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Suspended Teacher Finds Himself in Ungodly Mess
Filed under: In The News, Religion & Spirituality
Is it OK for a teach to preach? Credit: Getty Images
Meanwhile, members of the Hamilton-Wentworth School Board in Ontario have suspended teacher John Orme and sent him home because, seriously, you don't want to be anywhere near this guy when the sulfur hits the fan.
That stuff stings.
Orme teaches English and history at Gordon Price School, where, the Spectator newspaper in Ontario reports, he exposed his students to the lyrics of "Dear God," a 1986 hit for the British band XTC. "Dear God" is not the kind of gushing fan mail the Almighty is used to receiving.
"I won't believe in heaven and hell," the song goes. "No saints, no sinners, no devil, as well. No pearly gates, no thorny crown. You're always letting us humans down. The wars you bring, the babes you drown. Those lost at sea and never found. It's the same the whole world 'round. The hurt I see helps to compound that Father, Son and Holy Ghost is just somebody's holy hoax."
Not only did this tune not make it into the latest Lutheran hymnal, the Spectator reports it also hurt 12-year-old Kelsey Griffith's feelings. When she claimed Orme called upon her to defend her belief in God, her mother Amanda pitched a holy fit.
That brought the wrath of the school board down upon Orme, who is in a sort of administrative purgatory until Judgment Day -- or the next school board meeting.
Superintendent Mag Gardner tells the Spectator she's sympathetic to parents' concerns, but there may be more to the situation than meets the eye. Some parents agree.
"It has been blown out of proportion," Wendy Hine, whose 12-year-old daughter is in the class, tells the Spectator. "You have an excellent teacher who really, really has a good connection with the kids. This is now affecting their education."
Hine adds it is ridiculous that all this fuss arose from one parent's complaint.
"This one parent and one student spoke for all of us and I don't think that's very fair," she tells the newspaper. "All of the other parents need to be heard."
Gardner tells the Spectator she suspects Orme's students will one day recover from their brush with new wave British punk.
"We're confident that the school will be able to move on," she adds. "We have a lot of faith in those students."
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
5-17-2011 @ 10:34PM
Alicia said...This is about seven different shades of ridiculous. Maybe if he truly harped and criticized the child for her beliefs, it could be out of line. However, if she protested and he asked her to defend her side of the story, that's just damn good teaching. These students are 12. They're more than intelligent enough to be able to concisely and logically state their beliefs and why. They'll certainly need to when they advance and it's good to learn how to defend your argument young.
Reply
5-21-2011 @ 2:16AM
Lauren said...Kids shouldn't have to defend their religious beliefs. That isn't why they go to school. Its one thing to ask about their beliefs for comparisons sake, but quite another thing to ask for them to "defend" them. Besides, we always cater to the "poor hurt feelings" of minorities. We can't sing Christmas songs in schools because it offends other religious beliefs. The complaint the mom makes is legit, its not even about the song itself (which is pretty inappropriate as well), but putting her daughter in a situation that was designed to make fun of her. That might not have been his intent, but that was the message that was sent.