Is this case heading to the Supreme Court, it is a case that the conservatives dream of… religious bigotry… um… I mean religious freedom to discriminate.
What I find interesting is the teacher’s statement “I represent the state in my role as a public school teacher and therefore speak with a certain authority.” But then he says, “…we are here today because a specific worldview is being imposed upon me…” It is not a “worldview” it is one that every medical professional association sees it as an inborn trait and not a “lifestyle.”
These “religious freedom” cases remind me of the Scopes Trial only with far wider implication, if Vlaming wins that will mean we will now have two sets of laws in the country, one for religious fanatics and one set of laws for everyone else.
Think about this.
What will stop someone from refusing to serve a black person because it violates their religious beliefs?
What will stop someone from refusing to serve a Muslin or a Jew because it violates their religious beliefs?
What will stop someone from refusing to serve an interracial couple because it violates their religious beliefs?
All they have to do is say… “It is against my sincerely held religious beliefs” and there is no way to prove otherwise.
West Point HS teacher at center of transgender controversy terminatedI can see the religious bigot’s salivating over this case and giving the current anti-LGBT pro religious bias climate in the Department of Justice and the packing of the Supreme Court justices who put the Bible about the Constitution this case has a good chance to overturn the school board decision to fire the teacher.
Board voted unanimously on Thursday to approve the superintendent's decision
By: WRIC
Posted: Dec 04, 2018
WEST POINT, Va. (WRIC) -- The school board for West Point Public Schools voted unanimously on Thursday to approve the termination of a teacher at West Point High School who was at the center of a transgender controversy at the school.
Peter Vlaming, a French teacher at the school, was put on paid administrative leave on Oct. 31 for not using a student's preferred identity pronoun.
Several people, including Vlaming, spoke during the public hearing on Thursday.
"My religious faith dictates that I am to love and respect everyone, whether I agree with them or not. Because we are all made in God's image," Vlaming said, reading from a prepared opening statement.
“I am also aware of, and agree, with speech limits that are placed on public school teachers, concerning matters of religious faith. I represent the state in my role as a public school teacher and therefore speak with a certain authority. That authority is not to be used to promote any one specific worldview, and I don’t. However, we are here today because a specific worldview is being imposed upon me," he continued.
What I find interesting is the teacher’s statement “I represent the state in my role as a public school teacher and therefore speak with a certain authority.” But then he says, “…we are here today because a specific worldview is being imposed upon me…” It is not a “worldview” it is one that every medical professional association sees it as an inborn trait and not a “lifestyle.”
These “religious freedom” cases remind me of the Scopes Trial only with far wider implication, if Vlaming wins that will mean we will now have two sets of laws in the country, one for religious fanatics and one set of laws for everyone else.
Think about this.
What will stop someone from refusing to serve a black person because it violates their religious beliefs?
What will stop someone from refusing to serve a Muslin or a Jew because it violates their religious beliefs?
What will stop someone from refusing to serve an interracial couple because it violates their religious beliefs?
All they have to do is say… “It is against my sincerely held religious beliefs” and there is no way to prove otherwise.
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