Girl Accuses Professor of Failing Her For Believing in God

[BwareDWare94 723]

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/florida-professor-bullies-christian-student

 

There are two goddamn places in the college curriculum where a student should be able to express any sort of belief in God and not be docked for it--theology/religion courses, and philosophy courses, and even then, simply turning to "God this" or "God that" should not be good enough for a passing grade.

 

Other than those two places, religious belief has no place whatsoever in the classroom.

 

Now, this professor is supposedly a "humanities" professor, and theology/religion and philosophy fit under those categories, but if he was not teaching a course as such, he had every right to not be tolerant of her faith. If he was dealing with clear cut facts and she refused to acknowledge them, he has done nothing wrong, and the University has already stated they find nothing wrong with his actions.

 

If he was teaching a philosophy or religion course, and no source seems to indicate as such, he ought to be fired. If you teach in those fields, you better expect to not let your intolerance affect the way you grade papers.

 

I really wish we had more information on this situation.

[Thanatos 2,847]

If what the article says is true, you are really okay with him giving her four zeroes?

 

The essay questions in particular are ridiculous, leading, and obviously biased. The professor is allowing his personal belief to interfere with his ability to teach. Good professors can teach students of completely opposite viewpoints.

 

Martin Luther's motivation for the Reformation was not wholly secular.

 

"Why did Christianity and their male gods tried to silence these nuns?"... I mean come on.

 

Michelangelo's paintings and sculptures show that homosexuality is not a sin? They're entirely irrelevant to that discussion.

 

It seems like you didn't even read the article you linked, Bware.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Thanatos19

[blotsfan 2,112]

Yeah I'm with Than. Those are definitely loaded questions. To compare to a class I took in college on the Torah (Jewish Bible), a lot of the class was the teacher telling us how he interpreted it, and basically every test and essay question started "according to [professor]." If this is a class where you are meant to just learn his views, it should be framed as such.

[oochymp 2,393]

WINTER HAVEN | Polk State College has rejected Liberty Counsel's call to fire a professor, and the college's lawyers say the claim that a student was the victim of discrimination because of her Christian religious beliefs is "baseless, without merit, and absolutely lacking any factual support."

 

In a letter to the Liberty Counsel on Wednesday, Polk State's lawyers defended Humanities Professor Lance Russum and said there was nothing discriminatory or abusive about his actions. They said Russum's course and its assignments supported the idea of a "robust exchange of ideas" in education.

 

They also said he was supportive, offering the student explanations of the grades and encouraging her to be open to new ideas.

 

"The overall fallacy of your position rests singly on the premise that an instructor should not require a student to consider, discuss or present arguments that are contrary to his/her personal beliefs," said the letter from the law firm, Boswell and Dunlap of Bartow, that is representing Polk State. "Such a position shows apparent ignorance of long-standing academic practice."

 

...

 

Despite the zeroes, Lewis received an A grade in the course.

 

...

 

Polk State's lawyers said Grace's response challenged the question and "clearly chose to ignore the professor's instructions and proceeded to present her view of 'true Christianity.' "

 

...

 

According to the letter from Polk State, Painter had Lewis' work reviewed by members of the college's academic leadership. All agreed that she chose to ignore the specific assignment and instead challenged the question and asserted her own beliefs.

 

Polk State's lawyers also provide Russum's response to Lewis when she questioned her grades.

"This course in no way is a challenge to anyone religious 'faith' because it never addresses religion from the standpoint of faith, only from philosophical/political/historical perspectives," Rossum told Lewis. "What you hold as a faith system is your personal belief about the gods and goddesses. When you write from a faith position your writing is contrary to the BCI (Basic Course Information Catalog). The BCI is what I am obligated to grade you on. Your answers make it impossible for me to grade when you refuse to follow the course objectives."

 

Full Article: Polk State Rejects Liberty Counsel Demand to Fire Professor | TheLedger.com

 

 

be wary of judging any story based on one side

[Thanatos 2,847]

I read the essay questions in his syllabus. This isnt judging on one side. What she claims is true. The questions are leading and clearly designed to make her feel uncomfortable.

[BwareDWare94 723]

That doesn't matter. He has every right to pose such questions.

 

Also, for anyone to suggest that the Christian faith hasn't viewed women as secondary to men is hilarious--I'm not saying that to you, Than, but some have voiced concern about the question regarding women.

Christians shouldn't be allowed to put their heads in the sand in the classroom. That's not how you get a passing grade. You have to consider the opposition's point of view. She doesn't get to attend that class and not do the assignments.

 

Also, if people were never made uncomfortable in learning institutions, we wouldn't be getting a proper education.

Edited May 10, 2015 by BwareDWare94

[Vin+ 3,121]

If you fail, but you still got an A, did you actually fail?

[Thanatos 2,847]

That doesn't matter. He has every right to pose such questions.

 

Also, for anyone to suggest that the Christian faith hasn't viewed women as secondary to men is hilarious--I'm not saying that to you, Than, but some have voiced concern about the question regarding women.

 

Christians shouldn't be allowed to put their heads in the sand in the classroom. That's not how you get a passing grade. You have to consider the opposition's point of view. She doesn't get to attend that class and not do the assignments.

 

Also, if people were never made uncomfortable in learning institutions, we wouldn't be getting a proper education.

 

I mean the part about him changing the essay questions after the semester was going on and after she started complaining, basically just to tick her off more. It's what a teenager would do, not what a professor should do.

 

Of course the Christian faith viewed women as secondary- every single fucking person did back in the Middle Ages. To single out Christianity is to fall into the trap of historical self-righteousness- assuming you would do something different were you around in that time. For its time, Christianity treated women vastly better than any other world religion. The assignment acts like they were the main perpetrators of keeping women in their place or something.

 

Does he have the right to ask questions that are factually incorrect? I mean I suppose he does, but I want my professor to be asking questions that are actually based in fact, not off of what he wishes were fact.

 

She did, in fact, do the assignments. A lot of the questions ask things like "Based on humanism, explain why Luther posted his 95 theses."

 

She correctly says that humanism is a broad word and needs to be defined before answering the question as a whole. Which it is.

 

I'm not saying the professor should be fired, or even if the college should do anything about it. But his course, at least the essay questions, are fucking terrible and designed not to allow open discussion, which is the main issue. If you are teaching something that is against the mainstream way of thinking about an issue, but you refuse to allow any debate on the subject and hammer your beliefs into your student, that's simply a terrible way to teach the subject in question, regardless of what it is.