After attending and posting an article earlier today regarding the recent School Board meeting where once again supporters of John Freshwater spoke on his behalf, I read an online version of the Mount Vernon (Ohio) News article this morning that reported that on Sept. 2, Mr. Freshwater filed a countersuit, claiming defamation of character and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
I found that Kevin Maywood also wrote a news brief piece titled, "Teacher countersues over cross scar, creationism,” in the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch item last Saturday that elaborated on the pending legal action:
“. . . John Freshwater has countersued the parents of the unnamed former student who sued him in June, claiming he violated their son's civil rights.
“Freshwater, 52, also is fighting for his job teaching eighth-grade science. He is currently on unpaid leave from the Mount Vernon City School District after an independent investigation concluded that he had taught creationism after being told not to do so.
“In his lawsuit, Freshwater says the allegations by the former student and his family are false and have exposed him to public ridicule and harmed his career. His attorney, R. Kelly Hamilton of Grove City, was not available for comment yesterday.
“The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Southern Ohio, seeks damages for defamation of character and emotional distress.”
I guess the best way to fight fire is with fire. I surely hope and pray Freshwater douses the flames of hatred which apparently motivated the original frivolous lawsuit. It is about time someone took a stand and fought back against those elements in society who work to silence the Christian influence, belief system and principles that once guided and lead this nation.
TAKE ACTION
You can also help Mr. Freshwater with his legal costs by sending a check to:
The Community Council for Free Expression
c/o Trinity Assembly of God
1051 Beech Street
Mount Vernon, Ohio 43050
John Freshwater should remove the bible from his desk or he should be fired as incompetent and recalcitrant.
ReplyDeleteHe claims removing the bible from his desk would "infringe upon his deeply held personal religious beliefs granted by god." However, to keep it there is an affront to clear thinking, rational persons everywhere.
Some reasons are:
1. It is an endorsement of a religion by a governmental entity which is a violation of the establishment clause of the first amendment of the U.S. constitution.
2. It is exclusionary and offensive to people of different faiths but especially people of no religious faith.
3. The bible has no place in a public school except maybe as a topic in a literature, social studies or comparative religions class.
4. By sitting on a teacher’s desk it is an inappropriate and tacit endorsement of a religion by not just a government agency but him as an authority figure.
5. It promotes a supernatural, magical worldview. It is a book of not much more than mythic storytelling with stories of:
a. Wizards and witches (Exodus 22:18 and Deuteronomy 18:11)
b. Demons and devils (Matthew 5:13)
c. Dragons (Deuteronomy 32:33, Jeremiah 51:37)
d. Unicorns (Isaiah 34:7, Psalms 22:21 and Numbers 23:22)
e. Half man, half goat "party animals" known as Satyrs (Isaiah 34:14)
Any teacher who cannot or will not understand the points above should not be teaching the public. A religious based school would be a great place for him to teach, but not a government funded institution. Freedom loving, free thinking people everywhere are counting on the administration of our public schools to do the right thing.
Thank You,
Ed
Ed -
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment.
You said, " to keep [his Bible] there is an affront to clear thinking, rational persons everywhere . . . It is an endorsement of a religion by a governmental entity which is a violation of the establishment clause of the first amendment of the U.S. constitution . . ."
Actually, there is no separation of church and state or religion and state anywhere in the U.S. Constitution. The phrase “separation of church and state (really meant as complete separation of God, Christ, and Christian influence from the state) is a mangled misinterpretation of the words and intent of that important document. If anything the signers of America's Declaration of Independence and the signers of the Constitution intended to honor God with the birth of a nation where faith could be exercised in complete freedom, where a Bible could not only be kept on the desk, but even taught as the most important text for life and liberty.
Your whole premise is bogus.
Mary -
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment.
However, I vehemently disagree with you.
America was absolutely founded on Christianity and Biblical Principles. You perpetuate a revisionist lie.
Listen to one of the Founding Fathers, John Adams, himself:
:
“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”
• “[July 4th] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”
–John Adams in a letter written to Abigail on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --October 11, 1798
"I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen." December 25, 1813 letter to Thomas Jefferson
Mary –
ReplyDeleteThanks you for your comment.
You surely are a revisionist, or you have bought the revisionist lie, hook, line and sinker.
You say, “Where Thomas Jefferson clearifies the intent of the Constitution and that there "must be a wall of seperation between Church and the State"?
Wrong contrary Mary, Jefferson was reassuring the Danville Baptists that he would not be sanctioning any particular denomination and give ANY PARTICULAR group any special status. He absolutely was NOT saying that there must be a separation of God and the state as the tyrannical, activist judicially has wrongly interpreted! Did you know that that was a private letter? That letter was not a part of the Constitution!
The false and misleading “Separation of Church and State” is a bane to American tradition, values and principles!
Anon 10:55 9/11/08 -
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment.
You make some marvelous points, especially the paragraph:
"That this nation did not get it right in its early years of existence is evidenced by slavery and racism.
Unfortunately, just as soon as America began to right the wrongs of racism, the Left came up with atheistic and Communist ideas camouflaged as "rights". So, we have
gay rights,
animal rights,
abortion rights,
and whatever else they can dream up.
The fundamental principle behind demands for such weird "rights" is rebellion."
PS: Email me if you would like to do some writing for this blog . . .
In response to the first comment (Ed):
ReplyDelete1. The first amendment only says that CONGRESS can make no law respecting the ESTABLISHMENT of religion. This only applies to congress, not a school or a school teacher. Having a Bible on one’s desk does not establish a religion.
2. I agree that it is “exclusionary and offensive” to some people, but there is no such thing as the right not to be offended. I do, however, agree that it is not right to use taxpayer’s money to promote a certain religious point of view. But when evolution and fornication education are taught in schools, this is “exclusionary and offensive” to true Christians and it promotes beliefs that are contrary to what true Christians believe. It is just as wrong to force Christians to pay taxes to promote these beliefs. So what is the fair thing to do? If you take out everything that might offend someone, you are left with almost nothing but a very inefficient system. What not get the government out of education completely and let people decide for themselves how they want to educate their children? Leaving things up to the free market increases efficiency because competition is not stifled by a government monopoly. ITS TIME TO GET OUR HANDS OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S POCKETS AND PAY FOR YOUR OWN CHILD'S EDUCATION.
5. There are people who call themselves wizards and witches even today. I believe by faith that demons are real. If you disagree, please provide scientific proof, if that is the basis for your objection. Dragons are the same thing as dinosaurs. There are animals that look like unicorns (but they have no wings and two horns). The Bible does not say how many horns it had and such an animal would look like a unicorn if viewed from side. The Bible does not say that a Satyr is a “half-man, half-goat”. The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain, used only twice in the Bible, and probably describes an ordinary goat in Isaiah 34:14 and it is an object of worship (devils) in Leviticus 17:7. In the latter case, this may be some sort of false (imaginary) god.
Anonymous-
ReplyDeleteThe real issue is you have a teacher who overstepped his bounds in a public classroom. If he had not overstepped his bounds, they never would have asked him to remove the Bible from his desk.