If a teacher expresses her opinion on the immorality or inferiority of gays, and this opinion is based upon her interpretation of the Bible, should this be permitted in schools? Conservative evangelicals seem to think so - but what if a teacher expressed her opinion on the racial inferiority of blacks and based this opinion on the Bible?

Agape Press reports:

“My perspective on homosexuality is that it is wrong according to the Bible,” [Donna Reddick ] is quoted by the Miami Herald as saying [during an interview in a student television show broadcasts throughout the school]. “God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sexual sins, which included homosexuality.”

She may be disciplined, and she’s being defended by Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel:

[A]s for homosexual students who may have taken offense, he suggests the teacher’s comments should be viewed in the same light as a Christian student feeling uncomfortable hearing statements in support of homosexual rights.

What if the teacher said:

“My perspective on integration is that it is wrong according to the Bible ... God separated the races and made the sons of Ham inferior because of his dishonorable conduct.”

Would Mat Staver then say that “the teacher’s comments should be viewed in the same light as a white student feeling uncomfortable hearing statements in support of black Civil Rights”? Somehow, I doubt that either of these two would long be tolerated in current evangelical circles; 50 years ago, though, such opinions might have been treated as entirely normal. The immorality of both is roughly equivalent.

Mat Staver has a point in noting that if students are conducting interviews, they have to expect to hear opinions they don’t like; he’s wrong, though, when he says:

“This teacher was approached by a student, and this program was aired by this student organization over the airwaves,” he explains, adding that when a teacher is asked to express his or her personal opinion, the teacher has a right to do so. “She doesn’t have to simply say, ‘Well, because I’ve got personal opinions I can’t respond to your question specifically because my opinions are religious.’ That would be unconstitutional and certainly absurd.”

It’s neither unconstitutional or absurd. The teacher isn’t acting as a private individual when dealing with students — if the interview were done with random people on the street, Staver’s comments would be fair (but the students can be held responsible for their choices on which comments to broadcast). The teacher, though, is a representative of the state who is entrusted with the care and education of all students. She has an absolute obligation not to communicate any messages which suggest that anyone of them are less than equal in her eyes and in the eyes of the state.

So, yes, she should have declined to give her personal opinions because she knew that those opinions would have sent the message to students that she doesn’t seem them all as equals. Teachers don’t have a right to always express their personal opinions in school, whether it’s in the context of a classroom discussion or in a student interview.

Staver believes the school might end up facing a lawsuit if it chooses to take action against Reddick because some find her viewpoint objectionable.

Might? Staver will probably volunteer to take the case — but the record of his Liberty Counsel is pretty poor. As a matter of fact, his taking a case might reasonably be seen as a sign that the case has no merit.

 

Gay Rights & Gay Marriage:

• Marriage: Religious Rite or Civil Right?
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• Books On Gays, Homosexuality
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Arguments Against Gay Marriage:

• What's The Point of Marriage, Gay or Straight?
• Definition of Marriage in 1886
• What is a Marriage Between a Man and a Woman?
• Marriage is for Raising Children?
• Will Gay Marriage Undermine the Institution of Marriage?
• Are Gay Couples are Unnatural?
• Marriage is Sacred and a Sacrament?