Posted on 12/13/2012 5:20:46 PM PST by Red in Blue PA
A longtime substitute teacher in Phillipsburg, NJ, faces a 90-day suspension after he was accused of sharing a Bible verse with a student – and then giving the child a Bible.
The Phillipsburg School Board said Walter Tutka broke two policies – distributing religious literature on school grounds and another policy that directs teachers to be neutral when discussing religious material. The controversy has generated outrage among the region’s religious community – with many claiming that Tutka is being “persecuted” for simply being a Christian. The electrical company retiree is a well-respected member of the community.
“Just remember, son,” Tutka told the tardy student, “The first shall be last but the last shall be first.” A few days later the student asked about the origins of the quote. Tutka told him it was in the Bible. “Over the next few weeks, the young student asked about a half dozen times where the quote was from in the Bible,” Imhof told Fox News. “Walt kept forgetting to look it up.” On Oct. 12th, Tutka was eating lunch in the cafeteria when the student approached and brought up the Bible verse. So Tutka took out his Bible and showed the student the verse. At some point the student mentioned that he did not have a Bible. “Walt basically said, ‘would you like mine?” Imhof said. “The student said yes and so Walt gave him his personal New Testament.” It’s unclear who reported Tutka to administration officials. But several days later he was summoned to the front office and Tutka, who had subbed for 28 out of the last 30 days, was sent home. To date, he has not been called back. The school superintendent did not return multiple calls seeking comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at radio.foxnews.com ...
People like you give me hope.
This is exactly what troubled, mentally, morally and ethically challenged young people need to deepen their ability to analyse and uderstand issues and decisions facing them in life.
It’s not only because the truth shared by the teacher is in the Bible. It is that the teacher cared enough to lead the kid to some knowledge of truth and ethics.
If there is one Biblical truth that could be shared with American children it is “treat others the way you want to be treated” as an understanding to stop bullying and other ethical challenges we see among the young. They need to get in touch with the full depth of the damage caused by attacking (stealing, lying, and generally being mean) to others. Character.
You’re both missing the point. By law, if you let Christianity in, you have to let all the other religions, as well as atheism, in as well. The law cannot state which religions are legitimate and cultural, and which are not.
And while you both say that Christianity is legitimate, it’s not even that easy. Would you want your children taught Christianity by Branch Davidians, anti-military Quakers, Lesbian Episcopalians, or any of the other ‘off-brand’ Christian sects?
Even the Bible is not free and clear. The KJV? The Message Bible? Common English Bible? Some Biblical versions are religious and literary abominations.
The law cannot state which religions are legitimate and cultural, and which are not.
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That is where your logic fails. The people can determine which cultural religions are needed for the understanding of Western Civ.
And which “The People” are those?
You would hope that it would be parents, but it won’t be. It will likely be school boards, for better or worse, mostly worse, and it often boils down to who screams the loudest, continually complains, demands censorship one way or another, etc. Either way it won’t be “responsible adults.”
If you live in a blue area, the leftists most definitely want to micromanage school curricula. The same with strongly Mormon areas. Evangelicals will control in parts of the US, Catholics in others, this, that and the other, elsewhere.
Local “community standards” are a well-established legal guide. Obscenity laws, pornography laws, etc are all determined with this principle. Exactly why would this fail as a guide for this topic?
Because obscenity and pornography are not civil rights, and are very subjective in any case. Religions, however, are anything but subjective and most certainly are civil rights.
Right now, there are schools in California that do things like make non-Muslim students recite Koranic verses. The *majority* of parents in the area do not object to this, even though they are not Muslims. However, the few students and their parents who object to this are vilified as “Islamophobic”. In such cases, majority rule has no legitimacy in assailing the religious beliefs of the minority.
My point is that those who defend the distribution of Christian religious materials or information in schools are on far more dangerous ground then they used to be. If they demand “an opening” to permit the distribution of even a single Bible, other religions, especially Islam today, will jump at the opportunity to distribute Korans all over the campus.
And since they get funding from wealthy nations like Saudi Arabia to do things just like that, Christians would well be advised to protect schoolchildren by insisting on religious neutrality in the schools. (Certainly not anti-religious secularism, but real neutrality.)
As a final note, at the behest of the ACLU, congress changed the law so that the ACLU can make a *profit* by challenging religion in schools. So it is open season by those who hate religion as well. Doubling the reasons to tread lightly.
Did you read the facts of this case? The teacher told the student “the first shall be last and the last shall be first” because the student was lagging behind coming into school. The student asked where that saying came from and the teacher said the New Testament in the Bible. The student told the teacher he did not have a Bible and the teacher asked if he wanted one, the student said yes and the teacher gave him his pocket New Testament, the student said thanks and that was it.
How is that “promulgating” religion?
I am sick to death of tiptoeing around to not “offend” someone. I am very deeply offended that this country is forcing God out of everywhere and I will do whatever I possibly can to stop it!
No one has to accept Christianity or agree with my rights, but you cannot take my rights away from me or my family!
The Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Award Act of 1976 changed the law. Before, when someone sued a school, they could only recover actual damages; but with this Act, they could now recover their attorney’s fees as well.
This meant that the ACLU could now *profit* from suing schools for “violating the establishment clause”. It quickly became a big money-maker for them, so they started filing lawsuits at the drop of a hat. Most were far too expensive to challenge, so were settled, with the ACLU making huge amounts of money.
The Republican House of Representatives tried to repeal this ridiculous act in 2006, with the “Public Expression of Religion Act”, but the US senate refused to even consider it.
But this is above and beyond my argument, and just shows why schools are terrified of harmless things like a teacher sharing a Bible with an interested student.
However, the ACLU would never dream of suing a school for either advocating Islam or atheism, which means it is open season on children for either of them.
Yes, the whole thing is crappy, but again goes to my point that the best outcome we can hope for in the near future is for schools to be a “neutral zone”. Though they can’t get any good in there, at least it will be hopefully possible to keep out as much evil as parents can.
Really?
Texas: Curriculum Under Fire For Teaching ‘Allah Is The Almighty God’, Calls Boston Tea Party ‘A Terrorist Organization’
No disagreement that this is awful, and as I said it is very important to keep such evil out of the schools.
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