by Jason Stotts
Apparently it’s illegal in California to call a spade a spade:
A federal judge has ruled that a Mission Viejo history teacher [James Corbett] violated the First Amendment by telling students that creationism is “superstitious nonsense.”
In a ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge James Selna says James Corbett’s comment in the classroom has no “legitimate secular purpose.”
A Capistrano Valley High School student sued the history teacher for making what he contends were anti-Christian comments during a 2007 lecture. The lawsuit claimed Corbett’s remarks violated a clause in the First Amendment that prohibits the government from promoting religious intolerance. (link, link)
The most ironic part is that any time a child is educated, given knowledge and taught to use their reason, it is religious intolerance: reason and faith are antithetical to each other. What is also ironic is that the judge states that denouncing creationism as the religious nonsense it is servers no “legitimate secular purpose.” Really? Denouncing religious doctrine posing as science serves no secular purposes? I think it’s clear that this judge is either very confused or mentally inept.
James Corbett, I salute you for your defense of reason. Know that even though you lost your case, you were in the right.