Jesus Glasses

Extract from the Fox News site:
A student and his family have filed a federal lawsuit demanding that a popular European history teacher at California's Capistrano Valley High School be fired for what they say were anti-Christian remarks he made in the classroom.
Chad Farnan, a 16-year-old sophomore, says the teacher, James Corbett, told his students that “Jesus glasses” obscure the truth and suggested that Christians are more likely than other people to commit rape and murder.
Farnan recorded his teacher telling students in class: “What country has the highest murder rate? The South! What part of the country has the highest rape rate? The South! What part of the country has the highest rate of church attendance? The South!” Farnan said he took the tape recorder to class to supplement his class notes.
“It was very hard for me because it’s like basically telling me all this stuff that I’ve believed my whole entire life — it’s just basically trying to throw it out the window,” Farnan told FOX News.
Farnan’s family has filed a federal lawsuit against the Capistrano Unified School District, claiming Corbett's remarks violated the First Amendment, which prohibits laws "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." They are demanding that Corbett be fired.

Throughout history the followers of religion have refused to listen to criticism of their beliefs however ridiculous and nonsensical those beliefs may be. Rather than enter into debate and intelligent discourse they prefer to attack anyone who challenges their religion. I'm sure that Chad Farnan and his supporters would have organized a lynching if this had happened a few centuries ago when the religious could get away with that kind of thing.
If Farnan is such a staunch believer why would he even feel threatened by James Corbett's comments? Surely he would have enough confidence in his beliefs to be able to remain unperturbed by such remarks. Perhaps he feels threatened because he has secret doubts and wishes to avoid being provoked into giving serious thought to whether his beliefs really make sense or not. He like many others probably prefers to go through life with his head firmly buried in the sand and struggles desperately against anyone who might try to pull it out.
Most religious people do not like to be challenged simply because their beliefs are not able to stand up to rational inquiry.

It seems to me that everything Corbett said was actually true. He never said that Christians are more likely to commit rape or murder than other people but simply stated some facts that suggest that Christianity does not prevent people from doing these things. Surely Chad Farnan should be able to accept this without becoming outraged? Clearly he isn't capable of producing any counter argument so he and his parents start a witch hunt instead. How many intellectuals have been murdered throughout history by mobs just for daring to challenge whatever mythologies happen to be popular at the time? Well in this modern age science and reason can and will challenge superstition and religion.

The real point here is whether the classroom is an appropriate forum for this kind of discussion and whether teachers should refrain from imparting their own opinions to their students. It may be that Corbett caused offense by doing this but that probably wasn't his intention. It seems very clear that any ideology or belief that rejects rational examination is a dangerous one!