TRI In The News
Defending Teacher Who 'Dared to Question' Evolution
10/7/2011
TRI IN THE NEWS: DEFENDING TEACHER WHO 'DARED TO QUESTION' EVOLUTION
From One News Now
Original article available here.
The Rutherford Institute is preparing to appeal a recent court decision against an Ohio science teacher who tried to teach his student to think critically about evolution. (See earlier story)
John Freshwater, a 24-year veteran teacher who had never been reprimanded, was accused of teaching religious beliefs, having a Bible on his desk, and using an experiment to put the image of a cross on students' arms. The latter allegation he denies. John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, tells OneNewsNow the school board suspended his client in 2008.
"The main charge here is that he referred to some materials outside the classroom. One of them was the Ben Stein movie [Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed]. Many people have seen that film that critiques evolution," Whitehead explains. "But he also referred children to movies that upheld the theory of evolution, so he did both sides of it, and he just raised questions about the theory of evolution, which I think any good teacher would do because there are problems."
He points out that evolution is only a theory, but it is often taught as fact.
"This is a question of someone who's gone against the orthodoxy," the attorney notes. "Evolution is treated much like a religion in most schools; you can't question it. This man dared question it, and he got in trouble."
Even though a teacher is legally allowed to have a Bible on his or her desk, the Knox County Common Pleas Court upheld Freshwater's firing this week. But Whitehead says that ruling will be appealed on the grounds that the science teacher's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated.
