Kansas Teacher Fired for Conservative Views Gets Job Back Amid Media Firestorm

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lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
32,539
260
126
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: lupi
sure thing, right after you are able to hold your presentation demonstrating creationism is false.

Young Earth Creationism has been proven false for 150 years.
Loopy would never let the facts get in the way of his dogma.

Originally posted by: ZeGermans

Ok let's see what truths we teach in our schools
1) Truth: we actively exterminated the indeginous peoples by destroying their food source
2) Truth: Japan was willing to surrender after Hiroshima on the condition that they keep the emperor. We nuked them again and let them keep him anyway
3) Truth: Our intervention against democratically elected leftist leaders in the 80s left more than half a million people dead

the list goes on and on. America is probably an evil country, and there no way one can call it a "good" country. Teaching "just the facts" usually means ignoring the horrors we've caused.

 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,337
136
Originally posted by: lupi
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: lupi
sure thing, right after you are able to hold your presentation demonstrating creationism is false.

Young Earth Creationism has been proven false for 150 years.
Loopy would never let the facts get in the way of his dogma.

Originally posted by: ZeGermans

Ok let's see what truths we teach in our schools
1) Truth: we actively exterminated the indeginous peoples by destroying their food source
2) Truth: Japan was willing to surrender after Hiroshima on the condition that they keep the emperor. We nuked them again and let them keep him anyway
3) Truth: Our intervention against democratically elected leftist leaders in the 80s left more than half a million people dead

the list goes on and on. America is probably an evil country, and there no way one can call it a "good" country. Teaching "just the facts" usually means ignoring the horrors we've caused.

Try confronting Red Dawn with his arguments, not with ZeGermans' arguments.
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,337
136
Originally posted by: ZeGermans
Ok let's see what truths we teach in our schools
1) Truth: we actively exterminated the indeginous peoples by destroying their food source
2) Truth: Japan was willing to surrender after Hiroshima on the condition that they keep the emperor. We nuked them again and let them keep him anyway
3) Truth: Our intervention against democratically elected leftist leaders in the 80s left more than half a million people dead

the list goes on and on. America is probably an evil country, and there no way one can call it a "good" country. Teaching "just the facts" usually means ignoring the horrors we've caused.

1) Truth: 95% of the native American population was killed by smallpox. In fact, the spread of smallpox was so fast that whole nations were wiped out by it without ever even seeing a single European.
2) Truth: Japan said we couldn't do it twice.
3: Truth: democratically-elected leftist leaders in the 80s killed more than half a million people all on their own.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,663
6,726
126
Originally posted by: ZeGermans
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Originally posted by: ZeGermans
Why would you let a conservative teach a U. S. history class, they believe the US is somehow magically infallible. I'm guessing it doesn't involve a lot of critical thinking.

We let anybody teach who is qualified to. Knowledge is not the providence of some particular party nor is the love of teaching children. This is a free country that respects different points of view. Your assertion that all conservatives feel the US is magically infallible is absurd. It is actually you who is possessed by magical belief. What we do not want is teachers in a position of authority teaching their beliefs as the only truth. If you were taught by liberals they failed to teach you to critically think. Sad for you.

Ok let's see what truths we teach in our schools
1) Truth: we actively exterminated the indeginous peoples by destroying their food source
2) Truth: Japan was willing to surrender after Hiroshima on the condition that they keep the emperor. We nuked them again and let them keep him anyway
3) Truth: Our intervention against democratically elected leftist leaders in the 80s left more than half a million people dead

the list goes on and on. America is probably an evil country, and there no way one can call it a "good" country. Teaching "just the facts" usually means ignoring the horrors we've caused.

I can just see your resume:

I fart a lot. I take a shit every day and sometimes more often. I wipe my ass and it never gets perfectly clean and I sometimes get shit on my fingers. Sometimes on the toilet seat too, the one I'll be sharing with you. If I don't bathe or use deodorant in a couple of days I smell like a pig. I sometimes eat food I dropped on the floor and masturbate thinking about my neighbor. I love the smell of the fudge under my toenails and love to pot pimples and squeeze out the puss sack inside. I can type, but my fingers sometimes stick to the keys cause I love to pick soft buggers which don't always wipe off under my seat. These are truths one and all. Please hire me.
 

surfsatwerk

Lifer
Mar 6, 2008
10,110
5
81
Originally posted by: lupi
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Originally posted by: JS80
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Originally posted by: JS80
Originally posted by: Balt
Originally posted by: Amused

"I had been called into [Gentry's office] and was told I was picking on Obama in class," Latham said earlier this month. "But I didn't cover anything else that wasn't already covered by anybody else in the news."

That's a horrible justification. You can form any idiotic opinion you want and then find someone somewhere in the media who is saying something similar, especially if you consider people like Hannity or Olbermann "news".

Whether a teacher is liberal or conservative they should keep their political opinions to themselves. This is quite possible even in an American government class. The best teachers I ever had could argue both sides of an issue so well that you couldn't tell what end of the political spectrum they were on.

Anyway, the school didn't follow the correct procedure so they screwed it up and his dismissal was inappropriate.

So what's the correct procedure then for firing a teacher for his conservative beliefs?
He shouldn't be fired for his conservative beliefs as long as he allows those with a differing opinion to express themselves and not use it against them in grading them. This goes back to my question to Amused about if he believes a Holocaust Denier should be able to express his views in the Class Room. That's about as unpopular opinion as one can have in America yet his right to free speech is guaranteed by law. Should he be fired for having what many would find an offensive opinion or belief?

Denying the Holocaust is denying a fact. So they are not comparable. So no, a Holocaust Denier should not be able to express his wrongness in the classroom. Just like we shouldn't allow a science teacher to teach that the world is flat.
I see, then you must also feel that those who believe in Creationism shouldn't be able to express their wrongness in a classroom either. I think I have to change my opinion and agree with you.

sure thing, right after you are able to hold your presentation demonstrating creationism is false.

Creationism can't be proven false because it exists in a paradigm devoid of logic, reason, or facts.
 

miniMUNCH

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2000
4,159
0
0
Originally posted by: Craig234
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: Craig234
That the info can be read if you find a real source and not a Fox News propagandist.

Poisoning the wells is not a valid debate.

Yes, it is, when done carefully.

I'm against the abuse of the argument of attacking the source rather than the merit.

However, my position is carefullly considered on this. I've been involved in message forums for a long time, and seen how overwhelmed 'discussion' can be with the effectively unlimited supply of propaganda and lies from the 'machine' that puts them out for that purpose; how responding to each one in detail can take about a thousand hours a day.

Well... the media are lie machines in general. Faux news is not much different than CNN or CBS or MSNBC. All these media outlets will lie and do lie when they want to and when they think they can get away with it. Faux just sucks these days at getting away with it... although in a way they do still get away with a rather large demographic who think their reporting is gospel.

But all news outlets that have a adopted a stance or side skew their reporting to support their stance.

I prefer to see what other countries say about our 'news' these days.
 

miniMUNCH

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2000
4,159
0
0
Originally posted by: surfsatwerk
Creationism can't be proven false because it exists in a paradigm devoid of logic, reason, or facts.

For the sake of argument why don't you prove that universe wasn't created by a supernatural power?

At least religious types (the obvious freaks that they are!!) have some sort of explanation for how all this shit got here in the first place and why is it here...

Ask a cosmologist what started the big bang and how the universal laws of conservation of mass and energy must have been violated at some point time to get this mass and energy in the first place... you'll get an answer which effectively constitutes the basis of a religion.

Now i'm not going to defend people who don't support evolution as a mechanism... but that is another whole discussion.

And on topic-- From the bits a pieces from various articles it seems from the quotes of his students that he was decent teacher... so in that light i am glad he got his job back.
 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,727
6,290
126
Originally posted by: miniMUNCH
Originally posted by: surfsatwerk
Creationism can't be proven false because it exists in a paradigm devoid of logic, reason, or facts.

For the sake of argument why don't you prove that universe wasn't created by a supernatural power?

At least religious types (the obvious freaks that they are!!) have some sort of explanation for how all this shit got here in the first place and why is it here...

Ask a cosmologist what started the big bang and how the universal laws of conservation of mass and energy must have been violated at some point time to get this mass and energy in the first place... you'll get an answer which effectively constitutes the basis of a religion.

Now i'm not going to defend people who don't support evolution as a mechanism... but that is another whole discussion.

And on topic-- From the bits a pieces from various articles it seems from the quotes of his students that he was decent teacher... so in that light i am glad he got his job back.

It's easy to say "God did it". Not really an explanation att all.