I haven't even read the OP article, cos I don't care to hear arguments for Prop 8.
But as for your statement:
http://www.atheists.org/nogodblog/index.php/2007/09/26/teacher_fired_for_speaking_obvious_truthA community college instructor in Red Oak claims he was fired after he told his students that the biblical story of Adam and Eve should not be literally interpreted.
Steve Bitterman, 60, said officials at Southwestern Community College sided with a handful of students who threatened legal action over his remarks in a western civilization class Tuesday. He said he was fired Thursday.
“I’m just a little bit shocked myself that a college in good standing would back up students who insist that people who have been through college and have a master’s degree, a couple actually, have to teach that there were such things as talking snakes or lose their job,” Bitterman said.
Sarah Smith, director of the school’s Red Oak campus, declined to comment Friday on Bitterman’s employment status. The school’s president, Barbara Crittenden, said Bitterman taught one course at Southwest. She would not comment, however, on his claim that he was fired over the Bible reference, saying it was a personnel issue.
“I can assure you that college understands our employees’ free speech rights,” she said. “There was no action taken that violated the First Amendment.”
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http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/forums/index.php?PHPSESSID=c03efa16ad9c8ddcd600f2c51adc521f&topic=374.0;wap2I learned about this from Hemant Mehta's Friendly Atheist blog. If you want to contact this teacher directly, you can do it through that site.
As Hemant says, it's a little long, but well worth the read. (Doesn't this person belong to a union?)
I believe I have been fired from my job due to being an atheist. I don’t know if I can prove it. I really don’t think I have any legal protection from what happened but if I do I want to know about it.
I am/was a high school English teacher at a high school in central Florida. I have been with the school for 3 years. I have had no reprimands of any kind. I have had no disciplinary actions and I have never been on any kind of improvement plan.
(Read for case)
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Teacher Expelled Over Religion (wouldn't teach creationism)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQacQy1KJ9M-----------
I don't have the time to look into the many cases that come up on a google search, but you made the claim.
Here's a piece of the google search:
http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=teacher+fired+atheist&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8Oregon teacher fired after veering from evolution textbook. - The ...
That was enough for the Sisters School Board, which fired the teacher Monday night for deviating from the ..... Nahh…it’s just an atheist conspiracy. ...
www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2007/03/oregon-teacher.html - 110k - Cached - Similar pages
'Teacher: I was fired, said Bible isn't literal' by Megan Hawkins ...
Sep 24, 2007 ... Teacher: I was fired, said Bible isn't literal ... Hector Avalos, an atheist religion professor at Iowa State University, said Bitterman's ...
richarddawkins.net/article,1685,Teacher-I-was-fired-said-Bible-isnt- literal,Megan-Hawkins-Des-Moines-Register - 108k - Cached - Similar pages
Teacher Fired For Calling Adam and Eve a Fairy Tale - Liberal ...
Sep 25, 2007 ... Hector Avalos, an atheist religion professor at Iowa State ... 1 response about “Teacher Fired For Calling Adam and Eve a Fairy Tale” ...
liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=2195 - 79k - Cached - Similar pages
Stand Up and Speak Out » Blog Archive » Loretto Teacher Fired: Part 2
I’m an atheist. I’m sure that’s news to you. Atheists in a Catholic school? .... Getting a teacher fired two months into a school year — when no other ...
standupandspeakoutblog.com/2005/10/22/loretto-teacher-fired-part-2/ - 749k - Cached - Similar pages
Comments on “US teacher fired for non-literal bible reading” • The ...
Sep 24, 2007 ... Just because some teacher claims he was fired for his words, .... As far as I know, there are no atheist countries, although it in itself is ...
www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/24/literal_truth/comments/ - 96k - Cached - Similar pages
Etc., etc. The chilling effect probably affects thousands of teachers who don't speak sincerely on their beliefs.