A message of support for Matthew LaClair

[Guest Guest]

Even if Matt is interested in a Broadway career, and even if his father has political aspirations, what this teacher did in his classroom was wrong.  Without the teacher's behavior, there's nothing for Matt to expose. 

You did a great thing, Matt! Hang in there.

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If you note in my previous post, I made no mention nor judgement of the teacher or his remarks. What I'm trying to tell you is that Matt's only motivation for this is self promotion. He doesn't care about the issue, but rather his acting career. All I ask is that you consider this.

If you still feel this is a "great thing", so be it. You are entitled to your opinion, but so am I. The people of Kearny that know him and the family know the truth. Use it for your self-serving purposes all you want, but please don't drag our town and its citizens down. We did nothing wrong.

[Guest Paul]

You've all been conned by a teenager with hopes of furthering his Broadway acting career and a father with political aspirations.

It did not take courage or bravery to do what Matt LaClair did. All it took was a little rehearsing and and a script written by his father. He has been doing bit parts in Broadway plays for some time now, Mom running him back and forth at times when she should have been more concerned about him getting an education. Publicity, whether good or bad, is still publicity and that is exactly what the family wanted. And got.

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Riiiight - and you can't even summon the courage to put your name.

[Guest Brittany Lyke Wirth]

Dear Matthew,

I just finished reading the story about you in the NYT. You started out taking a history class, and ended up making history instead. Surely, your teacher inadvertently helped you and those around you to get a better and more comprehensive 'education' than you originally bargained for.

The qualities you have exuded are both rare and admirable. Don't ever let anyone intimidate you--try to remember that it's easy for people to bully, yell or make threats when they wrongly believe that god is the ultimate justification for any action. These individuals have rarely or never had their point of view challenged, and their greatest fear is having to reexamine themselves or their beliefs in the face of logical contradiction. In short, they feel threatened, and like any basic mammal fight or flight response, they choose to lash out in anger.

I have the distinct pleasure of living in North Carolina, after being a die-hard New Yorker for all of my 22 years. There are many people here who would, similar to your teacher and members of a Kansas School Board, rather ignore the principles that this great country was founded on to teach their particular beliefs in it's place. You identified that this behavior is wrong, and everyone should applaud you, Matthew, for being a true patriot. You, by yourself, took steps to uphold the tenants of this nation.

Keep up the good work. You are a hero.

[Guest Steve_C]

If you note in my previous post, I made no mention nor judgement of the teacher or his remarks. What I'm trying to tell you is that Matt's only motivation for this is self promotion. He doesn't care about the issue, but rather his acting career. All I ask is that you consider this.

If you still feel this is a "great thing", so be it. You are entitled to your opinion, but so am I. The people of Kearny that know him and the family know the truth. Use it for your self-serving purposes all you want, but please don't drag our town and its citizens down. We did nothing wrong.

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How exactly would getting press on a topic totally unrelated to "broadway" get him on the stage?

I don't get it. He did the right thing. You're just pissed he got attention for it. The school did virtually nothing about and the boy should be judged?

Nice theory, but it makes no sense. Alot like dinosaurs on a non existent Ark 6000 years ago.

[Guest Stuart Weinstein]

"If you note in my previous post, I made no mention nor judgement of the teacher or his remarks.'"

I noticed. But the issue is the teachers remarks. You are shamelessly trying to shift the focus to Matt.

" What I'm trying to tell you is that Matt's only motivation for this is self promotion. He doesn't care about the issue, but rather his acting career. All I ask is that you consider this."

So how many kids have parlayed videotapes of their teachers acting badly into an acting career?

I've considered what you said and I'm of the considered opinion that you're out to lunch. The videotape says it all. Whatever Matts ulterior motives (if he had any) may have been are irrelevant. This is not a Matt-said/teacher-said issue. We know damn well what the teacher said, and the teacher violated any number of principles.

Look, if you don't mind your local school district paying millions to the ACLU and its clients, then by all means encourage more of your teachers to preach in the classroom.

[Guest Guest]

(Quote) You are a hero.

Heros do not beg people to come foward.

Heros do not beg for support.

[Guest Paul]

Riiiight - and you can't even summon the courage to put your name.

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Whoa, why is this under my name and member info? I didn't post this, not that it isn't a good point. Webmaster, please check this out and advise.

As long as I'm here, perhaps the anonymous individual who posted the previous post would care to enlighten us on the source of his information. I know my son more than well enough to know that what drives him is his commitment to justice and the Constitution. I wouldn't normally respond to uninformed personal attacks like the one the above person was commenting on, but since I was here I thought I would set the record straight --- as one who knows the facts.

[Guest danny]

Matt, honestly, you did a good thing here. The people who squawk about freedom of religion and all that don't really have a clue. Your teacher was completely out of line and so is everyone who supports him. Hang in there bro!

[Guest Guest]

You've all been conned by a teenager with hopes of furthering his Broadway acting career and a father with political aspirations.

It did not take courage or bravery to do what Matt LaClair did. All it took was a little rehearsing and and a script written by his father. He has been doing bit parts in Broadway plays for some time now, Mom running him back and forth at times when she should have been more concerned about him getting an education. Publicity, whether good or bad, is still publicity and that is exactly what the family wanted. And got.

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how can you say that? he went to through all the proper channels and only went to the press after a month of nothing being resolved.

[Guest DBEllis]

If you note in my previous post, I made no mention nor judgement of the teacher or his remarks. What I'm trying to tell you is that Matt's only motivation for this is self promotion. He doesn't care about the issue, but rather his acting career. All I ask is that you consider this.

Matts motivations don't matter in particular. And perhaps you should focus a little more on the teacher's actions. The teacher is the one who's actions are unambiguously inappropriate.

If you still feel this is a "great thing", so be it. You are entitled to your opinion, but so am I. The people of Kearny that know him and the family know the truth. Use it for your self-serving purposes all you want, but please don't drag our town and its citizens down. We did nothing wrong.

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Regardless of Matt's motives (about which, by the way, we have only your unsupported assertions) I do still feel he did "a great thing". A great thing is a great thing regardless of the reasons for it. Please note that I've made no attempt whatsoever to "drag down" your town or its citizens; I've only commented on the inappropriate behavior of a single teacher.

With that said I'd like to congratulate Matt and his father once more, and note that I won't continue this disscussion further in this "support" thread; such discussion are more appropriate in one of the other threads already active on this controversy.

[Guest Tarheel]

Dear Matthew,

I just finished reading the story about you in the NYT. You started out taking a history class, and ended up making history instead. Surely, your teacher inadvertently helped you and those around you to get a better and more comprehensive 'education' than you originally bargained for. 

The qualities you have exuded are both rare and admirable. Don't ever let anyone intimidate you--try to remember that it's easy for people to bully, yell or make threats when they wrongly believe that god is the ultimate justification for any action. These individuals have rarely or never had their point of view challenged, and their greatest fear is having to reexamine themselves or their beliefs in the face of logical contradiction. In short, they feel threatened, and like any basic mammal fight or flight response, they choose to lash out in anger.

I have the distinct pleasure of living in North Carolina, after being a die-hard New Yorker for all of my 22 years. There are many people here who would, similar to your teacher and members of a Kansas School Board, rather ignore the principles that this great country was founded on to teach their particular beliefs in it's place. You identified that this behavior is wrong, and everyone should applaud you, Matthew, for being a true patriot. You, by yourself, took steps to uphold the tenants of this nation.

Keep up the good work. You are a hero.

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Dear Brittany, you make me want to puke. Go back to NY.

[Guest Eileen Regan]

Dear Matthew,

I just finished reading the story about you in the NYT. You started out taking a history class, and ended up making history instead. Surely, your teacher inadvertently helped you and those around you to get a better and more comprehensive 'education' than you originally bargained for. 

The qualities you have exuded are both rare and admirable. Don't ever let anyone intimidate you--try to remember that it's easy for people to bully, yell or make threats when they wrongly believe that god is the ultimate justification for any action. Keep up the good work. You are a hero.

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I totally agree with Brittany above and support Matthew all the way. He is my hero too. People have been dying in all of recoreded history over "gods" for far less an offense than Matthew's outing of his teacher, and it is certainly time for people in the United States to realize that the only difference between the deadly bigots of Salem, Mass and Kearny, NJ is the TIME that we live in.

If Matthew lived in another time he might have been afraid to speak out against a teacher's illegal actions, or executed for speaking out.

Take a look at the so called "religious" murders in other countries for disagreeing about someone's god. If we allow people/teachers to cram their beliefs down the throats of school children we are setting ourselves up to become a Theocracy. Who wants to live in the next Iraq, Pakastan or Afganastan.

Good luck Matthew and Kearny....this is the 21st Century. Separation of Church and State is the law.

[Guest KearnyMom]

You've all been conned by a teenager with hopes of furthering his Broadway acting career and a father with political aspirations.

It did not take courage or bravery to do what Matt LaClair did. All it took was a little rehearsing and and a script written by his father. He has been doing bit parts in Broadway plays for some time now, Mom running him back and forth at times when she should have been more concerned about him getting an education. Publicity, whether good or bad, is still publicity and that is exactly what the family wanted. And got.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

With your fathers Kool-aid views and your sneaky behavioral attitudes, you'll go far in life, Matt.

[Glen Tarr]

If you note in my previous post, I made no mention nor judgement of the teacher or his remarks. What I'm trying to tell you is that Matt's only motivation for this is self promotion. He doesn't care about the issue, but rather his acting career. All I ask is that you consider this.

If you still feel this is a "great thing", so be it. You are entitled to your opinion, but so am I. The people of Kearny that know him and the family know the truth. Use it for your self-serving purposes all you want, but please don't drag our town and its citizens down. We did nothing wrong.

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You still don't get it do you? The poster you were responding to wasn’t dragging your town down. Matt wasn’t dragging your town down. YOU, and the local folks like you, are the ones dragging your town down. If the story had just been that Matt stood up for the Constitution against a misguided teacher, everyone would have thought poorly of the teacher but no one would have thought poorly of Kearny. That kind of thing, unfortunately, can happen anywhere. But then it comes out that the Kearny school board still hasn’t done anything about it. That looks pretty bad. There aren’t a lot of towns with school boards that are that backwards, though it does still happen in a lot of places. But the kicker is when it comes out that most of the local Kearny folks, such as yourself, are actually attacking Matt instead of thanking him – that he has received threats and abuse for trying to uphold the bedrock principles on which this country was founded! That’s just beyond belief. That’s what makes Kearny look like it belongs somewhere back in the 16th century. “Nothing wrong”!? You just get through attacking a child’s reputation, on an internationally-followed bulletin board, based on nothing but hearsay and innuendo, and then you have the gall to say you and your town did nothing wrong? You couldn’t find a clue if someone stuck it to your rear with a tack!

And the really stupid thing about it is that your attack is completely beside the point anyway. It’s theoretically possible (though I don’t believe if for a minute) that Matt did what he did for the publicity. The fact remains he did a great thing. He found someone in a position of authority who was breaking his duty to his students and spitting on the Constitution, and he did not walk away. Despite having all the cards stacked against him, despite the teacher’s authority over him and the lack of action from the principal and the likelihood that local folks might respond as you have, Matt did exactly what he had to do to bring the issue out into the open. And he did it well. I’d like to think I might have tried to do what he did when I was his age, but I don’t know if I could have pulled it off. Matt thought on his feet, he remained calm and articulate, he did not break down when it looked like the entire power structure was against him. That takes guts and brains and heart, and whether he did it for the publicity or (as I believe) to uphold a principle, he deserves every good word anyone’s put in for him. Likewise his dad deserves a lot of credit. He backed up his son despite the fact that it would probably cut into his local business, and when his son started getting attacked and threatened he did not start pulling people out of the local bars and busting their chops, which is what I’d have wanted to do. He got on this discussion board, subjecting himself to more ridicule from folks like you, and he explained and defended what happened in a calm and reasonable manner. I don’t see the teacher or the principal doing that, because that takes a lot more guts than just laying low and hoping it all blows over. The only good impression of Kearny I’ve gotten out of this whole thing is that it has people like Matt and Paul living in it. If you’re really so all-fired worried about your town’s reputation, then stop doing things that drag it through the mud!

[Guest Joan Conroy]

I just finished reading the NYT article about the controversy in Kearny. Since I've been unable to find an email address for Matthew LaClair, I'm posting here and hoping it will get back to him. I haven't read the other messages relating to this topic, on this board, because I'll probably be so incensed by them that I'll end up yelling at the screen, as apparently the teacher has received more support.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you, Matthew. I think you've done a brave and vitally important thing, and you should be very proud of it. I am really impressed to see so much 'spunk' and initiative in someone your age - congratulations on having a functioning mind! It's a rarity around here these days. You have done the right thing, but I am very sad to say that it won't be enough, in my opinion. If you choose to stay and carry on the good fight, more power to you. If you decide that you're just banging your head against a fundamentalist brick wall, and decide to emigrate, as I did, might I suggest Europe? There are lots of like-minded people over here.

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[Guest Joan Conroy]

I totally agree with you. Matt is a very courageous young man to oppose his teacher who, in my opinion, is using his position and power to recruit his students. It's a sad, but true fact that we are living in a political climate that allows these abuses to occur. Many folks seem to have conveniently forgotten that one of the basic tenets that this nation was founded upon is the separation of church and state. James Madison must be rolling over in his grave at the antics of the religious right who are most definitely in the wrong.

[Guest Jason, from NJ]

Good on you, Matt. Don't let that bastard win. I still can't believe there are so many in your town who support your teacher. This is NJ, not some Bible Belt state! Anyway, good luck.

[Guest Aegis]

Thanks Matthew for exposing this D**bA**. When I was in HS, my History teacher actually attempted something similar. Living at the time in Mississippi (transferred there from NJ in my junior year); I was obviously in the minority when I disagreed - with references - in class about her interpretation of the 1st amendment. I was thrown out of the class that day, all because I wouldn't let her have an unconstitutional platform to promote her fundie beliefs.

If you haven't been there, you might want to join in the forums at whywontgodhealamputees.com. The blog for that site has a blog entry regarding your story.

[Guest LadyGuest from Ohio]

If you note in my previous post, I made no mention nor judgement of the teacher or his remarks. What I'm trying to tell you is that Matt's only motivation for this is self promotion. He doesn't care about the issue, but rather his acting career. All I ask is that you consider this.

If you still feel this is a "great thing", so be it. You are entitled to your opinion, but so am I. The people of Kearny that know him and the family know the truth. Use it for your self-serving purposes all you want, but please don't drag our town and its citizens down. We did nothing wrong.

Unfortunately, it is precisely remarks such as yours that are "dragging" down your town and its citizens; and possibly more so even than the actions of this one teacher. While the actions of a single person can often be written off as an aberration or as one person's misguided notions, it is the collective and repeated ad hominem attacks directed at Matthew and his family, promoted in lieu of addressing the core issues, that is casting a terribly unfavorable light on your entire community. Not only does it give the rest of the country and the world the impression that Kearny citizens are hateful and vindictive, but the sheer intellectual dishonesty with which you are attempting to defend this teacher indicates a deeper feeling of fear and insecurity. If this teacher or your town have done nothing wrong, then there would be no need for such vehement and vitriolic defensiveness. The facts would speak for themselves. Unfortunately, no matter how many straw men and red herrings you throw into the discussion, your obvious penchant for disrespect and sidestepping will only continue to dig you deeper into a hole which will be of your own making. That's my opinion. Please consider it.

Kudos to you, Matthew.

[Guest brightmoon]

matt you did a great and brave thing ...what that teacher did was illegal

[Guest Jeffrey]

I have been following this story off and on. I just wanted to express my admiration and respect for Mr. LaClair. Young people like him make me feel like there is hope for the future.

It takes courage to stand up to your peers, let alone somebody who is authority over you. Good job Matthew.

Jeffrey

[Strife767]

Adding my support for this kid--I graduated from KHS and am glad to see that there are people this age who don't put up with bullshit like that. More power to him--if there's ever an organized protest or something, someone let me know, because I want to be there.

[Guest Guest]

Riiiight - and you can't even summon the courage to put your name.

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They cannot summon the courage to put their name up because I think they are the politicians who are posting.

Probably the entire School Board, Mayor and Council post to hide anything in support of Matthew.

I do not care one little bit if he wants to be an actor.

Lets stick to the facts

THE TEACHER WAS WRONG! AND HE GOT CAUGHT ON TAPE. NOW DEAL WITH IT IN THE PROPER MANNER.

[Guest Sean]

No hes not alone! and thats the real problem here!! if the world could see this site it would think that kearny is un god/jesus holy sprit center of hate!! all this is doing is giving paul his 15 min of fame to boost his biss! it looks like this site has been hijacked by "the worst kind of people" its a good thing we DO HAVE TEACHERS THAT WILL TEACH JUST LIFE AND THE IMPORTANT SPRIT VALUES! if you do not like it iran is looking for you!!! no need to say goodby just GO!!!

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I'm sorry, could you repeat that in english...thought not.

[Guest Sean]

You've all been conned by a teenager with hopes of furthering his Broadway acting career and a father with political aspirations.

It did not take courage or bravery to do what Matt LaClair did. All it took was a little rehearsing and and a script written by his father. He has been doing bit parts in Broadway plays for some time now, Mom running him back and forth at times when she should have been more concerned about him getting an education. Publicity, whether good or bad, is still publicity and that is exactly what the family wanted. And got.

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...and your evidence is??

Yeah, thought so...