Recently, a high school student from Kearny, N.J. named Matthew LaClair brought a tape recorder to school and recorded his fundamentalist Christian History teacher going off on an rant about everything from evolution to the afterlife, even going so far as to name a specific Muslim girl he claimed was going to hell. In fact, he plainly stated that if the students didn’t accept Jesus Christ, they would burn in hell.
The teacher, David Paszkiewicz, attempted to lie about what was going on in class when Matthew brought it to the attention of the school administration, claiming Matthew was lying and it had never happened. Paszkiewicz did not change his story until Matthew revealed that he had recorded it.
Even worse than this, however, is the reaction from his fellow students and other members of his community, as many of them are siding with the teacher. Matthew has received death threats, and people on the town message board have called for his suspension from school. As of now, the school board has taken no disciplinary action towards the teacher.
A transcript of the recordings can be found here. The town’s message board is located at kearnyontheweb.com. I’ve already posted my personal support for Matthew and I urge you to as well. In addition, you can get some useful contact information here, or .
I emailed the the Mooney guy!
Me too. The transcript of the thing is disgusting, and reading the local yokels of Kearny defending the teacher is even worse.
damn! people are just going nuts all over the place! Death threats? WTF?!
That’s one brave kid. Bravo!
yeah, that was in the nyt a while ago, but whats so bad about telling the truth in class? you liberals afraid of the truth?
I sent my email, but I really came to this story a little late. Oh well, that’ll teach me to not keep up with the news. :\
Anonymous: I am also late to this, so I didn’t bother sending an email. But, apparently you must be pretty ignorant on atheism. I am one of the most “conservative” people that I know, in the social context of what conservatism really means. I pretty sure that people who are willing to stand up for their own morals without needing some witch-doctor who can’t prove their “divine” powers exist don’t have a problem with the truth.
“It was a puzzling thing. The truth knocks at the door and you say, “Go away. I’m looking for the truth,” and so it goes away. Puzzling.” – Robert M. Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance)