[An important question to Paul LeClair]

Paul- Did Mr. P tell a Muslim student, to her face, that she was going to hell? -Mary

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know. Ask him. I can only tell you what I know from the recordings and from Matthew. What the New York Times reported was not said in the presence of the Muslim student in question. There is a post from Nicole Romaniak who states that he told her in a previous year that she was going to hell.

[Science and religion]

The New York Times, Saturday, December 23, 2006, carried a front-page article entitled "From Scum, Perhaps the Tiniest Form of Life." http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/23/science/...r=1&oref=slogin

The article explains how this new discovery could make it "necessary to reconsider the existing paradigms for the minimum requirements for life."

This is an important statement, because it expresses how science operates and progresses. By its very nature, science is always open to new information. A paradigm is a way of looking at things, or a set of assumptions about a field of study. Scientists never claim to have final answers, but by the process of continual investigation they learn more and more all the time. And of course, the past several centuries of scientific progress are proof of that.

By contrast, any "religion" that is not open to new information is by its very nature areligious or even anti-religious, since it is no longer open to the truth as we continue to discover it; no longer open to what is universally true, but stuck in what men and women of the past have declared to be true. This failure characterizes the hard-line fundamentalism of Paszkiewicz and his defenders.

[Science and religion]

How do you define "faith"?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is an excellent question. I think I touched on it early on in this topic. And though you didn't ask me, Bryan, I'll take this opportunity to respond because I think this is a critically important question.

The Christian theologian Paul Tillich made the point in his little book on Faith that Western monotheism, as commonly practiced, has rendered faith a sham and a travesty. Many people in our culture use "faith" as an excuse to believe whatever they wish to believe. Obviously, that is fundamentally irresponsible and the exact opposite of what religion requires: being religious demands that we conform ourselves to those powers or forces or laws, or whatever one wants to call them, which govern our lives and the universe. Expecting the universe to be conformed to our wishes and beliefs is profoundly arrogant, which is why many hard-line theists display so much arrogance. It seeps into their way of thinking.

A productive definition of Faith is: acting for good even though we have no guarantee what results will follow from our actions. Examples: A young person goes to college or professional school, not knowing he or she can succeed, but knowing that this act of Faith is the only way to succeed; A scientist pursues a cure for cancer, not knowing for sure that there is one, but knowing that seeking the cure is the only way to find one; A young man strikes up a relationship with a young woman, not knowing how it will turn out, but knowing that this is the only way to see whether it might lead to something lasting; Annie Sullivan tries to teach Helen Keller language, even though no one has ever done that with a blind, deaf child before. The last example is a miracle (an occurrence that is so far outside what we thought possible that its creative power takes our breath away), hence the title of the film, "The Miracle Worker." All these are acts of Faith. Another way to say it: Faith is acting to open life's possibilities. It is an action more than a belief. That is where its creative power lies, and the fascinating thing about this is how closely it expresses the Christian trinity, with Jesus acting in the world to bring the combination of the Father (word, or intellect) and Mother (Love, or emotion) into reality. That is my concept of Faith.

The hard-line fundamentalists may not agree with it, but it is deeply religious.

[Support for Mr. P]

Did I maintain at any point that since Paskiewicz did not commit any crime that therefore no breach of the Constitution had occurred?

Of course not.  I treat them as separate issues.

Those who say that Paskiewicz broke the law and should be punished for it are simply wrong, so I'm trying to correct their error.

I doubt there's anything actionable (other than a strained tort) unless the school officials (other than Paszkiewicz) somehow endorse the supposedly unconstitutional behavior.

That said, I think your side tends to take Paskiewicz's comments out of context (the New York Times did a nice job of that, also).

It occurs to me that Paskiewicz does have the potential for a libel suit against those who have declared him guilty in advance of his trial (the trial that won't take place over a law he didn't break!)...

False and malicious speech isn't protected, is it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bryan is correct that there is no criminal violation. For there to be a criminal violation, there has to be a violation of a criminal statute. (Another provision in our Constitution is a prohibition against ex post facto laws.) Partly because of the power of the pro-theist elements in our society, no legislature has the guts to pass a law attaching a penalty to this form of behavior.

However, Paszkiewicz did violate TheConstitution. That is enough to justify disciplinary action by Paszkiewicz's employers should they choose to take it. If this was a Muslim teacher, that action would almost surely have been taken.

There is also a civil rights violation here. We may not choose to pursue it, but if that is our choice, it won't be because we can't.

So let's be fair. Bryan's not entirely wrong, even though he is being extremely one-sided.

[Have some courage]

This has gone to far. Did anyone stop to think that this was a level one class. These are kids preparing to go to college. Where debates and discussions will happen all the time. This was a history class and questions will come up. They do have some religion in their text books, and no class as much as a teacher plans goes according to the plans, because students wants to know other things and this sometimes will lead the class to a  different direction. Not on purpose but it just happens. This teacher did not hold the students down and obligated them to accept anything. He did say it's his opinion.

Should every teacher have to live in fear from this point on. Fear that he or she might be recordered? Fear that they might the next Paszkiewicz?

People like the LaClairs has taken all the joy a teacher has out of teaching.

What happen to the time when parents expected teachers to be a good influence? What happen to the time that you would expect your teachers to tell our children what is wrong and right? This is crazy. Take a look around you, take a look on Kearny Ave. and you will see sometimes what the lack of good influence has caused.

I know people will say examples come from home, but its not every parent that can be home to be the example, thats when a great teacher can be a Great influence your child may need.

Would you rather a teacher encourage your child to do drugs, steal have sex before marriage, have an abortion, commit a crime? It would matter what religion he or she is, the important part is that teacher might be the influence your child will have not to do any of the things above. Think about before going around crucifying a teacher for what he might have said.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm sorry to be so bold, but this post is nonsense. I never had any teacher come close to what this one did. There is no reason for good teachers to be afraid of anything. The "defense" that this was a high-level discussion in the context of history is simply pathetic.

As for debate, good teachers don't use their classroom to browbeat students into their point of view, calling it a "debate." However, if you want to call it that, I would say Matthew asked Mr. P a few questions he wasn't prepared to handle. Paszkiewicz essentially admitted that his own theology didn't make sense to him either.

Mr. P talked about students being taken out of their comfort zones. He would do well to look into a mirror when he says that.

[A message of support for 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.

[KHS Teacher Controversy]

Hello, everybody. I am Matthew LaClair.

As you can see, most people who disagree with me do not first try to have a discussion, but they post thoughtlessly, with bitterness and arrogance. Those who read this and disagree with me, please stop with the hatred and arrogance. There is no need for that kind of discussion on this website or any other. For example, whoever is posting as 2smart4u, that is extremely arrogant and shows that this person feels that he or she is better than everybody else. I understand, however, that sometimes people just don't think. They just look at the situation without investigating and they do not care what the facts are. For those who do that, please take a step back, look at the situation again, and have a discussion without useless name calling.

It is now almost the new year and this Kearny School system has still done absolutely nothing except, I assume, tell Mr. Paszkiewicz not to do it again. That is not enough. What this teacher did was wrong. He proselytized during class, then lied about making the statements he made. What a way to show his love in his God. The board attorney said that corrective statements and apologies would not be given.

Hypocrisy seems to be rampant in this school system. On page two of our Program Of Studies, a small booklet that the students are given every year, the Kearny High School Goals are listed. A few of them are the following; to recognize the importance of ethical principles and values; to develop an appreciation of their own worth; to learn to think critically; to understand the role of a good citizen in the practice of democratic ideas and ideals; to learn to understand, accept, and value people with diverse cultural characteristics; to become a responsible contributor to the community, state, country, and world. Where are the administrators in Kearny High School and the Kearny school district pursuing these goals?

In a way, I still feel bad for Mr Paszkiewicz, but what he did is still wrong. All I asked for in early October was for corrections to be made, specifically about the scientific errors he made, some kind of apology, and quality control to make sure that this does not happen again. To date this administration has done absolutely nothing about that. Specifically the board attorney, the superintendent of schools, and now the board. It seems clear to me that the principal is going to follow the administration's corruption and incompetence.

If you would like to help, please write letters to the board of education, the newspapers such as the New York Times, the Kearny Observer , the Jersey Journal, etc. Keep this topic alive. I will not stop until this is dealt with properly. Thank you.