Archive for February, 2009

What is this world coming to? I actually agree with something written in the WorldNutDaily. According to an article over there by Bob Unruh, a professor at Los Angeles City College allegedly called a student a “fascist b——”. I’m assuming the redacted word is “bastard”. The student is now suing the school, represented by the Allliance Defense Fund. Apparently the student, Jonathan Lopez, was giving a speech in Professor John Matteson’s speech class. The assignment was to give a six to eight minute speech on “any topic”.

During the November, 24, 2008 class, Mr. Lopez delivered an informative speech on God and the ways in which Mr. Lopez has seen God act both in his life and in the lives of others through miracles. In the middle of the speech, he addressed the issues of God and morality; thus, he referred to the dictionary definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman and also read a passage from the Bible discussing marriage,” the ADF explained.

At that point, the professor interrupted him and refused to allow him to finish his speech, ADF said. Matteson then called Lopez a ‘fascist b——” and dismissed the class.

Later, the professor left an evaluation form on Lopez’s backpack without a grade, instructing him to “Ask God what your grade is.”

Professor’s grading of student’s speech

The professor also warned on the evaluation form, “proselytizing is inappropriate in public school.”

If the details of this case are correct, this professor is completely out of line and needs to be disciplined. Treating a student with that kind of disrespect, regardless of differences between your beliefs, is unacceptable. I don’t know the specifics about what topics were permitted under the syllabus or if the professor indicated that certain controversial topics were off-limits in class, but even if the student had violated those rules, the professor’s response would still have been inappropriate.

The classroom is not the place for teachers to promote their personal beliefs nor to abuse students for the beliefs they hold. My initial reaction is that the teacher needs to have his sorry butt thrown out. Allegedly, this isn’t the first time the teacher has gone off on a personal tangent in class. In a statement from the lawer for the ADF:

Yet several weeks earlier, Matteson has announced to the class, in connection to the California vote Nov. 4 in support of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman only, that, “if you voted yes on Proposition 8, you are a fascist b——.”

However much I personally agree with Matteson, the classroom is not the place for that kind of shit. This teacher needs to be raked over the coals just as much as one who promotes christianity in the class. Why the hell can’t teachers just teach and leave the moral pontification out?