By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
A federal judge has ruled that a California public high school teacher who called creationism “superstitious nonsense” violated the constitutional rights of his students.
According to a report by the Catholic News Agency (CNA), James Corbett, a teacher at Capistrano Valley High School, was accused of saying things like “when you put on your Jesus glasses, you can’t see the truth.” He also allegedly compared prayers to God to hopes that the “spaghetti monster will help you get what you want.” Corbett, who has taught for 20 years, also said “conservatives don’t want women to avoid pregnancies — that’s interfering with God’s work.”
However, U.S. District Judge James Selna ruled that only Corbett’s comment calling creationism “religious, superstitious nonsense” violated the constitutional rights of a former student, Chad Farnan. Judge Selna found that most of the statements cited did not violate the First Amendment because they did not refer directly to religion or were appropriate in the context of the classroom lecture. The statement about creationism, however, “constitutes improper disapproval of religion in violation of the Establishment Clause,” he wrote.
He said the ruling reflects “the constitutionally permissible need for expansive discussion even if a given topic may be offensive to a particular religion” but also reflects “that there are boundaries.”
Farnan filed suit in 2007 alleging that Corbett violated the First Amendment by repeatedly making comments hostile to Christian beliefs. In his lawsuit, he presented more than 20 statements reportedly made by Corbett during one day of class to support allegations that the teacher used a broader teaching method that “favors irreligion over religion” and made Christian students feel uncomfortable.
Farnan’s attorney, Jennifer Monk of the Christian legal group Advocates for Faith & Freedom, said her client is not interested in monetary damages. However, he plans to ask the court to prohibit Corbett from making similar comments in the future.
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