Here we go again. Another student is suing another school claiming that his religious beliefs were violated.
From The Dallas Voice:
The Dallas Voice is quick to point out the resemblance of this case to the one of Dakota Ary. A few months ago, a student in a Texas school, Dakota Ary, claimed that he was suspended for merely saying that homosexuality was a sin. However, after the unfortunate media blitz done by Ary's mother and the Liberty Counsel - the group hired by her, it was discovered that perhaps Ary's version of the story was not necessarily true. There were questions whether Ary and a few students were harassing the teacher long before the incident.
Based upon that case and so many other incidents in which religious right groups haven't been forthcoming on details, I reserve the right to not necessarily believe this young man's version of the story. And I have a few questions:
1. What were the exact words said in the conversation which led Glowacki to be kicked out of class.
2.Why was the other student kicked out of class with Glowacki?
3. The teacher was reprimanded for kicked Glowacki out of class, but the reprimand was lifted. Why? He was also suspended for one day because of the incident, but was reimbursed for those wages. Again, why?
And here is something that's interesting. This is what the lawsuit says:
It sounds like to me that the Thomas More Center is exploiting this one incident to attack and maybe eliminate whatever "gay-friendly" policy this school may have.
Whatever the case may be, count on seeing another right-wing media blitz. Only this time, I hope people reserve judgement until the entire story comes out.
From The Dallas Voice:
This week, the Thomas More Law Center, a conservative Christian legal foundation, filed suit in federal court on behalf of Sandra Glowacki, a Catholic, who claims that the Howell Public School District in Howell, Mich., and teacher Johnson “Jay” McDowell violated the constitutional rights of her son, 16-year-old Daniel Glowacki, when McDowell kicked him out of class on Oct. 20, 2010 — when the school district was observing anti-bullying day and Spirit Day — because Daniel Glowacki told McDowell that as a Catholic, his religion prevented him from supporting gay rights.
The lawsuit claims that McDowell wore a “Tyler’s Army” T-shirt that day in memory of gay college student Tyler Clementi, who had committed suicide after being bullied, and that McDowell had used his class all day to “promote homosexuality.” The lawsuit says McDowell had told a female student to remove a Confederate flag belt buckle because he was offended by it. Then when Daniel Glowacki asked why it was OK to display a rainbow flag promoting LGBT rights, McDowell asked whether Glowacki supported gay rights. When Glowacki said his religion prohibited him from doing so, McDowell made him and another student with similar views leave the class.
McDowell was suspended for violating school district policy, but the suspension was later lifted to settle the grievance complaint Johnson filed.
The Dallas Voice is quick to point out the resemblance of this case to the one of Dakota Ary. A few months ago, a student in a Texas school, Dakota Ary, claimed that he was suspended for merely saying that homosexuality was a sin. However, after the unfortunate media blitz done by Ary's mother and the Liberty Counsel - the group hired by her, it was discovered that perhaps Ary's version of the story was not necessarily true. There were questions whether Ary and a few students were harassing the teacher long before the incident.
Based upon that case and so many other incidents in which religious right groups haven't been forthcoming on details, I reserve the right to not necessarily believe this young man's version of the story. And I have a few questions:
1. What were the exact words said in the conversation which led Glowacki to be kicked out of class.
2.Why was the other student kicked out of class with Glowacki?
3. The teacher was reprimanded for kicked Glowacki out of class, but the reprimand was lifted. Why? He was also suspended for one day because of the incident, but was reimbursed for those wages. Again, why?
And here is something that's interesting. This is what the lawsuit says:
The lawsuit also alleges that the Howell district, in cooperation with teacher unions, “indoctrinates students to believe that homosexuality is normal and … that religious opposition … is harassment, bullying, hate speech and homophobic.”
It sounds like to me that the Thomas More Center is exploiting this one incident to attack and maybe eliminate whatever "gay-friendly" policy this school may have.
Whatever the case may be, count on seeing another right-wing media blitz. Only this time, I hope people reserve judgement until the entire story comes out.
4 comments:
The liars for gawd have no more right to discriminate than non-believers and that is where they fail to realize that all rights are not equal in a government setting. Schools are run by government and government cannot be a proponent of any religion. If I were the teacher, I would point out that this child's religion has no basis in fact, point to the myriad of studies and pronouncements by the APA, AMA, Kinsey Institute, Williams Institute and other credible sources and tell him that his religion has no place in a government setting. If he wants to espouse a particular set of religious beliefs that have no basis in scientific fact, he is welcome to do it outside the public school. If he can bring his scientfic facts, peer reviewed from credible sources, we can reserve a class period to that. Otherwise STFU.
In my school if you said anything racist, even if it was just a joke, you got punished. Severely. They didn't give a **** if it was your 'sincere religious belief', if you said something offensive your ass was going to be running laps around the school. Why do we pretend this group of bigots is any different? You can hate gay people all you want at home, but at a public school you aren't allowed to insult other students by calling them sinners.
Using religion to support harassment, bullying, hate speech and homophobia is a cop-out and a smoke screen to hide behind.
Bullies for God
Post a Comment