A message of support for Matthew LaClair

[Glen Tarr]

That is one of the facts. No heroics, bravery, courage. Just plain old fashion rehearsed acting.

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You're still on about this? Are you going to try claiming it was all a set-up and that the teacher was only proselytizing because Matt wanted to look like a hero and that he never would have done that kind of thing otherwise? Because if the teacher and the principal and the school board weren't play-acting, then what that teacher did was seriously wrong and what Matt did to stop it took courage.

And you're still dragging your town's reputation through the mud.

[Glen Tarr]

As was stated in my previous post, I am not making a judgement on the teacher.

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Why not?

[Guest Nick]

Matt, another thumbs up.

-Nick, Watertown, MA

[Guest Enzo Giovanni]

Most of the Europeans? Huh....I am not really sure about that one! Statistics, please? Don't post anything when you have no idea what you are talking about...

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1. Where the F**K do you live? Europe? I doubt it seriously.

2. You really need statistics to show Europeans mostly don't give a damn about religious fundamentalists of any religion? Go find your own statistics and disprove me wrong if you can.

3. As being from a country in which more than 90% of the population are declared catholic I have yet to meet a single one who believes in such scientific garbage as the earth being 6.000 years old and dinosaurs being on board of Noah's Ark.

Again: YOU are not sure? Disprove me wrong.

Good luck.

[Guest Joey Gladstone]

Matt,

Don't listen to the idiots, you did a cool thing by stopping that jerk. There's a difference between being a Christian and being an asshole.

[Calybos]

Matt,

Don't listen to the idiots, you did a cool thing by stopping that jerk.  There's a difference between being a Christian and being an asshole.

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Or at least there's supposed to be.

[Guest Guest]

Matt, you rule. I commend your bravery in the face of the opposition of the entire town.

[Guest a proud american]

Well done Matt, thanks for standing up.

Be strong.

All the best.

Keep it up.

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Thank you for having the courage to stand for your convictions. It's just a shame that others can't grasp what freedom is really about.

[Guest godfearing atheist]

In to show my support. Keep up the good work Matt and maybe in two thousand years there'll be a bigass cult worshiping you and fighting about it jk. Nah but instigators fighting for a good cause tend to be viewed in a more positive light as time passes, so to speak :>

Frankly, many of the comments I've seen so far in other threads scare me. The world might not be going downhill, but it's certainly not advancing at a very fast rate either

[Guest Bob Averill]

I, too, would like to voice my support for Matthew.

Situations like these can be quite scary. You were very brave to stand up to your teacher the way that you did, and I congratulate you.

[Guest Stephen Chakwin]

I think that Matt did exactly the right thing in exactly the right way - a way that showed skill, patience, and even compassion for the teacher, since it offered him a way out of the problem.

Unfortunately, the teacher could not or would not back away from the opportunity to subordinate his responsibility to his students and to his school system to his private agenda. If he had used this forum to advance Islamic or other unfashionable beliefs, he would have been suspended in short order. Since he used it to advance a popular belief, things have - so far - turned out differently.

Democracy is hard. Democracy with separation of church and state is harder still.

It's easy to understand the teacher's misconduct: after all, he thinks it's in the students' best interests, in fact essential to their eternal well-being, that they hear what he has to say. It's harder to understand the response of the school administration. They are supposed to understand issues like this one.

Matt, you are a hero and a model to your peers and your elders. Try not to be too distressed if they haven't measured up to your standards. Heros are often ahead - sometimes uncomfortably ahead - of their times. Now you may wonder at that last statement since our constitution is well over 200 years old and pretty explicit on this point. Remember that it is an ideal, something that leads us on. We haven't quite caught up with parts of it, though - with the aid of moral heros like you - we are getting closer and closer.

Thanks for your insight and your courage.

Stephen Chakwin

[Guest Perpetual Student of Philosophy]

Just wanted to say thank you Matt! It took guts to do what you did. I hope you will remain a rational thinker, unbiased, honest and will consider running for office one day. God knows (pun intended ) we need you in this country! Regardless what you may encounter in Kearny, there are people -- such as the ones writing in your support here -- that will appreciate your courage and support you.

Once again, thanks and remain strong!!!!

Kamil

[Guest Guest]

Matthew, you are an idiot!

[Guest Guest]

I, too, would like to voice my support for Matthew.

Situations like these can be quite scary. You were very brave to stand up to your teacher the way that you did, and I congratulate you.

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Yes, especially when you have an attorney father who tells you exactly what to do! Matthew, you are coward! Grow up, you are 16! In fact Matthew, you should really worry about who you are taking to the prom, it will be very hard to find a girl in the HS who will be willing to go with you.

[Guest A. V. Blom]

Yes, especially when you have an attorney father who tells you exactly what to do! Matthew, you are coward! Grow up, you are 16! In fact Matthew, you should really worry about who you are taking to the prom, it will be very hard to find a girl in the HS who will be willing to go with you.

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He's still the one taking all the heat from the situation. The boy has received death threats. To say that it's 'easy' in any way, shape or form is to grossly misrepresent the situation.

[Guest tired of wingnuts]

Matt............Thank , Thank you ,Thank you .

[Matthew LaClair]

This is Matthew LaClair. I would like to thank all of you who have supported me. Every word of encouragement and positive thinking helps me a great deal. I wrote another letter in Kearny On The Web that many of you may be interested in. Please take a look at it. I realize now that I may be almost alone in Kearny, but I have many others in the country and the world on my side. Keep on posting and keep this topic alive.

[Guest Matthew Jordan]

Hey, Matt, you did an awesome thing. I know you may not be an Atheist, but I am one and it makes me very happy to see people stand up against this sort of thing. People need to realize that although they may not be trying to impose anything on someone, this sort of behavior is completely unacceptable in our public schools. Especially from someone in a position of authority.

It's really sad that you don't have many backers in town. I grew up in a little town in the sticks in Ohio and it was more progressive than that! If one of our teachers had pulled this crap he would have been FIRED.

Well, good luck with everything, I bet you can't wait until college huh?

[Strife767]

This is Matthew LaClair. I would like to thank all of you who have supported me. Every word of encouragement and positive thinking helps me a great deal. I wrote another letter in Kearny On The Web that many of you may be interested in. Please take a look at it. I realize now that I may be almost alone in Kearny, but I have many others in the country and the world on my side. Keep on posting and keep this topic alive.

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At least one person in Kearny recognizes your bravery. Rock on, Matthew.

[The Young Punk]

Allow me to say Matthew LaClair was wrong. I agree in the fact that a teacher should never bring in religion like that. But this was a histroy teacher and religion is one of the major drives of history. Also if you listen to the audio the teacher asks if anyone minds if the conversation continues. If Matt had a problem he could have said he did not wish for the conversation to continue and it probably would have ended. Now when you have a conversation on something as fundamentally important in religion, in history and in some people, you are bound to get some peoples personal opinion. Isn't that one of the things we fought for during the Revolutionary War, freedom to state your opinion. I happen to know Matt LaClair, me and him used to be good friends, and I know first hand the Matt likes attention. He is an actor and anyone who knows anything about business knows that any publicity is good publicity. I give Matt some credit he did his research in finding out that the teacher was a priest and also he knew exactly hwo to talk to. But in the end I feel bad for the teacher because in the end even after all the contrpversy is over with, and Matt LaClair is proven to be doing nothing more then looking for attention, this teacher will still have the stigma of these accusations.

[oldfart56]

Allow me to say Matthew LaClair was wrong. I agree in the fact that a teacher should never bring in religion like that. But this was a histroy teacher and religion is one of the major drives of history. Also if you listen to the audio the teacher asks if anyone minds if the conversation continues. If Matt had a problem he could have said he did not wish for the conversation to continue and it probably would have ended. Now when you have a conversation on something as fundamentally important in religion, in history and in some people, you are bound to get some peoples personal opinion. Isn't that one of the things we fought for during the Revolutionary War, freedom to state your opinion. I happen to know Matt LaClair, me and him used to be good friends, and I know first hand the Matt likes attention. He is an actor and anyone who knows anything about business knows that any publicity is good publicity. I give Matt some credit he did his research in finding out that the teacher was a priest and also he knew exactly hwo to talk to. But in the end I feel bad for the teacher because in the end even after all the contrpversy is over with, and Matt LaClair is proven to be doing nothing more then looking for attention, this teacher will still have the stigma of these accusations.

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good job kid! i hope all is well have a great new year!

[Guest Guest]

Allow me to say Matthew LaClair was wrong. I agree in the fact that a teacher should never bring in religion like that. But this was a histroy teacher and religion is one of the major drives of history. Also if you listen to the audio the teacher asks if anyone minds if the conversation continues. If Matt had a problem he could have said he did not wish for the conversation to continue and it probably would have ended. Now when you have a conversation on something as fundamentally important in religion, in history and in some people, you are bound to get some peoples personal opinion. Isn't that one of the things we fought for during the Revolutionary War, freedom to state your opinion. I happen to know Matt LaClair, me and him used to be good friends, and I know first hand the Matt likes attention. He is an actor and anyone who knows anything about business knows that any publicity is good publicity. I give Matt some credit he did his research in finding out that the teacher was a priest and also he knew exactly hwo to talk to. But in the end I feel bad for the teacher because in the end even after all the contrpversy is over with, and Matt LaClair is proven to be doing nothing more then looking for attention, this teacher will still have the stigma of these accusations.

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Hey Punk - a very thoughtful response for someone named "Young Punk". While you bring up very valid considerations (Matthew's need for attention, etc., and how many reasonable students would have - and apparently did - react to the teacher's preaching), there is one point to all of this that matters most. By law, the teacher should not have been preaching in class. For a variety of reasons, you just can't do it - something that Mr. P, I'm sure, has been told by the school's administration and its attorneys.

Now, from reading many of these posts, you'll see that there are people who are very passionate because they feel that the LaClairs are attacking God. And there are those who have very different opinions about religion who are very passionate about keeping God out of school by firing the teacher. At the end of the day, most issues resolve themselves to compromise. So I wouldn't worry about Mr. P - he'll continue teaching and, provided that he doesn't make the same mistake twice, will still be teaching when this controversy has long been forgotten. And I wouldn't worry about Matthew, he's already made a difference in the schools just by creating this controversy and - if he's smart - he can spin this whole issue into some sort of scholarship somewhere.

[Guest WilliamK]

But this was a histroy teacher and religion is one of the major drives of history.

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Was the discussion about christianity's role in history?

From what I've seen of the transcripts, it looked more like it was about which religion one should believe and about the teacher's religious objections to evolution and cosmology. A discussion that contributed nothing whatsoever to the students understanding of history, but gave the teacher a handy opportunity to push his religious views on them.

So tell us, Young Punk, what great historical knowlege do YOU gain when reading the transcripts or listening to the recordings?

[Guest Paul]

Allow me to say Matthew LaClair was wrong. I agree in the fact that a teacher should never bring in religion like that. But this was a histroy teacher and religion is one of the major drives of history. Also if you listen to the audio the teacher asks if anyone minds if the conversation continues. If Matt had a problem he could have said he did not wish for the conversation to continue and it probably would have ended. Now when you have a conversation on something as fundamentally important in religion, in history and in some people, you are bound to get some peoples personal opinion. Isn't that one of the things we fought for during the Revolutionary War, freedom to state your opinion. I happen to know Matt LaClair, me and him used to be good friends, and I know first hand the Matt likes attention. He is an actor and anyone who knows anything about business knows that any publicity is good publicity. I give Matt some credit he did his research in finding out that the teacher was a priest and also he knew exactly hwo to talk to. But in the end I feel bad for the teacher because in the end even after all the contrpversy is over with, and Matt LaClair is proven to be doing nothing more then looking for attention, this teacher will still have the stigma of these accusations.

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As someone else has already observed, Paszkiewicz was not teaching history with these rants. He was proselytizing his religion. Under the law, it doesn't matter that he asked whether anyone minded, he's not allowed to do it, and he is required to know that. Our forefathers didn't fight the Revolutionary War war so that public school teachers could use the classroom to preach their religion and their politics to a captive audiece of teenagers; the teacher's job is to teach, not to preach. There is a difference, and it can't be overlooked by suggesting that religion is part of history, when Paszkiewicz wasn't using the discussion to teach any history. He was using it to promote his personal opinions. The law is very clear on this point.

Since you say you were good friends with Matthew, I'll make sure he reads your post. Better yet, school resumes tomorrow. Reach out to him, talk to him, and maybe you'll better understand why he did this, or for that matter call him today to discuss it. If you were good friends, you should know how to reach him.

With all due respect, I know him better than you do, and from what you're posting, you don't begin to understand him. From what Matthew tells me, people whom he used to consider his friends have shouted at him in the halls, and when he has tried to respond to them civilly, they wouldn't listen, they just shouted angrily and walked away. From the mature way I've seen him respond to professional journalists (local, regional and national), I'm inclined to believe him. If he has lost his cool during all this, I haven't seen it. Every journalist who has commented to me has been highly complimentary of him. Maybe your mind is closed unfairly, maybe your biases are driving you, not your reason --- ever think of that?

You may not like it, but the New York Times singled Matthew out for courage yesterday. That is a high honor for anyone. On the blogs he has been called a hero, spoken of as a present and future leader, and mentioned for several awards. One person went so far as to mention him for a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and two people got so carried away as to mention him as a presidential candidate some day. While I think that's not likely, the praise has been absolutely glowing. I've already had a member of an alumni group from a major university contact me to invite him to apply to college there, and he has two pending speaking engagements with groups who almost always reserve their platforms for adults. You may do well to consider the fact that many very intelligent people consider your former friend and your classmate a hero. That's their judgment, it needn't be yours, but if you won't at least consider that, maybe you weren't such a great friend after all.

Matthew isn't the only person who faces the question: what kind of person do you want to be. You face it, too, and if you are or were any kind of a friend, you'll talk with him civilly and openly about this. He has other friends who don't agree with him, but have stood by him with the same kind of courage he has demonstrated in doing what he believes is right. On the other hand, some people who probably would have stayed friends with him on their own have caved in to peer pressure and taken him off their myspace lists. Apparently they weren't such great friends in the first place. He won't always tell you, but when he sees something like that he has the maturity to know whom he can respect and trust, and whom he can't. Agree or disagree with him, if you're any kind of friend, you'll respect that. When you second-guess his motives, I don't see that kind of respect. What I see is someone who doesn't agree with him, and can't separate that disagreement from his character.

With or without his "former friends," Matthew will remain true to his commitments. That is character. I hope you'll think about it.

[Guest Paul]

Allow me to say Matthew LaClair was wrong. I agree in the fact that a teacher should never bring in religion like that. But this was a histroy teacher and religion is one of the major drives of history. Also if you listen to the audio the teacher asks if anyone minds if the conversation continues. If Matt had a problem he could have said he did not wish for the conversation to continue and it probably would have ended. Now when you have a conversation on something as fundamentally important in religion, in history and in some people, you are bound to get some peoples personal opinion. Isn't that one of the things we fought for during the Revolutionary War, freedom to state your opinion. I happen to know Matt LaClair, me and him used to be good friends, and I know first hand the Matt likes attention. He is an actor and anyone who knows anything about business knows that any publicity is good publicity. I give Matt some credit he did his research in finding out that the teacher was a priest and also he knew exactly hwo to talk to. But in the end I feel bad for the teacher because in the end even after all the contrpversy is over with, and Matt LaClair is proven to be doing nothing more then looking for attention, this teacher will still have the stigma of these accusations.

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By the way, it's not an accusation when the teacher is the one who says it.