I have received a number of comments about the “burning” or the “branding” of the middle school student brought to light by the child’s parents. These parents are the plaintiffs in a civil rights lawsuit filed a week ago against the school board, the superintendent, the principal and John Freshwater. "I wonder how you'd like it if a teacher started carving pentagrams in students' arms with a razor blade. Just exercising first amendment rights...right?" --- Anonymous
" you sir are an idiot, get all the facts before you go praising a child abuser which is so very "christian." --- Gillian
"I can't believe you support burning a child's arm. He also is stated in the report that he lied. Is that a Christian thing to do?" --- Anonymous
"What is the matter with you? He assaulted students by BURNING a cross into their arms that remained there for weeks. Are you just ignoring that part of the story? The man has gone completely insane.Don't treat people like they're idiots, you aren't doing conservatives any favors by saying the only thing he is guilty of is being a christian. We all know he burned kids with an electric device, trying to throw the story by making him the victim is embarrassing." --- Anonymous
I will address those comments at the end of this article. This is just one of the issues or accusations that the press, the school board and school officials have used to cloud the real issue. That is what we will touch on first.
BURNING JOHN FRESHWATER
But first, we must not forget that the whole controversy started with Mr. Freshwater's refusal to remove his Bible from the top of his classroom desk when told to do so by his principal. This caused such a stir in the community and among the students and some parents that I think the school board was caught off guard with their pants down.
Then the cowardly school board started almost immediately to add charges to Mr. Freshwater's case. “This case is much more than the Bible on the desk,” they claimed. Yes, that is true, it was about a man who dared to stand as a Christian for his God-ordained right to practice is Christianity outside a so-called sanctioned sanctuary.
The "burning" incident, or example, is simply a exaggerated diversionary tactic to deflect from the real issue - the right of Mr. Freshwater to keep his personal Bible on his desk and his God-given right to practice his faith.
The school board using its taxpayer financed surrogates, HR On-Call, Inc. (the investigators) conducted a shameful sham of an investigation. The investigators combed through his personnel file and past "incidents” where he may have offended the disgruntled personalities or fragile sensibilities of some peers, parents or secular humanist priests and the liberal slanted press to build up a case against this Christian man. All stops were pulled out. The attack went forward. Anyone who had ever had a problem or confrontation with Mr. Freshwater was given center stage. The result and the objective was to portray Freshwater as wild, out-of-control, even physically abusive lunatic. The press and politicos in Ohio used the same tactic and hack job on Ken Blackwell who also dared to bring his Christianity to the political arena. It worked then, it worked now.
Case in point, it was very interesting and revealing that the 15-page investigators report was apparently leaked (provided) to the Columbus Dispatch prior to the special school board meeting that determined the fate of Mr.
Freshwater. I saw and read the report on Thursday evening. It was posted at 6:04 PM on www.Dispatch.com in the article by the strikingly unfair and unbalanced journalist, Ms. Alayna DeMartini. In other words, the underhanded school board released the report to the equally loathsome press and to a public eager to eat the pabulum put in front of them. Most probably the report was not provided to Mr. Freshwater before Jane or Joe Public were able to peruse its gory details. Talking about a hit piece! Nice work Alayna, you and the despicable Dispatch burned John Freshwater real good.
Well, they have done an excellent job to date in destroying the good character and lifetime of work of this admirable man. He is not the person the press paints. He is not a perfect man, but he is a Christian who lives out his faith. That is the essence of the matter.
“Keep your religion (faith) to yourself and in your stained class cathedrals, but don't you dare bring it to school, to work, to the ballgame, to the public square,” I guess that is the lesson those who burned and those who support the burning of Mr. Freshwater want the rest of us to learn. I thank God I for one am a slow learner . . . I could imagine that something similar was told to saints like Joan of Arc in the day.
BURNING THE CHILDREN
This may shock you, but Tesla coils are used to demonstrate electric current. They are often used in classroom as a teaching tool in science class . . . Read the Mount Vernon News article, "Tesla coils used to show electric current" for a further explanation of how the this harmless device is used. In the article a Kenyon College professor explains that the device is relatively harmless.
THE PRESS FANS THE FLAME
The press (aka, the biased liberal media) is making this guy out to some sort of a monster, which he is not. He was the 2007 Teacher of the Year recipient and a 21 year veteran of the Mount Vernon City Schools. He was well loved by his students. However, Ike Gitmo, the left will attack anything that might get in the way of their agenda, political ideology or pet cause.
