Rhiannon wrote:

"Noon Cat Nick" <chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ozPmj.3080$yE1.139@attbi_s21...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/nyregion/18kearny.html?ex=157680000&en=aef
9276bc787ce6c&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

By TINA KELLEY
12/18/2006

KEARNY, N.J. - Before David Paszkiewicz got to teach his accelerated
11th-grade history class about the United States Constitution this
fall, he was accused of violating it.

Shortly after school began in September, the teacher told his
sixth-period students at Kearny High School that evolution and the
Big Bang were not scientific, that dinosaurs were aboard Noah's ark,
and that only Christians had a place in heaven, according to audio
recordings made by a student whose family is now considering a
lawsuit claiming Mr. Paszkiewicz broke the church-state boundary.

"If you reject his gift of salvation, then you know where you
belong," Mr. Paszkiewicz was recorded saying of Jesus. "He did
everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so
much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains
for you, and he's saying, 'Please, accept me, believe.' If you
reject that, you belong in hell."

The student, Matthew LaClair, said that he felt uncomfortable with
Mr. Paszkiewicz's statements in the first week, and taped eight
classes starting Sept. 13 out of fear that officials would not
believe the teacher had made the comments.

Since Matthew's complaint, administrators have said they have taken
"corrective action" against Mr. Paszkiewicz, 38, who has taught in
the district for 14 years and is also a youth pastor at Kearny
Baptist Church. However, they declined to say what the action was,
saying it was a personnel matter.

"I think he's an excellent teacher," said the school principal, Al
Somma. "As far as I know, there have never been any problems in the
past."

Staci Snider, the president of the local teacher's union, said Mr.
Paszkiewicz (pronounced pass-KEV-ich) had been assigned a lawyer
from the union, the New Jersey Education Association. Two calls to
Mr. Paszkiewicz at school and one to his home were not returned.

In this tale of the teacher who preached in class and the pupil he
offended, students and the larger community have mostly lined up
with Mr. Paszkiewicz, not with Matthew, who has received a death
threat handled by the police, as well as critical comments from
classmates.

Greice Coelho, who took Mr. Paszkiewicz's class and is a member of
his youth group, said in a letter to The Observer, the local weekly
newspaper, that Matthew was "ignoring the First Amendment to the
United States Constitution, which gives every citizen the freedom of
religion." Some anonymous posters on the town's electronic bulletin
board, Kearnyontheweb.com, called for Matthew's suspension.

On the sidewalks outside the high school, which has 1,750 students,
many agreed with 15-year-old Kyle Durkin, who said, "I'm on the
teacher's side all the way."

While science teachers, particularly in the Bible Belt, have been
known to refuse to teach evolution, the controversy here, 10 miles
west of Manhattan, hinges on assertions Mr. Paszkiewicz made in
class, including how a specific Muslim girl would go to hell.

"This is extremely rare for a teacher to get this blatantly
evangelical," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a nonprofit
educational association. "He's really out there proselytizing,
trying to convert students to his faith, and I think that that's
more than just saying I have some academic freedom right to talk
about the Bible's view of creation as well as evolution."

Even some legal organizations that often champion the expression of
religious beliefs are hesitant to support Mr. Paszkiewicz.

"It's proselytizing, and the courts have been pretty clear you can't
do that," said John W. Whitehead, president of the Rutherford
Institute, a group that provides legal services in religious freedom
cases. "You can't step across the line and proselytize, and that's
what he's done here."

The class started on Sept. 11, and Matthew quickly grew concerned.
"The first couple of days I had him, he had already begun discussing
his religious point of view," Matthew, a thin, articulate
16-year-old with braces and a passion for politics and the theater,
recalled in an interview. "It wasn't even just his point of view, it
went beyond that to say this is the right way, this is the only way.
The way he said it, I wasn't sure how far he was going to go."

On the second day of taping, after the discussion veered from Moses's
education to free will, Matthew asked why a loving God would consign
humans to hell, according to the recording.

Some of Matthew's detractors say he set up his teacher by baiting
him with religious questions. But Matthew, who was raised in the
Ethical Culture Society, a humanist religious and educational group,
said all of his comments were in response to something the teacher
said.

"I didn't start any of the topics that were discussed," he said.

In a Sept. 25 letter to the principal, Matthew wrote: "I care about
the future generation and I do not want Mr. Paszkiewicz to continue
preaching to and poisoning students." He met with school officials
and handed over the recordings.

Matthew's family wrote four letters to the district asking for an
apology and for the teacher to correct any false statements he had
made in class, particularly those related to science. Matthew's
father, Paul LaClair, a lawyer, said he was now considering legal
action against the district, claiming that Mr. Paszkiewicz's
teachings violated their son's First Amendment and civil rights, and
that his words misled the class and went against the curriculum.

Kenneth J. Lindenfelser, the lawyer for the Kearny school board,
said he could not discuss Mr. Paszkiewicz specifically, but that
when a complaint comes in about a teacher, it is investigated, and
then the department leader works with the teacher to correct any
inappropriate behavior.

The teacher is monitored, and his or her evaluation could be noted,
Mr. Lindenfelser said, adding that if these steps did not work, the
teacher could be reprimanded, suspended or, eventually, fired.

As for the request that Mr. Paszkiewicz correct his statements that
conflict with the district's science curriculum, "Sometimes, the
more you dwell on the issue, the more you continue the issue," Mr.
Lindenfelser said. "Sometimes, it's better to stop any inappropriate
behavior and move on."

The district's actions have succeeded, he said, as the family has not
reported any continued violations.

Bloggers around the world have called Matthew courageous. In
contrast, the LaClairs said they had been surprised by the vehemence
of the opposition that local residents had expressed against Matthew.

Frank Viscuso, a Kearny resident, wrote in a letter to The Observer
that "when a student is advised by his 'attorney' father to bait a
teacher with questions about religion, and then records his answers
and takes the story to 300 newspapers, that family isn't 'offended'
by what was said in the classroom - they're simply looking for a
payout and to make a name for themselves." He called the teacher one
of the town's best.

However, Andrew Lewczuk, a former student of Mr. Paszkiewicz,
praised his abilities as a history teacher but said he regretted
that he had not protested the religious discussions. "In the end,
the manner in which Mr. Paszkiewicz spoke with his students was
careless, inconsiderate and inappropriate," he wrote to The
Observer. "It was an abuse of power and influence, and it's my own
fault that I didn't do anything about this."

One teacher, who did not give his name, said he thought both Matthew
and his teacher had done the right thing. "The student had the right
to do what he did," the man said. As for Mr. Paszkiewicz, "He had
the right to say what he said, he was not preaching, and that's
something I'm very much against."

Matthew said he missed the friends he had lost over his role in the
debate, and said he could "feel the glares" when he walked into
school.

Instead of mulling Supreme Court precedents, he said with half a
smile, "I should be worrying about who I'm going to take to the
prom."

You bet that kid is courageous. This story is disgraceful. The
teacher is not only guilty of "violating the students
First Amendment and civil rights in addition to violating the
curriculum guide" imho telling someone "you're going to hell" is
presuming to know the mind of God and just as much a violation of
Christian teaching as it is a violation of anything else. I hope the
law wipes the floor with this teacher. Matthew deserves a medal.

is it as bad as living in sin

Rhiannon wrote:

"Noon Cat Nick" <chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ozPmj.3080$yE1.139@attbi_s21...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/nyregion/18kearny.html?ex=157680000&en=aef
9276bc787ce6c&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

By TINA KELLEY
12/18/2006

KEARNY, N.J. - Before David Paszkiewicz got to teach his accelerated
11th-grade history class about the United States Constitution this
fall, he was accused of violating it.

Shortly after school began in September, the teacher told his
sixth-period students at Kearny High School that evolution and the
Big Bang were not scientific, that dinosaurs were aboard Noah's ark,
and that only Christians had a place in heaven, according to audio
recordings made by a student whose family is now considering a
lawsuit claiming Mr. Paszkiewicz broke the church-state boundary.

"If you reject his gift of salvation, then you know where you
belong," Mr. Paszkiewicz was recorded saying of Jesus. "He did
everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so
much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains
for you, and he's saying, 'Please, accept me, believe.' If you
reject that, you belong in hell."

The student, Matthew LaClair, said that he felt uncomfortable with
Mr. Paszkiewicz's statements in the first week, and taped eight
classes starting Sept. 13 out of fear that officials would not
believe the teacher had made the comments.

Since Matthew's complaint, administrators have said they have taken
"corrective action" against Mr. Paszkiewicz, 38, who has taught in
the district for 14 years and is also a youth pastor at Kearny
Baptist Church. However, they declined to say what the action was,
saying it was a personnel matter.

"I think he's an excellent teacher," said the school principal, Al
Somma. "As far as I know, there have never been any problems in the
past."

Staci Snider, the president of the local teacher's union, said Mr.
Paszkiewicz (pronounced pass-KEV-ich) had been assigned a lawyer
from the union, the New Jersey Education Association. Two calls to
Mr. Paszkiewicz at school and one to his home were not returned.

In this tale of the teacher who preached in class and the pupil he
offended, students and the larger community have mostly lined up
with Mr. Paszkiewicz, not with Matthew, who has received a death
threat handled by the police, as well as critical comments from
classmates.

Greice Coelho, who took Mr. Paszkiewicz's class and is a member of
his youth group, said in a letter to The Observer, the local weekly
newspaper, that Matthew was "ignoring the First Amendment to the
United States Constitution, which gives every citizen the freedom of
religion." Some anonymous posters on the town's electronic bulletin
board, Kearnyontheweb.com, called for Matthew's suspension.

On the sidewalks outside the high school, which has 1,750 students,
many agreed with 15-year-old Kyle Durkin, who said, "I'm on the
teacher's side all the way."

While science teachers, particularly in the Bible Belt, have been
known to refuse to teach evolution, the controversy here, 10 miles
west of Manhattan, hinges on assertions Mr. Paszkiewicz made in
class, including how a specific Muslim girl would go to hell.

"This is extremely rare for a teacher to get this blatantly
evangelical," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a nonprofit
educational association. "He's really out there proselytizing,
trying to convert students to his faith, and I think that that's
more than just saying I have some academic freedom right to talk
about the Bible's view of creation as well as evolution."

Even some legal organizations that often champion the expression of
religious beliefs are hesitant to support Mr. Paszkiewicz.

"It's proselytizing, and the courts have been pretty clear you can't
do that," said John W. Whitehead, president of the Rutherford
Institute, a group that provides legal services in religious freedom
cases. "You can't step across the line and proselytize, and that's
what he's done here."

The class started on Sept. 11, and Matthew quickly grew concerned.
"The first couple of days I had him, he had already begun discussing
his religious point of view," Matthew, a thin, articulate
16-year-old with braces and a passion for politics and the theater,
recalled in an interview. "It wasn't even just his point of view, it
went beyond that to say this is the right way, this is the only way.
The way he said it, I wasn't sure how far he was going to go."

On the second day of taping, after the discussion veered from Moses's
education to free will, Matthew asked why a loving God would consign
humans to hell, according to the recording.

Some of Matthew's detractors say he set up his teacher by baiting
him with religious questions. But Matthew, who was raised in the
Ethical Culture Society, a humanist religious and educational group,
said all of his comments were in response to something the teacher
said.

"I didn't start any of the topics that were discussed," he said.

In a Sept. 25 letter to the principal, Matthew wrote: "I care about
the future generation and I do not want Mr. Paszkiewicz to continue
preaching to and poisoning students." He met with school officials
and handed over the recordings.

Matthew's family wrote four letters to the district asking for an
apology and for the teacher to correct any false statements he had
made in class, particularly those related to science. Matthew's
father, Paul LaClair, a lawyer, said he was now considering legal
action against the district, claiming that Mr. Paszkiewicz's
teachings violated their son's First Amendment and civil rights, and
that his words misled the class and went against the curriculum.

Kenneth J. Lindenfelser, the lawyer for the Kearny school board,
said he could not discuss Mr. Paszkiewicz specifically, but that
when a complaint comes in about a teacher, it is investigated, and
then the department leader works with the teacher to correct any
inappropriate behavior.

The teacher is monitored, and his or her evaluation could be noted,
Mr. Lindenfelser said, adding that if these steps did not work, the
teacher could be reprimanded, suspended or, eventually, fired.

As for the request that Mr. Paszkiewicz correct his statements that
conflict with the district's science curriculum, "Sometimes, the
more you dwell on the issue, the more you continue the issue," Mr.
Lindenfelser said. "Sometimes, it's better to stop any inappropriate
behavior and move on."

The district's actions have succeeded, he said, as the family has not
reported any continued violations.

Bloggers around the world have called Matthew courageous. In
contrast, the LaClairs said they had been surprised by the vehemence
of the opposition that local residents had expressed against Matthew.

Frank Viscuso, a Kearny resident, wrote in a letter to The Observer
that "when a student is advised by his 'attorney' father to bait a
teacher with questions about religion, and then records his answers
and takes the story to 300 newspapers, that family isn't 'offended'
by what was said in the classroom - they're simply looking for a
payout and to make a name for themselves." He called the teacher one
of the town's best.

However, Andrew Lewczuk, a former student of Mr. Paszkiewicz,
praised his abilities as a history teacher but said he regretted
that he had not protested the religious discussions. "In the end,
the manner in which Mr. Paszkiewicz spoke with his students was
careless, inconsiderate and inappropriate," he wrote to The
Observer. "It was an abuse of power and influence, and it's my own
fault that I didn't do anything about this."

One teacher, who did not give his name, said he thought both Matthew
and his teacher had done the right thing. "The student had the right
to do what he did," the man said. As for Mr. Paszkiewicz, "He had
the right to say what he said, he was not preaching, and that's
something I'm very much against."

Matthew said he missed the friends he had lost over his role in the
debate, and said he could "feel the glares" when he walked into
school.

Instead of mulling Supreme Court precedents, he said with half a
smile, "I should be worrying about who I'm going to take to the
prom."

You bet that kid is courageous. This story is disgraceful. The
teacher is not only guilty of "violating the students
First Amendment and civil rights in addition to violating the
curriculum guide" imho telling someone "you're going to hell" is
presuming to know the mind of God and just as much a violation of
Christian teaching as it is a violation of anything else. I hope the
law wipes the floor with this teacher. Matthew deserves a medal.

is it as bad as living in sin

Alan Harding wrote:

In message <ozPmj.3080$yE1.139@attbi_s21>, Noon Cat Nick
<chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@hotmail.com> writes

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/nyregion/18kearny.html?ex=157680000&en
=aef9276bc787ce6c&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

By TINA KELLEY
12/18/2006

KEARNY, N.J. - Before David Paszkiewicz got to teach his accelerated
11th-grade history class about the United States Constitution this
fall, he was accused of violating it.

Shortly after school began in September, the teacher told his
sixth-period students at Kearny High School that evolution and the
Big Bang were not scientific, that dinosaurs were aboard Noah's ark,
and that only Christians had a place in heaven, according to audio
recordings made by a student whose family is now considering a
lawsuit claiming Mr. Paszkiewicz broke the church-state boundary.

"If you reject his gift of salvation, then you know where you
belong," Mr. Paszkiewicz was recorded saying of Jesus. "He did
everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so
much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains
for you, and he's saying, 'Please, accept me, believe.' If you
reject that, you belong in hell."

The student, Matthew LaClair, said that he felt uncomfortable with
Mr. Paszkiewicz's statements in the first week, and taped eight
classes starting Sept. 13 out of fear that officials would not
believe the teacher had made the comments.

Since Matthew's complaint, administrators have said they have taken
"corrective action" against Mr. Paszkiewicz, 38, who has taught in
the district for 14 years and is also a youth pastor at Kearny
Baptist Church. However, they declined to say what the action was,
saying it was a personnel matter.

"I think he's an excellent teacher," said the school principal, Al
Somma. "As far as I know, there have never been any problems in the
past."

Staci Snider, the president of the local teacher's union, said Mr.
Paszkiewicz (pronounced pass-KEV-ich) had been assigned a lawyer from
the union, the New Jersey Education Association. Two calls to Mr.
Paszkiewicz at school and one to his home were not returned.

In this tale of the teacher who preached in class and the pupil he
offended, students and the larger community have mostly lined up with
Mr. Paszkiewicz, not with Matthew, who has received a death threat
handled by the police, as well as critical comments from classmates.

Greice Coelho, who took Mr. Paszkiewicz's class and is a member of
his youth group, said in a letter to The Observer, the local weekly
newspaper, that Matthew was "ignoring the First Amendment to the
United States Constitution, which gives every citizen the freedom of
religion." Some anonymous posters on the town's electronic bulletin
board, Kearnyontheweb.com, called for Matthew's suspension.

On the sidewalks outside the high school, which has 1,750 students,
many agreed with 15-year-old Kyle Durkin, who said, "I'm on the
teacher's side all the way."

While science teachers, particularly in the Bible Belt, have been
known to refuse to teach evolution, the controversy here, 10 miles
west of Manhattan, hinges on assertions Mr. Paszkiewicz made in
class, including how a specific Muslim girl would go to hell.

"This is extremely rare for a teacher to get this blatantly
evangelical," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a nonprofit
educational association. "He's really out there proselytizing, trying
students to his faith, and I think that that's more than just saying
have some academic freedom right to talk about the Bible's view of
creation as well as evolution."

Even some legal organizations that often champion the expression of
religious beliefs are hesitant to support Mr. Paszkiewicz.

"It's proselytizing, and the courts have been pretty clear you can't
do that," said John W. Whitehead, president of the Rutherford
Institute, a group that provides legal services in religious freedom
cases. "You can't step across the line and proselytize, and that's
what he's done here."

The class started on Sept. 11, and Matthew quickly grew concerned.
"The first couple of days I had him, he had already begun discussing
his religious point of view," Matthew, a thin, articulate 16-year-old
braces and a passion for politics and the theater, recalled in an
interview. "It wasn't even just his point of view, it went beyond
that to say this is the right way, this is the only way. The way he
said it, I wasn't sure how far he was going to go."

On the second day of taping, after the discussion veered from
Moses's education to free will, Matthew asked why a loving God would
consign humans to hell, according to the recording.

Some of Matthew's detractors say he set up his teacher by baiting
him with religious questions. But Matthew, who was raised in the
Ethical Culture Society, a humanist religious and educational group,
said all of his comments were in response to something the teacher said.

"I didn't start any of the topics that were discussed," he said.

In a Sept. 25 letter to the principal, Matthew wrote: "I care about
the future generation and I do not want Mr. Paszkiewicz to continue
preaching to and poisoning students." He met with school officials
and handed over the recordings.

Matthew's family wrote four letters to the district asking for an
apology and for the teacher to correct any false statements he had
made in class, particularly those related to science. Matthew's
father, Paul LaClair, a lawyer, said he was now considering legal
action against the district, claiming that Mr. Paszkiewicz's
teachings violated their son's First Amendment and civil rights, and
that his words misled the class and went against the curriculum.

Kenneth J. Lindenfelser, the lawyer for the Kearny school board,
said he could not discuss Mr. Paszkiewicz specifically, but that when
a complaint comes in about a teacher, it is investigated, and then
the department leader works with the teacher to correct any
inappropriate behavior.

The teacher is monitored, and his or her evaluation could be noted,
Mr. Lindenfelser said, adding that if these steps did not work, the
teacher could be reprimanded, suspended or, eventually, fired.

As for the request that Mr. Paszkiewicz correct his statements that
conflict with the district's science curriculum, "Sometimes, the more
you dwell on the issue, the more you continue the issue," Mr.
Lindenfelser said. "Sometimes, it's better to stop any inappropriate
behavior and move on."

The district's actions have succeeded, he said, as the family has
not reported any continued violations.

Bloggers around the world have called Matthew courageous. In
contrast, the LaClairs said they had been surprised by the vehemence
of the opposition that local residents had expressed against Matthew.

Frank Viscuso, a Kearny resident, wrote in a letter to The Observer
that "when a student is advised by his 'attorney' father to bait a
teacher with questions about religion, and then records his answers
and takes the story to 300 newspapers, that family isn't 'offended'
by what was said in the classroom - they're simply looking for a
payout and to make a name for themselves." He called the teacher one
of the town's best.

However, Andrew Lewczuk, a former student of Mr. Paszkiewicz,
praised his abilities as a history teacher but said he regretted
that he had not protested the religious discussions. "In the end,
the manner in which Mr. Paszkiewicz spoke with his students was
careless, inconsiderate and inappropriate," he wrote to The Observer.
"It was an abuse of power and influence, and it's my own fault that I
didn't do anything about this."

One teacher, who did not give his name, said he thought both Matthew
and his teacher had done the right thing. "The student had the right
to do what he did," the man said. As for Mr. Paszkiewicz, "He had the
right to say what he said, he was not preaching, and that's something
I'm very much against."

Matthew said he missed the friends he had lost over his role in the
debate, and said he could "feel the glares" when he walked into school.

Instead of mulling Supreme Court precedents, he said with half a
smile, "I should be worrying about who I'm going to take to the prom."

This is in America, right?

No, it's only in the US. But yes, every high schooler has to
acknowledge the truth of creationist science and denounce evolution,
otherwise, they won't get a high school diploma.