Republicans love to teach their hate-filled Theocon brand of pseudo-Christianity disguised as education. They almost got away with doing just that, teaching hatred for Muslims, at a Lane Community College here in Oregon. The school learned of their deception and pulled the plug. Now Pat Robertson’s legal group is suing the school.
Barry Sommer was supposed to teach a non-credited class at Lane Community College in Oregon entitled "What is Islam?"
But that was before the Council on American-Islamic Relations alerted them to the fact that Sommer was the president of an Oregon chapter of the anti-Islam group "ACT! for America," started by Brigitte Gabriel to save [hate group delinked] Western Civilization from the "authoritarian values of radical Islam, such as the celebration of death, terror and tyranny" and that he had a history of making anti-Islam statements.
So Lane College dropped the class, for which not even one student had signed up, and Sommer was out the $160 he would have been paid for teaching it … and so, of course, Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice has taken up the case is the threatening to sue Lane College if it doesn’t let Sommer teach this course:
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said today it is demanding that an Oregon community college rehire a teacher fired after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) complained about a class he was scheduled to teach about the religion of Islam. The ACLJ, which represents the instructor, contends that Lane Community College (LCC) in Eugene, Oregon violated the contractual and constitutional rights of the teacher by firing him and canceling the class because of pressure from CAIR.
… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Right Wing Watch>
By misrepresenting the character and content of the course to the college, this Republican hatemonger voided the contract himself. He has no constitutional right to teach religious propaganda at a state funded school. While a religious survey course is legal, one that pushes a single religious point of view violates the establishment clause.
19 Responses to “Republicans Sue to Teach Hate in Oregon”
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Interesting. I saw the news report and it treated this as if he was being discriminated against because he wasn’t Muslim. Your “rest of the story” made sense of what I would have construed differently via the news report.
Marva, isn’t it sad that we rarely get the complete picture from our local news outlets?
TC – of course you are right. He severed his contract by not exposing what he would be teaching about and hiding behind his hate group. I hope the university sues Pat Robertson and his gang for every penny they have.
I don’t see it happening, but I would love it.
What Lisa said. The woman is wise beyond her years.
Amen to that!
I wish some real reporter (and not a stenographer for the corporate media) would ask Robertson who Jesus would hate – and then ask for the chapters and verses from the New Testament to back up the claims. He won’t be able to deliver any thing but Old Testament bigotry.
Robertson would reply that he loves the people he hates.
According to Mary Spilde, President of Lane Community College:
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/25636398-41/sommer-course-islam-spilde-college.csp
Thanks Nameless. That does not surprise me at all.
I wonder on what basis this character was hired? Sounds like he was an adjunct, in which case no contract would have been offered him. Colleges can drop an adjunct any time they want with no reason required. I doubt that he has a leg to stand on. Spoken as one who has been an adjunct.
Replying to #5: Anywhere I’ve taught as an adjunct or done a one-off extension gig (which I’ve done at a number of universities, public and private) I’ve received a contract. I can’t imagine a circumstance in which one would teach without a signed contract in hand as educational institutions, even the best, are notorious for botching payroll. A professional doesn’t take any chances.
Of course this guy Sommer is not a real pro, and is likely a total creep (and Pat Robertson’s gang jumping in just confirms it.) And if he had no signed contract to do this job he probably has no leg to stand on in his complaint. However it is incorrect that an adjunct gig is typically a pure employment-at-will situation.
Welcome Doc! 🙂
@oudiva: Of course, you’re right. The guy was not an full-time Instructor or on tenure track. So no contract was offered for one course. Been there myself. However, even IF he’d had a contract–or was full-time in some manner–colleges and universities can still cancel classes if they “don’t make.” No one signs up…no class.
Welcome Wiley! 🙂
Sorry, wrong article. *a, instead of an.
To the teachers have joined in, I happily defer to your expertise. Before googling the term because of your comments, I did not know what an adjunct prof was.
Bastards give Christians a bad name, they really do. The Abrahamic religions are so similar that to condemn one really condemns all – too bad the Pat Robertson types are too twisted to realize that.
Oso, I agree. That’s why I keep referring to the Theocon Supply-side Jesus (the Republican invention, not the real one) as pseudo-Christians.