John Freshwater, the Mount Vernon, Ohio science teacher who was fired for burning a cross on a student’s arm and preaching his religion on school time, in 2008, settled a civil lawsuit with the parents of the vicitm for $450,000. He is still waiting on his appeal of his firing.
Tag: Ohio
The case of John Freshwater, the Mount Vernon Ohio teacher who tried to teach his religious beliefs in his 8th grade class room is still going on more than a year since the news broke. They are currently finishing up direct witness testimony for an employment hearing that has lasted 14 months and cost has cost the school district more than $500,000 in legal fees.
Whitehall Ohio is a 5.2 square mile enclave of Columbus. It is middle income town with the largest employer being a Defense Supply Depot. It also seems that some town leaders want to celebrate science ignorance.
It seems that 5th grade students were trotted outside their schools and given copies of the New Testament by members of Gideons International, and evangelical society known for handing out Bibles as part of their missionary work. When the ACLU got involved, some people took the opportunity to attack them.
On Friday, June 20th, the Mount Vernon Ohio school board voted 5 to 0 to terminate John Freshwater, an 8th grade science teacher, from his job. He is at the center of a dispute over his pushing of his religious beliefs on his students during school hours.
What bothers me about John Freshwater and his actions is they border on obsession, an unhealthy obsession. They HAVE to proselytize 24/7 and if they aren’t they feel like losers or they want to blame others and become the victims.
Most people who have unhealthy obsessions usually require mental help or worse they get put in jail for hurting others – but it seems no one really considers religious obsession wrong.