Matthew LaClair: Standing Up Against Religious Proselytizing

Perhaps you've heard the story of Matthew LaClair, a New Jersey high school student who was forced to endure the proselytizing of teacher David Paszkiewicz.

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.

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.

Sadly, the community has generally lined-up behind the teacher:

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.

The main component of the school's response was to ban the taping of classes.

LaClair appeared on Freethought Radio last weekend and it was great to hear a 16 year-old who has stood up against the intrusion of religious bullshit in the classroom. It's harrowing to hear him talk about how the school system is whitewashing the whole incident and allowing a man who compares scientists who offer evidence for global warming to Nazi propagandists. I hope to meet him this fall at the FFRF National Convention.