The teacher who is the subject of a potential lawsuit regarding proselytizing in a public high school history class denied on Tuesday night that he had preached in class and said that the student who taped him had never expressed discomfort to him about his comments.
The teacher, David Paszkiewicz, 38, spoke for the first time with reporters about the controversy outside a school board meeting here during which the board took the first step toward approving a policy that specifically requires teachers to “refrain from advocating one religion.”
.......
Demetrios K. Stratis, Mr. Paszkiewicz’s lawyer, told reporters on Tuesday night that Matthew’s questions in class led the teacher down a path. “It doesn’t defy common sense to say he was set up,” Mr. Stratis said before the board meeting, which was attended by about 150 people.
.......
In the recordings, Mr. Paszkiewicz said of Jesus, “If you reject his gift of salvation, then you know where you belong.” He also said: “He did everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains for you, and he’s saying, ‘Please, accept me, believe.’ If you reject that, you belong in hell.”
In other comments, he is recorded saying that dinosaurs were on Noah’s ark, and that the Big Bang and evolution were not based on science.
But on Tuesday night, Mr. Paszkiewicz insisted, “I’m very careful to follow the guidelines and stick with the curriculum.”
As for the recordings, he said, “I really wish the entire world would listen to them.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/nyregion/21kearny.html?ex=1329800400&en=1ee7c779609dfbb5&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(843 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
