase right now. there are fanatics and fundamentalists that are unwilling to accept other people's views, unwilling to adapt, and willing to kill. But anyone, especially any Muslim, will tell you that they do not represent Islam, and that Islam emphasizes peace above all else.