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Sooo, the other day a teacher got in some mild trouble for burning crosses on his students’ arms. Just another day in the American public school system.
No, but really, this happened. Apparently, a science teacher in Ohio had a high frequency generator, which he used to burn the image of a cross into the arms of several students.
The article (and the other articles I’ve read on the topic) goes on to say that this teacher failed to comply with various separation of church and state things; for instance, he taught creationism, and according to another article, he displayed the Ten Commandments and gave out free bibles.
And all that sucks and is ridiculous, but, um, more importantly, HE BURNED HIS STUDENTS! Is anyone else finding that very odd? The article says the burn mark (which happened to be a cross, but, frankly, I don’t even know if that matters) lasted for three to four weeks. That’s some burn, man. Shouldn’t this man be booked for assault?
Which is not to say the violation of separation of church and state isn’t totally creepy. I have a lesser story of my own in that vein:
When I was a senior in my Long Island, New York public school (which is to say, at least relatively liberal), I had an overbearingly religious AP English teacher. One day, he told us that we all had to read the New Testament to understand anything. This turned into a huge debate that I, as the only Jew in the room (and one of maybe 6 in the school) decided to actively stay out of, although many of my classmates kept trying to drag me in. One of my friends was so upset that she stormed out to the Vice Principal’s office. Next thing I know, I’m getting called to his office and he says he heard about the problem and was I, as a Jew, offended?
I’ll tell you what I was offended by: being singled out as the minority. That incident has stuck in my mind all these years as a reminder that the majority is always secretly aware of those not within its ranks and that, ultimately, the US is a Christian nation. Which is fine. But it really should not be made apparent in public schools. It was an unfortunate incident.
But, um, yeah. No one was burned.
Someone arrest this jerk and keep him from burning any more of his students.
[Image courtesy of CNN]
28 Comments
It’s not really clear what you mean by, “You have to read the new testament to understand anything” do you mean you have to read it to understand anything in the world in general, in the class he taught, or in the material you were reading in class? Because many many books that you read in an AP lit class have allusions to the bible, old and new testament, and so actually reading the new testament would help you better understand what you are reading. There is nothing wrong with reading a book you don’t agree with. Many many Christians have read the Koran and other religions holy books to get a better understanding of other cultures and other people. and if reading something is going to help you better understand something else then there’s nothing wrong with that. To refuse to read something because you don’t believe in it is kind of ridiculous, are you afraid it’s going to change your beliefs? Just look at is as a bunch of stories, you as a non believer don’t have to take it as fact or literal. I’m a Christian but I read the Golden Compass when that movie came out so I could better understand what all the fuss was about. It didn’t make me an atheist and I in no way agree with its message. But I did understand what all the debate was about. They’re all just books, you take only what you want out of them.
The Bible is one of the most important pieces of literature out there and has influenced a lot of what you would have been reading in an AP English class. While the Bible is a religious text, it is also literature. I have, as an atheist, read the Bible multiple times. You were indeed over reacting. He didn’t ask you to believe, he just asked you to read because it would give you a great foundation a wide array of literature, which it indeed would. I would venture to say that you were the ignorant one here, refusing to read texts of another faith.
Casey and Liz:
I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend you, but perhaps you didn’t read my article correctly.
I never refused to read the New Testament, and, in fact, by that point I had already read it for a different class. I was not the one who objected to being told we had to read it to understand the world (perhaps I was unclear: he was talking about understanding the world, not understanding the class; perhaps this is true, but, if so, we should probably all read all major religious texts, which I doubt very many people do).
As I said in the article, I was not offended that this teacher wanted us to read the New Testament. I was offended that the Vice Principal singled me out as a minority in the school because someone else had been mistakenly offended for me.
I’m offended that you had to read the ENTIRE New Testament. Right or wrong, that sh*t is LONNNGGG
Jews are always so self-righteous when it suits them. Also, hun, you’re not a minority since you can probably blend in with the rest of the population. Just for your information. I thought Judaism was a religion not an ethnicity since jews can be black, white, central asian, and so on.
Sorry, I guess I did miss read. And sorry you got singled out that always sucks. In my 10th grade honors english class we read “Life of Pi” and there was a Muslim girl in my class. The teacher (a strong open Christian) had the girl stand up and tell us about her religion (since it pertained to the book) and when she was done the teacher said, “That’s very nice. Too bad it’s wrong” I will never forget that day.
oh and Jane, Judaism is a religion and ethnicity. The ethnicity is from the middle eastern region of the world.
Whoa. “Jews are always so self-righteous when it suits them”
Is that for real? If you are going to hate on a group of people, you may want to keep it to yourself, Jane. I expected more from someone in a group of highly educated readers.
sorry, Judaism is the religion. But you can be jewish by ethnicity. just wanted to correct myself.
What? You think Jewish supremacy doesn’t exist, Lauren? They own all of the banks and they own the media. Also, I don’t hate Jews I just dislike them.
“I don’t hate Jews I just dislike them”
I think we have a word for that statement.
It’s called INTOLERANCE.
Which is a sad, sad word.
Judaism as religion/ethnicity is a hot topic in many circles; religious, academic, and it appears CC. Regardless of who is wrong or right people are entitled to their opinions.
This brings me to my next point. I say that yes, just like our good friend Jane up here, cross-burning guy and Bible-thumping English teacher are both entitled to their opinions (I’m happy to see that no one has said otherwise). However, I also am a thorough believer in the time/place school of thinking. While teaching is an inappropriate time to further religious ideas and a public school is an inappropriate place.
In the same vein, a light hearted blog aimed at a demographic that is most likely logging on in order to get a break from homework, research, work, etc. is an extremely inopportune place to be advertising yourself as an anti-Semite. That sort of thinking has no place here.
Jane: “You think Jewish supremacy doesn’t exist, Lauren? They own all of the banks and they own the media.”
Oh man, I wish I owned the banks and media! Then maybe I could pay off my student loans!
Why do you assume I am an anti-semite? I am not anti anything. I am allowed to dislike people. I am courteous enough to not say anything to their faces when I meet one of them. I just smile, shake their money-grubbing hands, and then walki away. I am very tolerant.
Jeez Jane, you’re coming off as a hypocritical, backstabbing bitch.
You wouldn’t know tolerance if it smacked you in the face.
“I am courteous enough to not say anything to their faces when I meet one of them. I just smile, shake their money-grubbing hands, and then walki away. I am very tolerant.”
Yes Jane, according to that statement you are tolerant to the letter of the law (if indeed you never act upon these conspiracy theories you seem to adhere to)– but you are completely and utterly intolerant when it comes to the spirit of the law. And, in my experience, it is nearly impossible to be so hateful inside without it coming out at some point.
Also, I should mention that according to UNESCO, tolerance is “Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. Tolerance is harmony in difference.”
According to that definition you fail the tolerance test.
Jane…we also own a whole lot of property.
DUH!
Woa there, Jane: which backwards, hateful place do you hail from? I did not realize that there are still people who are not aware that Jewish is both a religion and an ethnicity. I suggest you read up on some history and sociology.
Also, disliking an entire group of people is being “anti” in actuality.
One, I am surprised nobody is addressing the issue of the burn marks, which I think was one of the most important parts of the article.
Two, Jane, while someone would be foolish to believe that Jewish Supremacists do not exist, they would be just as foolish to believe that any other ethnic or religious supremacists do not exist. They do not exist solely in one religion or one ethnicity, and they do not condemn the entire group.
Three, why can’t you just stop bitching about people that you have not met…?
Jane is one of those ignorant people turning the world into a rude, selfish, and all around hateful place. You are destroying the planet with your hateful beliefs, causing friction between groups of people by spreading nonsense, and you just sound like an uneducated dumbass! please shut up before someone smacks you, or worse, commits a hate crime and shoots you for your prejudice beliefs (because if you say the wrong thing to the wrong person it will happen)
You should be ashamed of yourself for ruining our planet!
I have a feeling that Jane is merely someone who likes to leave an incendiary remark on a message board and then sit back and watch the fireworks.
More to the point with regards to religion (and more specifically all religions) isn’t it about time for all the thinking people in this world to raise their voices and start calling out religion for what it is– a collection of fairy tales and irrational thoughts that help people sleep at night while controlling the masses by wrapping up religion in a package that claims to “gives life meaning”?– which wouldn’t be so bad if the mass of humanity had not allowed these ancient fables and “laws” to be elevated to such a degree that some among us are willing to kill each other because we don’t believe in the same imaginary god.
There are currently some very good books out there by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens (and others) that do a very good job of addressing just how dangerous irrational beliefs (and the protections society extends to them) can be. Think about it: if tomorrow you met a devoted follower of Zeus would you not question their sanity? And then ask yourself: can I prove that Yahweh, Vishnu, Allah, etc, exists in any more substantial way than that devoted follower of Zeus can prove that Zeus exists? It’s all rather silly…that is until we start using our unsubstantiated (and in some cases demonstrably false) beliefs to restrict, judge and even, in extreme cases, kill.
“Voice of Reason”…
I am an atheist, but I don’t agree with what you are saying. Our world protects people who choose to believe, and while they should not preach to those of different faith, neither should you treat their beliefs with disrespect. This vicious circle of “Your god is wrong, no yours is, no there’s definitely a god, no there definitely isn’t” is ridiculous and just adds to the turmoil in our world.
There is scientific evidence to prove that Jesus did exist, what kind of man he was, maybe nobody will ever know. But what kind of person are you to take away anyones comfort in life? You are not one to judge them for believing in something you find fictional and silly. If it makes them happy to believe, you should be happy for them. And if it makes you happy to not, so should they be for you.
“The Voice of Reason” (not very reasonable),
Who are you to say the “thinking people” are the ones who don’t believe in religion, or that they all can’t be the same people, no one can prove anything and frankly why continue trying? the less we know the better off we are obviously things are just getting worse for everyone the more people start to question everything. If I believe one thing then let me believe it, you can believe your own garbage, but who the fuck are you to tell anyone else that what they believe is fake?! Just because you don’t believe it? I’m sorry but the reason it can’t be proven is because the whole point is to have faith, if it could be proven, if God proved himself, then it eliminates any purpose in believing in him. Whatever, you don’t have to believe it, but keep your fucking mouth hut and don’t tell people flat out that what they believe in is wrong, because honestly you have no fucking idea. You can’t prove it’s true but you also can’t prove it’s not. So until you have some actual substantial solid proof that God does not exist then seriously shut up. You also can’t entirely prove evolution, or the big bang theory, or that they’re not the same thing. So until someone can prove that one is right and one is wrong and that thy aren’t the same damn thing then everyone should stop telling people that their beliefs are wrong, because honestly no one has any clue and you’re making an ass of yourself.
thank you Laura you said exactly what I was trying too.
Casey and Laura: seriously, you really should try to educate yourselves on this matter– particularly you, Casey (perhaps then you could express yourself in a more thoughtful, less angry and vulgar way). Btw, a person who proclaims that an unfounded idea, like say for instance, the EXISTENCE of a supreme being, is under no obligation to offer proof. You cannot prove a negative. There is no compelling proof (and sorry “faith” is not proof) that God exists. The burden of proof is on those who claim that god exists.
Your superiority complex is making you sound just as ignorant as my cursing. Where as my cursing is warranted by your being completely and utterly offensive, you sound just as uneducated as you’re accusing Laura and me of being. Not to mention extremely closed minded. There’s no point in even arguing with an ignorant prick who thinks they know it all. Whatever you can continue living your meaningless life. And I’ll live mine believing I have a purpose. At least if I am right I’ll be happy after death, if not well then hmmm nothing will happen. I think I’ll take that chance, sounds a bit more appealing to me.
Good plan. You sound very grounded and content, indeed. Have a nice day.
Am I wrong, or did anyone else get the impression that Casey believes in God “just in case”?
“At least if I am right I’ll be happy after death, if not well then hmmm nothing will happen. I think I’ll take that chance, sounds a bit more appealing to me.”
Risk aversion is definitely a good way to go through life…
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