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Student Sues School District and Teacher After Being Punished for Expressing His Religious Beliefs
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Hokomai
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I asked you Sedonaman if you did not consider it ironic. You responded ‘if you say so, pal’. I continue to hope that you will respond. As for your second point, I think you will find that the entire Hindu world at the time was accepting of other religions, hence the survival of Christianity in various parts, and accepted wide variation within its own faith; that Islam tolerated Jews and Christians, and the various streams of thought within Islam without a lot of burning of either people or books’ and that much of the Buddhist world was religiously, if not culturally tolerant. James 1 of England (who was also prior to union James VI of Scotland was also rather more tolerant than More. So no, they were not supporting freedom as I define it, but neither was everyone as intolerant as More. State religions were bad then, and they were bad now. Religious tolerance is good now, and was good then, to the extent to which it existed. More was not an advocate of it.
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ConcernedApathy
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I’m also a liberal and while I would have been tempted to do the same thing, I also think his actions were inappropriate. Everyone would have been better served if he’d kept the kid in class, intellectually eviscerated him and then waited as the other students did the same. Maybe he would have learned something. Kicking him out is just allowing him to assume the mantle of the bigoted little martyr. He knew what he was doing, just like the kid wearing the belt buckle knew, they both wanted to make their contrary statement on a day of tolerance, a statement that says; “I don’t tolerate.” The teacher should have let them, let both of them exercise their freedom of speech as they’re entitled to do and then have them listen and respond as everyone else expressed theirs.
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estesbob
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Would be better off for all involved if the school went back to educating rather than indoctrinating
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GraceSofia
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Hokomai, I believe it is because you are missing something important: Saint Thomas More stood against tyranny and was willing to suffer death rather than take the Oath of Supremacy that would replace the Pope with King Henry VII. He stood by his conscience rather than succumb to the power of the state. This is why the law group (and others, I might add) have named themselves after him.
This is a battle that we see being played out in our times, as in the case of the student who would not be bullied into saying something that he did not believe. St. Thomas More also refused to be forced into saying something that he did not believe in the face of threats from the king. This is what is being demanded of us in certain countries today: say that you condone homosexual acts or you will be destroyed.
I think that he is an excellent patron saint for a law group fighting for religious rights of citizens against a government, a school, a university, or any other semi-governmental organisation that seeks to deny the religious freedom rights of people.
Here is what the inestimable Chesterton wrote about him:
*“Thomas More died the death of a traitor for defying absolute monarchy; in the strict sense of treating monarchy as an absolute. He was willing, and even eager, to respect it as a relative thing, but not as an absolute thing. The heresy that had just raised its head in his own time was the heresy called the Divine Right of Kings. In that form it is now regarded as an old superstition; but it has already reappeared as a very new superstition, in the form of the Divine Right of Dictators. . . . The State did not own men so entirely, even when it could send them to the stake, as it sometimes does now where it can send them to the elementary school. There was an idea of refuge, which was generally an idea of sanctuary. In short, in a hundred strange and subtle ways, as we should think them, there was a sort of escape upwards. There were limits to Caesar; and there was liberty with God.” *From St. Thomas More, in The Well and the Shallows
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GraceSofia
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Well, I am quite sure that St. Thomas More did not rub his hands in glee and set fires to burn people.
“As Chancellor it was his duty to administer the civil laws of England, which prescribed the death penalty for obstinate heretics. Nevertheless, during his term of office only four, it seems, were burned, and these were relapsed persons, whom he had no power to reprieve.” St. Thomas More
At the time, it was the civil law that heretics who continued to publicly teach heresy, after repeated warnings and attempts to get them to change their tune, should be put to death because it was public heresy was considered a threat to the peace and safety of the land. It was viewed the way treason was (up until quite recently).
Henry VIII executed tens of thousands of people for treason, which was sometimes the charge instead of heresy, so an interesting question there is how his Chancellor managed to only ratify the deaths of only four. Saint Thomas More was not an advocate of promoting heresy, you are correct on that, but he obviously tried his best to save those accused and must have saved many.
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sedonaman
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Right.
LMAO!The Legacy of Jihad in Historical Palestine (Part I)
americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4999
The Legacy of Jihad in Historial Palestine (Part II)
americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5003&search=bostom
Is this why more Muslims have been killed by other Muslims?
Your posts are not accurate at all.
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sedonaman
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Once liberal tolerance rather than traditional morality becomes our guiding principle, we must ultimately tolerate the presence of evil.
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Dawnia
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That’s assuming that the other students agreed with the teacher and not with the students.
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estesbob
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Why should a school have a day honoring the respect and dignity of homosexuals?
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pat_mc_1
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The rebel flag is offensive to many people. The teacher thought it was disrespectful and their using religion to justify their homophobia.
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estesbob
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As is the rainbow flag
Why is it of any interest whatsoever what a students view on homosexual behavior is to either the teacher or the school district? . Why would this come up in a class about economics? Is affirming the teachings of the Catholic Church now to be considered homophobia?
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Hokomai
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There were, I think, no occasions in the Middle ages in which Jews were expelled by Muslim rulers, but plenty when they were by Christian rulers (and worse). You have to come up with some explanation for the continued existence of Chrstian and Jewish groups in Muslim countries in sizeable numbers until the establishment of the state of Israel, That’s 1400 years of co-existence. What Christan nation can beat that? And Sedonaman let’s make a deal: I won’t laugh at what you say, and you will consider not laughing at what I say. How about it?Right.
The Legacy of Jihad in Historical Palestine (Part I)
americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4999
The Legacy of Jihad in Historial Palestine (Part II)
americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5003&search=bostom
Is this why more Muslims have been killed by other Muslims?
Your posts are not accurate at all.
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asia53
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ConcernedApathy
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It was for Spirit Day, which contrary to how conservatives want to portray it is not a second gay pride parade or a day where we all pat gay people on the back for the outstanding “choice” they’ve made to be gay. Rather its a day to draw awareness to and put a stop to the bullying of LGBT youth. In case you hadn’t noticed or rather choose to ignore it a lot of them put guns to their heads or razors to their wrists or nooses to their necks this past year because going to school with knuckle-draggers who picked on them had become a bit too much.
The kid brought it up. He opened his mouth and decided to blurt out; “I don’t accept gays.” and then talk about how his delicate sensibilities were offended by either the rainbow flag or the Tyler Clementi shirt the teacher was wearing or whatever else it is that he just couldn’t handle.
When those teaching are homophobic, i.e. having an aversion to, a contempt for, a dislike of or just an unnatural fear regarding homosexuals, then yes, the answer is yes.
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nickybr38
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Do we have proof that he started it? I was under the impression that the teacher asked HIM what he thought and that he answered truthfully. Should he have pretended to accept homosexuality? Should he have kept his silence?
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sedonaman
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Look, pal. I won’t laugh at what you say if you don’t say something absurd.
If you can find irony in the TMLC’s name, then it’s your right to think whatever you want. I don’t agree because the real irony is TMLC’s forcing liberals to swallow their own swill.
I hope this brings us back on topic.
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mgreen77
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Why wouldn’t they? Promoting charity towards homosexuals isn’t the same thing as promoting the acts themselves.
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nickybr38
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Because we don’t have days honoring and promoting charity towards females. Or nerds. Or children who have problems processing information. Or Muslims. Or Christians. Or pregnant teenage mothers… etc. etc. etc.
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mgreen77
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We might if schools had the impression that an unusual number of females/nerds/etc. were killing themselves due to bullying. Factual or not, the public impression is that gay kids are being picked on in school more than other groups, and so some schools see it as a school problem.
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