“Some residents consider Freshwater a courageous fighter for religious freedom.”
Sure, the freedom to impose your religion on other peoples’ kids when they should be learning science instead.

I’m sorry, am I the only one who doesn’t really care about the creationism or the Bible in the class or anything when compared to the BURNING STUDENTS’ SKIN?
I mean, if the School Board had just fired him over THAT, this would probably be a bit less controversial…
God bless.

“I’m sorry, am I the only one who doesn’t really care about the creationism or the Bible in the class or anything when compared to the BURNING STUDENTS’ SKIN?”
I don’t know, but teaching anti-science to students who need to be learning science is quite serious.
The other is serious in a different way. Anyone who does either should be fired.

OK, on one hand you have Freshwater burning “X’s” (he says) or crosses, others say, on children’s arms and on the other hand you have him teaching his religious views of how all of us got here to children instead of science, which he is paid to teach. Public school…creationism isn’t part of the science curriculum,and unless it is a religion class, why does he need his Bible sitting about?
I’d say the fact he found it necessary to BURN children with any symbol…”X” or “cross” is child abuse and that alone is more than enough to boot his butt. Why wasn’t he arrested for that??? Mixing religion into his teaching is defying the separation of church and state. Obviously he should have “his day in court”, but if I were a parent, I’d want him for both reasons.

Correction: “….I’d want him OUT for both reasons.”

Burning anything into a students skin is very extreme. Three to eight students were symbol burned? It shouldn’t be difficult to count an exact amt. of kids who put their arms out for a cross to be singed into them. The pictures they say show crosses, not x’s. We know what a cross stands for, what would an x stand for in his class? Are these burns something that will just heal over and flake away, or are they deep enough to be a brand? Probably the former. The schoolboard and the people in the community should come together and follow the Public School laws, then things wouldn’t happen as they did in this Public School.

I watched the interview and Freshwater claims he teaches evolution and not creation in class and I saw the student’s arm the word burn is a little exaggerated. He claims it was a science experiment but the one thing that there was agreement on was the Bible which sat on his desk for 23 years, he refused to move it, that was the deal breaker. I personally think all of his arguments were poorly picked but I admire him for taking his stand on the Bible on his desk for all of that time.

Any teacher that touches a student inappropriately – much less burning them – should be banned from the profession forever, and jailed for just a bit less.
If that was done to my son, I would have been hard-pressed not to kill the teacher.

This guy shows a real lack of judgement and has an attitude that seems more combative than cooperative. That alone would be a problem. Using students to illustrate even the effects on UV rays on their skin is surely only one example (I do not know if that was the “burn” in question, but it is one of many possibilities). That there are any complaints like this is an indication that many more students and their families were upset. His sense of self-righteousness and desire to fight the accusations only makes it worse. Having a Bible on his desk or a book shelf is in tis own way nothing. Making it more than anothe book grants it magical powers that it does not have. This guy should get a job in some Christian School where they will appreciate his appraoch. But has has no place in a public school.

ck,
“I admire him for taking his stand on the Bible on his desk for all of that time.”
Would you equally “admire” him if it was a copy of the Q’uran he kept on his desk?
What on earth a Bible has to do with teaching science (or any other subject except comparative religions) escapes me. Perhaps you could be so good as to explain its relevance in the classroom.

Why didn’t he keep his Bible IN his desk? It wouldn’t have caused any problem and if he felt a need for it to be near, it would be. For him to keep it ON his desk either he wanted to influence his kids to be Christians, which absolutely was not his job or he wanted to stir something up, which he finally did.

There is probably much that escapes you rxp, my old mentor used to say “you could build a universe on what you don’t know” but according to the interview this guy claims, the Bible had nothing to do with his teachings in science. I’m not saying he was wise I’m just saying I admire him sticking to his guns about the Bible he had on his desk all of those years even though it might be a bad battle to choose. I don’t know there a little romantic in me for the struggles of the underdog.

cknuck, how can he be an underdog? He decided to burn crosses or “X”s (as he called them) on kid’s arms to “demonstrate a tool”. That’s better known as child abuse. As to the location of his Bible,in his desk would have been better,(as suggested by nnmns) if he felt it was so necessary to have it in school with him. He has screwed up…and shouldn’t be teaching any more.

Correct, ck, “the Bible had nothing to do with his teachings in science”, which is why we all wonder why it was there in the first place.
And you never did answer my question, would you equally “admire” him if it was a copy of the Q’uran he kept on his desk? Would it have been any more appropriate? Would it have had anything to do with his teachings in science?

The experiment he does which leaves an x on the arm is hardly a burn I saw it besides he has been doing the experiment for years, it’s not child abuse there’s enough real child abuse without people throwing the phase around with out cause.

Evasive as usual, ck. We knew you couldn’t answer the questions posed to you.

Evasive no, ignore yes; you already know I am a Bible believing Christian, but you won’t get me to slur the Koran with a trick question that you may (hopefully, if not I’ll pray for you) know. Some questions are worth answering because they add to the content but some are just plain combative I’m not here for that only to express my opinion.

If I keep a copy of Darwin’s “Origin of the Species” on my desk, that does not disqualify me as a minister. (I do have a whole shelf of science texts in my office, everything from evolution to astronomy – and no one has batted an eye) It is not the things on, in, or near the teachers desk that are a problem (well, within reason). It is, as it is with all people, the stuff that comes from his mind and lips that are a concern. If he cannot teach a “Science” curriculum, he needs to teach somewhere that appreciates a faith based curriculum. I wonder if he has the temperament and attitude to teach at all. Perhaps he is a better coach (but I doubt that too.

Yes, ck, we know you believe most parts of the Bible, but this was no “trick question”. You’ve already admitted the Bible has “nothing to do with his teachings in science”, yet for some reason, you applaud the presence of 1 Holy book, and we simply want to know if you would decry the presence of another (eg. Q’uran) or not. And if not, why not?

This is what comes from mixing religion into the ‘public square’.