Righting 1st Amendment Wrongs
Until just recently all the news about John Freshwater has been one-sided, condemning him in no uncertain terms. He has been accused of many wrongdoings. His primary crime seems to be that he is a Christian in an ever more secularized society, and moreover acts like a Christian.
This past weekend John Freshwater spoke up as he appeared on the Larry Elder TV Show on Fox News. You can view the video clip here to begin to get John Freshwater’s side of the story, which hitherto has not been fully told. The YouTube video below is low quality, but the audio is good and you can get a good glimpse of the man.
The following video is a much better quality picture, but it is less complete than the YouTube video above:
Here are a couple of news reports regarding the on-going John Freshwater story, which seems to be hitting nationally:
Mount Vernon News, July 8, 2008, 11:00 AM
The Mount Vernon (Ohio) News reported that the Mount Vernon City School Board resolved Monday evening at a closed session to schedule a hearing for August 26 regarding the contract termination of Mr. Freshwater. During the public portion of the school board meeting six individuals spoke on behalf of Mr. Freshwater as to why he should not be dismissed.
Washington Post, Tuesday July 8, 2008, 12:09 PM
Matt Reed wrote an article about the Freshwater controversy. For those unfamiliar with the case the story offers an overview of the case.
Reed attempts to describe the controversy this way, “Some residents consider him a courageous fighter for religious freedom. Others say he has brazenly violated the church-state divide.”
Reed speculates, “Freshwater likely will be suspended without pay during the appeals process, which could extend into the fall, said David Millstone, the school board's attorney.”
This has been a very interesting case to follow. It is yet to be determined if Mr. Freshwater will receive a fair trial either at the upcoming school board hearing or at the forthcoming civil rights trial against him and the school board and school officials by the disgruntled parents of the allegedly offended child.
My hope would be for full exoneration of Freshwater giving both him and America a second chance and real hope for a change for the better in the future. I would love to see the tide turn away from the ungodly secular humanist orientation or worldview and a turn back to a much more enlightened era when people were expected to know and use their bible, rather marginalized and ridiculed for having it.
"My hope would be for full exoneration of Freshwater giving both him and America a second chance and real hope for a change for the better in the future. I would love to see the tide turn away from the ungodly secular humanist orientation or worldview and a turn back to a much more enlightened era when people were expected to know and use their bible, rather marginalized and ridiculed for having it."
ReplyDeleteSo your enlightened era, is this when people or enlightened ones would burn witches??
Also he IS allowed to have his Bible. He was just asked to put it in his desk or in a bag/backback/brief case, what ever he uses to hold personel items.
I also don't feel "going back to the old days" would beneficial to our future at all.
Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteRead this
old post .
Matt
ReplyDeleteYou can be Christian and act Christian with out breaking the law.
God wants us to be good people which includes following the law.
Hmm this comes to mind in this case
" You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour"
Once again are you justifying a teacher missusing a tool on a childs arm, resulting in a mark, while at school? Show me where in the Bible it says that is OK.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Book of Matthew, Jesus said, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men….When thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret….”
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the "cross burning" part of the issue--I'm not trying to justify that. I'm just saying that it is wrong for a Christian to put himself in a situation where he is forbidden from witnessing, which is a commandment from Jesus. In the same way, it is wrong to support public policies which make it harder for people to avoid such situations.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if Mr. Freshwater is a real Christian or not. Certainly if he is just doing this for his own fame or to be boasting, then this is wrong. But only a legalistic person would use Matthew 6:5-8 to say that you should never pray or declare your faith in public. The dilemma of whether or not to do it when it is against the (case) law would not be an issue if the government hadn’t gotten involved in education in the first place.
www.schoolandstate.org