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Student Sues 'Anti-Christian' Teacher Over Remarks in Class
Fox News ^ | 4/02/2008 | Anita Vogel
Posted on jeudi 3 avril 2008 03:40:59 by Saoirise
A student and his family have filed a federal lawsuit demanding that a
popular European history teacher at California's Capistrano Valley
High School be fired for what they say were anti-Christian remarks he
made in the classroom.
Chad Farnan, a 16-year-old sophomore, says the teacher, James Corbett,
told his students that =93Jesus glasses=94 obscure the truth and suggested
that Christians are more likely than other people to commit rape and
murder.
Farnan recorded his teacher telling students in class: =93What country
has the highest murder rate? The South! What part of the country has
the highest rape rate? The South! What part of the country has the
highest rate of church attendance? The South!=94 Farnan said he took the
tape recorder to class to supplement his class notes.
=93It was very hard for me because it=92s like basically telling me all
this stuff that I=92ve believed my whole entire life =97 it=92s just
basically trying to throw it out the window,=94 Farnan told FOX News.
Farnan=92s family has filed a federal lawsuit against the Capistrano
Unified School District, claiming Corbett's remarks violated the First
Amendment, which prohibits laws "respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." They are
demanding that Corbett be fired.
Corbett=92s attorney, Dan Spradlin, says his client has been teaching at
Capistrano Valley High for 15 years and is in no way anti-Christian.
According to Spradlin, Corbett was not trying to offend anyone but to
inspire his students to think.
=93The purpose is not to indoctrinate, but simply to provide a basic
starting point to provoke discussion,=94 Spradlin said.
Farnan said he was insulted by Corbett's comments. When Farnan played
the tapes for his mother, Teresa, she contacted Advocates for Faith
and Freedom, a non-profit law firm that specializes in such cases, to
seek redress.
The Farnans' complaint was dismissed by the school district, but they
took their plight to federal court, where U.S. District Judge James
Selna said he believed the case has merit and ordered it to go
forward, probably before the end of the year.
The Farnans say that if the school agrees to put Corbett through
sensitivity training and requires him to apologize to the students he
offended, then the family would consider dropping their lawsuit. The
school district has yet to comment on the offer.
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