Thoughts in a Haystack

Here's a good example of the "academic freedom" that Expelled and the legislators in Florida, Louisiana and Missouri are crying wolf about:

Mount Vernon schools ordered a middle-school science teacher to remove religious items from the view of students last week, but John Freshwater said yesterday that he would not leave his Bible behind.

"I cannot with a clear conscience follow a directive that makes religion and the religious viewpoint any less credible by those who deem themselves more enlightened," he said in a statement.

Naturally enough, the subject he is paid to teach, science, is subjected to the same "standard":

In the past, Freshwater has taught his students about the "holes in evolution" and about intelligent design, the theory that a supernatural power created complex forms of life, said the religious activist Dave Daubenmire, a friend of Freshwater's who acted as his spokesman yesterday.

Of course, it doesn't stop with science either:

Freshwater and Daubenmire dispute that the constitution calls for a separation of church and state, Daubenmire said. Freshwater, who teaches at Mount Vernon Middle School, wouldn't answer questions directly because of the likelihood he will file a lawsuit charging "viewpoint discrimination," Daubenmire said.

Right! Freshwater has the viewpoint that the law of the land doesn't apply to him, that he can force the children of the community to undergo involuntary proselytization and still demand to be paid for it out of the public purse. And if he doesn't get these special rights, he'll claim he is being discriminated against.

If it was just about his right to have a Bible with him in class, he might have a case. But it is clear that this is just a a skirmish in an ongoing and determined attempt on Freshwater's part to flout the Constitution and violate the rights of others.

And they claim "Darwinism" leads to immorality!
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