Outspoken Teachers: Conversations of Politics and Religion

I've always been advised to avoid the topics of politics and religion during dinnertime conversation. Now, after having witnessed my father, a Vietnam War veteran, and my grandmother, a devoutly conservative Catholic, "discuss" Iraq's current state of affairs and Bush's competency, I can completely attest to this warning. For these are debates that revolve around not one, but both of the prohibited subjects being discussed by two of the most intelligent, yet strong-willed people I have ever met. Anger builds and voices rise, as I look to my mom to see if it's time to go home yet.

Unfortunately, these subjects have been sparking even more confrontational and threatening situations than the ones taking place at my family gatherings. According to a recent New York Times article, a 16-year-old boy taped his history teacher proclaiming that the students belong in hell if they do not believe that Jesus died for their sins. Other statements made by this teacher included, "there were dinosaurs aboard Noah's ark," and "there is no scientific basis for evolution or the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe."

As a result of the teacher's outburst, the student sought out support from both his parents and the A.C.L.U. However, this student's academic community has only made him feel increasingly unsafe since the event. "He has been the target of harassment and a death threat from fellow students and "retaliation" by school officials who have treated him, not the teacher, as the problem," writes New York Times' Patrick McGeehan.

It's hard enough to believe that a teacher, whose job description entails educating young minds in an ethical manner, has the ability to make such outrageous statements. However, it's truly inconceivable to me that this teacher's reputation is being defended by students and faculty alike. Since when did outward hostility become commendable? What this teacher did was blatantly and indisputably wrong.