August 20, 2011
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Gays Make Me Throw Up
A teacher was suspended for making what some call antigay opinions on his Facebook account.
He wrote, “I’m watching the news, eating dinner when the story about New York okaying same-sex unions came on and I almost threw up. And now they showed two guys kissing after their announcement. If they want to call it a union, go ahead. But don’t insult a man and woman’s marriage by throwing it in the same cesspool of whatever. God will not be mocked. When did this sin become acceptable?”
By the way, if one doesn’t like the most recently posted opinion based on biblical principles and God’s laws, then go ahead and unfriend me. I’ll miss you like I miss my kidney stone from 1994. And I will never accept it because God will never accept it. Romans chapter one.” Here is the link: Link
Should a teacher be fired for expressing his personal opinion on his Facebook account?
Comments (129)
He shouldn’t be fired, his facebook has nothing to do with his career.
Nonetheless, what a nob.
No. People need to learn to separate one’s private life from their professional life.
An idiot for saying it on FaceBook but not worth losing his job.
Maybe the school board should take a lesson from the Catholic Church and just transfer him to some other school.
No, definitely not, even if I think he’s dead wrong. He’s allowed the same freedom of speech as anyone else, or should be. If he had said this in his classroom or to his students, it would be a different matter.
No, he has a right to his opinion. It has nothing to do with his job.
He was suspended for voicing his own opinion on Facebook? WTF. That’s stupid.
If it happens repeatedly in a forum, like facebook, where his students eventually find out about it, yes. (and with 700 friends they WILL find out about it, as it’s far from private at that point, regardless of “privacy settings”) How would a gay student in his classroom feel knowing his or her teacher is so disgusted by them that they almost throw up?
If he just said “I don’t personally agree with gay marriage,” or “I believe homosexuality is a sin,” it would be a different story. The way he expressed his opinion was rude, hateful, and vulgar. Additionally, he could have expressed it in his church or sitting around with a group of friends, but instead he chose a public form where tons of people could read it and where it never goes away (even if you delete things on the internet, it only takes one person taking a screen shot for it to live on forever).
Imagine the converse situation where a teacher said that Christians make them want to throw up and that churches are cess pools. How would a Christian student feel in that classroom? How would a parent of a Christian child feel about sending their child into that classroom?
Tons of employers and schools demand that students or prospective employees add them on facebook (getting around any privacy setting you set up) and might then fire you or not hire you because of what they see. I fail to see how being a state employee makes him exempt from the same scrutiny I have to live up to.
People have been fired for less on Facebook. It sucks.
No, he shouldn’t.
I am amazed he was able to post a status that long; I thought there was a character limit?
People take Facebook WAAAAY too serious.It’s funny though.If it was a gay teacher and he said something on his Facebook about straight people making him want to throwup,not a thing woulda been done.It’s just ridiculous!
isn’t it illegal for students to be facebook friends with teachers now anyway..?
Depends how much he uses Facebook to interact with his students. If he’s one of those teachers who uses social networking to communicate with students and keep them involved in community projects and that sort of thing, then it would make sense to fire him for broadcasting that sort of hate speech to them. But if his Facebook page is more of a personal “for friends and family” type of thing, then it shouldn’t have affected his career at all.
In general, no. I don’t believe people should be punished for what they post on facebook (unless it shows them doing something illegal etc). His opinion on gays is one shared by a large group and his ignorance isn’t something new.
Of course he’s an asshole, but unless he had added his students then there should be no reason to punish him.
He should be fired. He wants to share opinions like that, he should teach at a private Christian college. Teachers, who may have gay students in their class, need to be tolerant not judgmental. He doesn’t really know what God thinks of gay people today.
Not really but he is a very narrow minded teacher. His opinion is not educational at all. People should mind their own underwears and let people be. I think that this man is afraid of his own sexuality…
No, I don’t believe so. I am a big believer in everyone’s right to express their opinions freely on their own time without risking their job. No matter how odious their opinions are.
what happens in fb is now public or so it seems…
FB seems to get people fired, and in all kinds of trouble in many ways
so if you are constantly being watched for what you say and fear what others might think about you
then really you are not free anymore.
whatever happened to freedom of speech?
its the sign of the times
No! It’s his opinion. It’s not like it’s defamation of character, right?
Yep, he should be fired for it. He’s now created a hostile situation toward any gay student who may have heard of or had knowledge about his opinion. If the teacher doesn’t like it, he should switch to google+
I don’t think he should’ve been fired for that. That’s my opinion. I don’t think I’m gonna get fired for that opinion.
I have nothing against gay. ugly people in general who are kissing makes me throw up. those gay men in that pic*drool*
He shouldn’t be fired for his beliefs. That’s just idiotic; almost as idiotic as the remarks that he made.
Wow, this is great news for fags, but that guy really had it comming.
I am a bad person. I can’t love, but I know how to feel hate. I am indifferent. I hate being around people. My a psychopath can understand my struggle as an individual monster, hollow, apathetic, sluggish, uncaring.
You see a train, I see a killing machine. You see opportunity for friendship, I see an attack on my ego. You have good feelings, I wish I was a god. You love your life, I hate every minute of it. You have dreams, I live in a nightmare. You want physical intimacy, I pretend.
You are happy, I am miserable.
I am not a victim, I deserve to burn.
If I had superpowers… my agenda: WORLD DOMINATION.
Even so, good things happen to me all the time and it’s not fair to those who really deserve. Yeah, I would feel more lonely without xanga. I still want to be euthanized, WHY DON’T I HAVE THIS RIGHT.
Nope because there’s still something much more fundamental: The freedom of speech, and the freedom of religion.
Anyone who uses Facebook should be fired!
Don’t you love living in a world where you can’t have an opinion?
No, he should not have been fired. The first Amendment should protect him, or anyone else that wants to express their opinion.
That being said. . .
There was a teacher awhile back on Xanga who’s students found his page, though he didn’t advertise it. He had to lock it down and still got flack. Facebook on the other hand, type a name and boom there you have it. Bunch of personal stuff that associates wouldn’t otherwise know hanging all out. Today, it’s the equivalent of nailing a statement to a public bulletin board and scrawling your signature. If you want to do that, be prepared for the consequences.
Yes. Just like everyone else who is stupid enough to post stupid things on FB.
If not for his FB update, than his bias against his gay students. Because he is biased. If he’d said the same thing about blacks, there would be no question if he should have been fired.
Depends on his demeanor in school, and what the policies are. Like if they have explicitly warned teachers about such behavior, then it seems warranted, and if it enters the classroom it’s warranted. But otherwise, it’s iffy. I also believe it should sort of depend on what their policy is about students doing certain things online. If they are one of those schools that suspends students for behavior they see online, then it also seems sort of only fair that teachers face consequences for what they do online as well. He has a right to his opinion, sure, but given the way he goes about stating his opinion, I think the school is right to be wary, because I imagine it wouldn’t be long before someone challenged it, and he doesn’t seem one to back down, so it could cause a problem, plus, teachers being sort of facebook obsessed attention whores probably can only go so long without doing something else even possibly more controversial, and maybe stupid, so js… it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to suspend him.
I don’t think he should have been fired, but that’s the risk you take when you post something on the internet of that nature. Just like things people post on here…it can come back to haunt you one day.
@carolinavenger - I think it was a note.
The Gay Imposition strikes again!
@Baseballchik138 - You can have opinions, just not any opinions that question the Gay Imposition.
@Da__Vinci - Nice! So anyone who questions Gayliath is equivalent to a child molester.
@TheExitium - Depends on his demeanor in school, and what the policies are.
No it doesn’t. School administrators don’t get to supersede the US Constitution.
And for your information, the teacher in question was “Teacher of the Year”.
@jenessa1889 - If it happens repeatedly in a forum, like facebook, where his students eventually find out about it, yes.
Students don’t get to deprive other human beings of their right to free speech.
i don’t think in general people should be fired for their beliefs, they have a right to them, no matter how hateful and ignorant i think they are. but because it was in a forum where it could affect his students and his professional life, i think being fired in this case was pretty appropriate.
@Inspectorgrampy5 - somehow i don’t think if a gay person said something like this, they would have ONLY been fired, there would have been even worse consequences, such as their safety.
It was a very rude and un-Christlike thing to say.
But, no, he shouldn’t be fired.
No, he shouldn’t be fired for saying that privately. As for the students, everyone has to learn how to function in a world where not everyone approves of what you do or think. As long as this teacher is able to treat all his students fairly, that shouldn’t be an issue.
If he posted gay porn instead, he’d probably still have his job.
Nope. As long as political opinions are staying out of the classroom then he has a right to his personal opinion on his personal life. And by the way… as for your comment on Biblical principles… BRAVO!
Oh never mind. I just realized you were quoting him. Haha!!!
I don’t think he should have been fired but I do think he has some growing up to do.
@ShesMadeOfGlass - it’s not illegal, it’s just not recommended in case whatever comes up.
I don’t think he should be fired though. As others said, he’s voicing his personal opinion on his personal page. If he said this in the classroom it’d be a whole different ball game.
I don’t know if he should be fired for that. But he should have shown more judgment on an online profile which clearly bore his image and name.
I think that in reality social networking shouldn’t have that big of an influence on someone’s career. But we all know that these things are checked by employers these days, and nothing on the internet is actually private. My first thought was that if he is a teacher, he may have a gay student, or even a student with gay parents. Which could create an uncomfortable environment because of his ignorant way of stating his opinion in such a public way. While I don’t share the same views, I believe people should be able to state their own opinions but he is expected to be professional… he should have used a different place to do so in this case. I guess it is what it is.
It’s called selective tolerance, and it’s sickening. Here’s a nice link that can explain it better than I can.
http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6742
I swear there’s a character limit? I always have to chop down my status. I want his account, fuck his job.
NO HE SHOULD NOT! I may not agree with his opinion but this is going TOO FAR! I am PISSED! I had to set up a different Facebook account under a different last name so prospective future clients (Christians & others) do not judge my lifestyle and refuse my business. My business should be judged on my SKILL and my RESULTS with my clients not on my sexual preference, religious preference or whatever.
“I am uncomfortable with people who hate gays and therefore they do not deserve to have a job” is the same bullshit line of reasoning used for “I am uncomfortable with gays so I wish them to not be treated like equal citizens.” People need to grow some balls and learn to have rational discourse here.
In other words, “They make me want to throw up. God hates them” is not a rational reason for gays to not have equal rights of citizenship. However, “Gay people will be offended” is not a rational reason to fire somebody.
I’m against people getting fired for their online activities.
But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen.
Hence, the handerchief in front of my face.
@P0RCELA1N_D0LL -you have no idea how happy it would make me if they weren’t gay and had a thing for fat gingers…
No, he should not have been fired for that. Yes, it was rude. No, its not a very good portrayal of God and Christianity in jail. (After all, Jesus died for the sins of the WHOLE world…ALL of them, so if God is willing to accept him despite HIS sins, why would THIS ONE be any different? Also, I tend to think that if it was really that bad that God would stop making gay people.just saying….
should a teacher expressing racial opinions or anti american opions on hus/her facebook be fired?
gluttony is a sin. I don’t see people getting upset over people eating too much while others starve to death, or anyone question the cult of material possessions
@AlluringAddiction - ditto.
I would much prefer that PC cops keep the hell out of who says what on Facebook. He should not, ever, do Facebook, or any other social network, on the job. Other than that, stating a personal opinion, however archaic, is not grounds for dismissal. If he has gay students, they shouldn’t be any more privy to his fb than any other students.
People should not jam their sexuality down the public’s throats, either. It creates an unnecessary push back, and that, to me, is the ugliest part of all of this.This last goes for heterosexuals, homosexuals and bisexuals alike.
So much for freedom of speech, I guess. Whether we agree with his opinion or not, to get fired for what you said on facebook? Dumb.
its not like his students are friends with him. and even if they were, his opinion about gay people have nothing to do with what he’s teaching unless he’s teaching a class on equality haha.
I agree with most of the other commenters. No.
No, it’s on his facebook. Whatever happened to freedom of speech?? Granted he is a huge douche bag, but whatever.
Whatever happened to the 1st Amendment? The teacher needs to go after the school district, take the district for all he can, be sure the official who made the decision is disciplined and that his/her name is widely publicized in the media.
No, and I don’t think he should be FB friends with students anyway. Even though his views want to make me throw up.
Yes, I think he should be suspended and his job be put on a reviewing process to see if he is suitable to be in that position. And to all the people saying it was just a opinion he made on his “private” page, nobody would thought much of the schools action towards him if he had said anything else discriminatory such as (insert race) makes me throw up. And probably parroting a whole bunch of people , nothing you say on the internet is private, there is literally thousands of websites dedicated to screen capping all kinds of things, and no matter what your privacy level is on a site, there are people that can bypass it, I mean you can even go to school to become a hacker. On another note to everyone that says that its just opinion that he holds and it won’t effect his job, the brain is a very powerful thing, being intolerant in the mind is bound to slip over into your conscious life.
@Da__Vinci - Ha!
But, if you have such strong beliefs about something that your students could potentially see and take offense at, possibly be hurt by, you should never post them on a public forum. Ever. I don’t believe he was fired for having those beliefs, but for posting them where his students could have seen them. Signed even with his real name.
@relaxolgy - Oh yes you do. FB and other sites are filled with it. Thinspo haters, fat haters, poor who hate the wealthy and want to take away their resources (higher taxes on the rich), heck we even have a government bent on doing that right now. You cannot say what you want if you are employed by someone else, and sometimes even if you are self employed, you may upset a vendor. Best place for your own opinions is on your C drive…
@paoguy118 - 1st Amendment prevents you from being imprisoned or fined for your speech, it does not remove any consequences you may incur because of your speech. As a “public figure”, a teacher is held to a higher standard than Joe 6 pack. Since he has influence in a classroom, he has to stay entirely neutral in matters of sexuality and politics, and other sore spots, like obesity or thinness, or any other controversial subject. Don’t like it? Find a different line of work. Same for politicians, although they have much more latitude than most other public figures. Look at what happened to Wiener. What he did was stupid, immoral (if you believe in the sanctity of marriage) but not illegal. And he suffered the consequences of his actions.
I love how people think they know what God likes and doesn’t like just because the Bible says it. The Bible was written by men, just like you and me (my opinion anyway) so no one has a clue what God approves or disproves of. People need to stop worrying about what other people are doing. How exactly is a gay marriage hurting this person? It’s not…let them live the life they want.
Now that was a stupid thing to do!
@Inspectorgrampy5 - While you’re probably right and had that been the case the form of punishment would have been much more lenient. However, the truth of the matter is that there are many people being bullied, ridiculed, harassed, physically and verbally abused because of their sexual orientation and preference; as a teacher he is to create a safe and accepting atmosphere for all regardless of gender, sex, race, age etc. While you might think that Facebook is “private” it is obviously not.
We are warned about the contents of our FB pages when applying for a job, the same goes for keeping your job.
@jenessa1889 - eloquent response.
Should a teacher be fired for expressing his personal opinion on his Facebook account?
Nope, free country period
He should not have been fired. What he thinks and says off-work should not be his employer’s business. Sure, he could have been more respectful, but he’s just stating his opinion, which he should be granted to. If someone speaks out FOR gay rights, they’re applauded, but if someone speaks out AGAINST them, they’re hated on. Nice to know we can’t have opinions anymore, if we’re employed.
No.
Having more than 700 friends makes that a fairly public forum. If his profile was more private, hey it’s a man expressing his opinion, but seeing as he’s an educator in a public school system … that changes things a bit depending on what that school’s faculty ethics code states. Personally, he should have phrased his views more delicately. His status as an educator means he should be outwardly neutral as far as race, religion and sexuality. Should he lose his job over it? I’m unsure.I guess it all comes down to the school’s policies.
@TiredSoVeryTired - Now, I think the way this man expressed his opinion was rude and not reflective of the loving nature of God and Christ, but God thinks the same thing about gays today as He did before. He is outside of time, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Just because something like homosexuality, abortion, or divorce, etc. becomes acceptable to society doesn’t change God’s view of it whatsoever.
@ShamrockLover - To discredit the Bible makes Christianity a joke. The Bible is the one text we have. Written by the hands of men? Yes. But also inspired by God. Minor things have been lost in translation, but not the big things. If the Bible doesn’t mean anything, God could be some big scary guy just waiting to wipe us all off the face of the planet, and we wouldn’t know. But that’s not how it is. God gave us His word so that we might know Him. Written by His chosen ones and those who loved and knew Him. If the Bible is a big fairy tale book, saying that God is real or that you have any concept of who He is doesn’t make sense.
On another note, there is no gay gene, thus God does not make gay people. Nor does He hate them.
no. Same way my fav teacher shouldn’t have been fired because he was gay. Some the students went through his teachers desk and found a photo of him and his bf at the time and made a huge deal by running out of the classroom and going to the lunch and being on, “so and so is gay!”
worst is the sub teacher didn’t do anything about it.
parents found out and made a fuss. :/
but it is really stupid, that people can’t accept situations and just leave it be.
I don’t think he should have been fired unless he taught those opinions in class. If the class had gay-friendly parents who were listed as friends on his facebook, couldn’t they have just confronted him about his bigotry? It’s not like gay people are made of eggshells.
Too many people are getting fired because of what they post online these days. I think there should be a ban on it. Everybody has stuff that other people wouldn’t like about them and the Web makes getting that stuff out so much easier. It also distances people from each other so that others have less of a headache about confronting them with abusive language and starting fights in general. So by the time a reasoned response might have been found IRL, the person’s getting fired.
Honestly, I don’t give a shit about this issue. I don’t think he should be fired or whatever, but I suppose it isn’t socially acceptable to start talking about gay married. Who knows. But then again, this doesn’t offend me because I don’t have a problem with gay marriages. People with the same sex getting married don’t affect me personally, so why even make a big deal about them getting married. Who cares. Obviously you are religious. But this is 2011, times have changed. The longer you are going to post things like this that is against the norm, the more unhappy you are just going to become. Why not accept the inevitable.
I agree with @jenessa1889 - and I couldn’t have said it better.
He has a right to his opinion, but he is representing the school. Stating that you don’t agree with gay marriage or homosexuality is a sin is one thing, but the way he stated it makes him sound like a complete bigot. If he has targeted women, minorities, or religious groups with his hateful diatribe, I think that people would have an easier time seeing how this person is making the entire school looks bad.
@Erika_Steele - Excellent point about other minority groups. Imagine if he had said this about black people. This would not be news, he would be fired instantly, and no one would feel bad for him. You’re allowed to have racist opinions but no one thinks an employer should by order of the constitution have to tolerate your racist views. why do we suddenly get the idea that we don’t have like homophobia but that the constitution guarantees not only your right to say those things but your right to have no consequences for saying them?
The fact is- blogs, Facebook, MySpace, all of it- it’s part of the world at large now. It isn’t our private lives. We can’t have anonymity and cloak and daggers on the Internet, and policemen and politeness in real life.
He might as well have stood in the auditorium of his school and said that. So yes, he should be punished.
As long as he is still respectful to students if they are openly gay and doesn’t harm them in any way (be it physical or emotional), he should be free to post a comment like that. If he mentioned disdain toward open students, then he should lose his job, but since that doesn’t seem like the case, he shouldn’t have.
Besides, most teachers aren’t Facebook friends with students at least until at least the students have been out of school for a bit (or even ever, since they are two different things).
No. His facebook has nothing to do with his job. If he was saying it while he was at work, teaching it to his students, that would be something totally different.
@ShesMadeOfGlass - No, but it’s frowned upon. After I graduated a lot of my favourite teachers gave me their facebooks to add them since I graduated.
He wasn’t fired. He was given an administrative position until it could be determined if what he did was outside the code of conduct. Forget free speech, it doesn’t apply here. If you agree to a certain code of conduct for a position, they have the right to let you go if you breach that code of conduct.
No. It’s good when the bigoted idiots identify themselves. FB is personal and shouldn’t be a school’s business, unless his students are friends then it becomes an issue but there’s no way to really inforce any restrictions. Some things have no business mixed with others; this is one, religion in politics is another.
Yeah… like hetrosexual marriage is so sacred.
If you want to have ignorant view points that would cause you to discriminate against a student or their parents, yes he should be fired. Regardless if it’s on facebook or not. Have some tact and grace. Social media has somehow tricked people in to thinking that their opinion actually matters or that EVERYONE agrees with them.
Regardless of what your religion is or how you feel about same sex marriage your religion shouldn’t rule over my or anyone elses life that doesn’t agree. you find same-sex marriage repulsive then don’t marry someone of the same sex.
But again, yes he should be fired.
why ppl think its ok to be gay is beyond me. but can’t nobody in the world make me/brainwash me/convince me to believe that ‘God’ says its ok for such disgusting & perverse physical intimacy to take place between those of the same sex. if that teacher got fired because of an opinion posted on his very own page, then i suppose his boss is an undercover homo. such a pathetic conversation to have just to tell someone they’re terminated because they oppose same sex marriage. UGH!
@Jennifer - To me, Christianity is a big joke. It’s something i don’t choose for myself, but i do still believe in God. I don’t focus on my life on a book written thousands of years ago, but on living a good life. And maybe God is some scary guy waiting to wipe us off the face of the earth. No one knows what’s really going to happen. We also don’t know what’s going to happen after we die. Yes, the Bible talks about things that will happen, but no one knows for sure until we die. I’d rather just live in the present and deal with the consequences later. If it gets me to heaven, great. If i go to hell, fine. If i just die and that’s that…that’s okay too. I don’t claim that God is real. I’d like to think there’s some sort of higher power out there, but i don’t focus on day to day life on it.
People get fired all the time for saying far less on Facebook or for posting a pic their employer doesn’t like.
He shouldn’t be teaching a public school where he can encounter a gay student.
@LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - No, it does. Where in the US Constitustion does it protect a teacher beating a gay student because that is what I had in mind. If the “demeanor” escalates to fucking illegal, then yes, they have every right. Younever asked what I meant, stop assuming bullshit just because you’re lunatic who wants a reason to be right when you cannot be. And Teacher of the Year hasn’t ever meant shit. Arbitrary labels don’t mean a person is a good teacher, it means it’s they have an arbitrary label. If the man is so pathetic as to feel the need to post his every though on FACEBOOK how great a teacher could the moron be? The people I know who do that are almost always dumb as shit. I bet you’re one of those people, huh?
if students can be suspended/expelled from school for saying offensive things on fb (they can), than teachers should be too.
@Ork58 - there are haters for everything. But I don’t see anyone referring to gluttony as a SIN the way the conservative Christians obsess with homosexuality as a SIN. I’m just saying they are far more occupied by homosexuality than the Bible.
I am a teacher, and what this man said makes me feel sick. But as government and bosses slip their fingers ever deeper into our private lives, NOW IS THE TIME to take a stand against people LOSING THEIR JOBS because of their beliefs, whether you agree with them or not. This is not the kind of thing that should happen to free people, and spits in the face of tolerance far worse than the most despicable hate speech. Give this man a right to say what he wants, and give me the right to punch him in the face afterwards.
What a dumbfuck.
Use an airsick bag if you want to throw up, mister!
@hevcoh - You my friend, actually have a point.
I think he should be told to express his opinions in a private manner.
Depends if he’s friends with studenst on facebook. I have a few teachers who have been friends with me and plenty of other students while they taught us (hell, made FB groups for our class). So…it would depend.
Generally speaking though, no. It’s a different sphere.
uuumm yeah because kids get suspended all the time for saying mean things about their peers or a teacher. so if students get in trouble teachers should too. its not like hes being fired only suspended for a little bit. and besides while i dont support same sex marriage it happens all the time and theres nothing i can do about it. and im not gonna throw my religious beliefs into someones face who just wants to be happy. if there is a hell or a heaven they will know soon enough what “god” has in store for them. and yes i put god in parenthesis cause while i dont beleive theres a man living in the sky telling me what to do i dont believe theres some dude underneath me trying to get me to do bad things. so more power to the lesbian gay and transgender community.
@jenessa1889 - I didn’t see it that way at first, but you raise a really good point. I suppose it IS good that he got fired.
@Wildserraphim - he didn’t actually get fired. there’s some sort of judicial process going on and it looks like he’s not losing his job. Nothing’s decided yet
what if this guy said something along the lines he doesn’t like, for example, black people, or he supports the KKK? How is that really any different than this scenario?
@ShamrockLover - That’s why faith matters. I just hate to see people stuck in a place of not caring because what you believe is very important and deserves some time and research.
It also doesn’t matter much to me that you think my religion is a joke, but on the same tone, please be respectful. I hope you didn’t feel like I was trying to force you into thinking in the confines of my thinking, because I wasn’t, I really just want to broaden people’s understanding of something they often don’t understand.
“God will not be mocked. When did this sin become acceptable?”
mocking god (more accurately, various gods) has been a pass-time for millennia.
one of the most popular groups mocking god referred to themselves as “believers”. these people are hilarious. i’m unsure if they are all Poes though.
Not if his Facebook is private from the general public. He is allowed to freely express his opinions…but should be mindful of his words if he happens to have students on his friend-list.
Absolutely not.
…What a BASTARD!
thats all i can say without going bat s*** crazy on that guys a**.
@Pink_TeaCups - ill tell you you are 150% rightt okay its none of anybodys bussnis what on his accoun(even thou its not nice) and second if god hates gay so much why did he creat them ? that whats i tell people
@jakejmike - Exactly. I don’t agree with his Facebook content whatsoever but it’s still Facebook.
Human Rights – Right to privacy AND Right to freedom of speech.
If his students are his FB friends, yes. He either needs to show discretion or not friend his students.
If not, then no.
Someone with such a closed mind should not be teaching children how to open theirs.
(That said, I don’t think he should be fired for saying it over FB. That’s his own personal opinion and outside of school. BUT, if things seemed to transfer over to his teaching at the school, I would kick his ass out quick.)
@Jennifer - What i said wasn’t meant to be disrespectful. You just said to discredit the Bible makes Christianity a joke, so i was just agreeing with what you said. I understand Christianity and the Bible. I have been to numerous churches and read the Bible from cover to cover. It’s just not for me. I lack faith and i don’t know how to get it….it just doesn’t work for me. But in my profession i have worked with many families who have faith and i’ve seen what it does for them. It’s a very powerful and comforting thing, so i get why it works for some people.
People are idiots. Facebook is not your friend. One of my coworkers was fired last week for skipping work and posting on her facebook about some party. Employers look at that sort of thing, and that idiot teacher has no one to blame but himself. If he had his privacy settings up he wouldn’t be having this problem.
if he said something that is work related, like claling his students stupid or disgusted by his gay students, that would make sense. but whether u accept gay or not is a total personal preference, it has nothing to do with ethics or whatsoever. it is not like racism or anything like that. it is like expressing your political view, can you get fired for calling obama an idiot on facebook?
@Jennifer - ”Gays” as they exist today were probably extremely rare back in the ancient times when the Bible was written. There were groups of people who worshiped different kinds of beliefs and it always seems the complaints are about those groups of people, not simply homosexuals.
I think the question here, is not if Mr. Buell’s opinion was right or wrong, but whether or not it was justifiable to fire him over a Facebook post. Since Facebook’s launch in 2004, there have no doubt been a flux of questionable posts and opinions shared, but I don’t think this social connection website was meant to determine a person’s working ability. Everyone has a right to his/her own opinion and privacy. I don’t think it was very professional of the schoolboard to fire him for this, regardless of his conduct during his spare time online.
Facebook is his “personal” opinion, which I believe falls in an amendment in the constitution of the USA. Freedom of speech.
Although I completely find his opinion repulsive, as long as he keeps his OPINIONS out of the classroom, he should not lose his job.
He knew the risks.
It’s his Facebook. If he wants to state his own opinion, he has freedom of speak. Screw anyone who gets offended, they can block him if they really get that upset.
@TiredSoVeryTired - there are gay students at private christian colleges, too. I was one of them.
@IWillLiftMyEyes - True. But the man needs a job somewhere.
Hello, freedom of speech…
@carolinavenger - No, that’s just twitter. Facebook doesn’t have a limit.
I don’t think he should be fired, just for having his own opinions, regardless of whether or not I agree with those opinions.
HOWEVER, he should be smart enough to realize that, as a teacher, he’s a public figure in the community, and a community leader; and things he does/says in a public forum could cast a bad light on the school. Not to say it should, but let’s be realistic – I’m sure the school board was OH SHI– when it first heard about this whole thing.
And these days, many employers research a person’s online persona (such as FB profiles, etc.) and make hiring/firing decisions on questionable content. So he should know he’s going to get taken to task for controversial public statements, simply as a “community leader” representing the school district.
Some Santas
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Father Christmas, and come out the other side with a coveted B.S.C. degree
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Santa Claus School in the upstate New York town of Albion, not far from
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Rochester. In fact, the school still exists today, 75 years after it
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was founded by Howard in 1937; since the mid-1960s, it has operated
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out of Midland, Michigan, and remains the world’s oldest Santa
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school.In 1961, LIFE’s Alfred Eisenstaedt visited Howard’s school for would-be Santas,
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of learning to be all the Santa Claus one can be. (Many of the pictures
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here were not originally published in the article that
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He teaches
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the history of Santa Claus, make-up and costumes (“Don’t use false
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got one. So you grab your beard underneath, hold tight and when he
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yanks, holler Ouch.Finally, we’ll end with one of Howard’s more
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memorable quotes about St.