Sixteen-year-old junior Matthew LaClair says he was shocked when history teacher David Paszkiewicz, who is also a Baptist preacher in town, spent the first week lecturing students more about Heaven and Hell than the colonies and Constitution.
He said Paszkiewicz told students that if they didn’t accept Jesus, “you belong in Hell.”
Part of the whole Evangelical tradition is “spreading the good news” whether or not your audience wants to hear it. And if that audience happens to be a public school classroom where you are the teacher with all the power over a room full of captive students- so much the better.
These kind of Christians are the telemarketers of the religious world. They don’t really give a damn about you as a person, they just want to make sure they get their quota of news spreading in so that they can get whatever heavenly door prize goes to the one whose most verbose.
This preacher/teacher went on to lie about what he was teaching in class when LaClair complained to the principal. It was only when LeClair produced recordings of the lessons that the preacher/teacher fessed up to what he had done. If what he was doing was good for the students, or if he had the actual convictions of his stated beliefs then he never would have had to lie about it. But he did lie. And in lying he not only did his beliefs a disservice, but he cast doubt on an innocent kid who just wanted his own freedom of religion respected. How mature and more importantly, how christian of him to lie in order to escape responsibility.
But you know, it’s ok for the preacher/teacher to lie about the kid- the kid is a believer in something “non Christian”. So ya know, the kid’s going to hell anyways and lying about him ain’t no big thing.
Nice, real nice.
why such hater of a guy who tells what he believes in??
what about those science freaks(teachers) who are always imposing their beliefs of evolution on us. and making fun of those who believe otherwise. we respect beliefs. plus Mr. P, always asks people if they feel uncomfortable talking about anything, he always says it’s his opinion, he’s not imposing. Moreove, this kid, kept asking questions about religion in class, he had something against Mr. P. and because his great daddio is an attorney, well why not get something out of this. this kid is an idiot. he has no brains, and is doing it out of spice, who knows why. he set Mr. P up, and everyone in that class knows it. Everyone. The entire school is ready for a strike if they decide to fire Mr. P. That kid Matthew will go to hell if he doesn’t repent soon and ask Jesus for forgiveness.
The entire school is against Matthew, if u dont believe me. go to KHS and ask around. This kid is nuts. And he’s ugly to top it all. EWWWWW!
It is obvious from your comment that you are either very young and/ or very immature, so I am going to be easier on you that if you were a grown up. At this point it is not your fault that you parents and obviously your history teacher neglected to teach you how to either form or defend an argument.
First: It is never an appropriate response to an arguement to use facts or opinions that have no bearing on the case. I/e: saying that someone’s opinion doesn’t matter because you don’t like the way they look or think they are popular enough is stupid, mean spirited (and if you’re such a believer in Jesus I think he would be dissapointed) and does not help your arguement at all.
Second: We live in a democracy. In order for a democracy to work there must be seperation of state and religion. The founding dfathers knew this because if you have government employees in a position of power over citizens (in this case a public school employee in a position of power over public school students)then you remove the democratic principle as soon as the government employee is allowed to bring religion into their work. If you want to live in a country where religion and government work together I suggest Vatican City, Saudi Arabia or Iran. They are all theocracies ruled by “god’s law” instead of man’s law.
Third: Your teacher asking if anyone was uncomfortable with his discussing religion is irrelevant. As I statede before he is a government employee in power over citizens, therefore it is entirely understandable (and in this case it is obvious) that a student in that situation may not feel comfortable telling the teacher and an entire classroom full of students who may share your sharp ability for juvenile put downs that he is uncomfortable having a religion that he doesn’t believe in forced on him.
Fourth: The teacher lied and only admitted to doing what he did when he was caught on tape. If he was willing to lie to such a degree in order to keep filling the classroom with his religious beliefs then I do not doubt that had the student spoken to the teacher prior to going to the principal the teacher would not have stopped breaking the law. He would have mocked the student as he did in the principal’s office. Again, how very christian his behavior is.
Finally: We also force you to learn math as well as science. Both math and science can be proved to be true. See- we no longer think that the earth is flat and the center of the universe. That’s science working for you. If you don’t believe in science then you should be living in an animal skin tent with no electricity (cause science brought us electricity) and unable to send these ridiculous bits of crapo over the internet. But you do believe in science. And the people of this democracy have figured out that if we want our children to be able to compete with the rest of the world then we are going to have to teach them how things work according to science. If you or your parents disagree with that – you can always go to a private religious school where there need not be a seperation of church and state.
And then, 10 or 20 years from now when you are trying to work in the real world, children (like mine) who have been taught how to use science and construct rational arguments will be the people who invent machines responsible for replacing people like you who have not recieved an appropriate education. Good luck with that.
Mr. P put himself in the position of setting himself up. In a history class Mr P. should not mention Jesus unless it is consistent with the period being taught.
In the real world someones appearance has nothing to do with the law.
Jesus has enough supporters that he does not need extra help. I wholeheartedly support Matthew for his courageous and unpopular stand on this issue. This country was born with the a distinct separation of church and state for very good reason. You should research that history and not just stand on the side of your classmates because of popularity.
Did Matthew secretly tape the meeting he had with the Principal also?
So far I’ve read two different versions of Mr. P’s last reply to Matt at that meeting.(Lippard blog and Jersey Journal)So,is Matt telling the truth?
If Matthew was not telling the truth why did Mr. P admit to lying. Is Mr P lying about lying. Doubtful.
In other words, Meni-Meni, the kid just kicked your favorite teacher’s behind. When you write as you do here, you may intend one thing, but adults read something else. You may not like it, but it sounds to me like Matthew has far the better of this one.