Federal Judge Rules Telling the Truth Unconstitutional

The Smirky-Darth maladministration is far from over. Its anti-democratic, un-American, Talibantastic legacy will continue as long as the hundreds of freakazoid judges it appointed remain in place to hand down despicable rulings like this.

SANTA ANA – A Mission Viejo high school history teacher violated the First Amendment by disparaging Christians during a classroom lecture, a federal judge ruled today.

James Corbett, a 20-year teacher at Capistrano Valley High School, was found guilty of referring to Creationism as “religious, superstitious nonsense” during a 2007 classroom lecture, denigrating his former Advanced Placement European history student, Chad Farnan.

I'm not holding my breath until this Orange County, CA judge issues subpoenas for George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the thousands of other republican "leaders" across the country who have spent the last seven-plus years denigrating American Muslims by calling their religion "Islamo-Fascism."

As they used to teach in journalism school, the First Amendment is a leaky rowboat in the middle of the ocean; to save ourselves at one end of the boat, we have to save the idiots at the other end. For journalists, the idiots at the other end were rags like the National Enquirer. But it applies to everyone who uses the First Amendment to express points of view we despise. Take away someone else's right to free speech, press, religion, assembly or petition, and you take away your own.

So let's not hear anything disrespectful about atheism, socialism or environmentalism, unless you want to lose a lawsuit for denigrating me.

PZ Myers explains the factual ludicrousness of the decision.

I am astounded that Corbett was found guilty of anything.

First of all, he told the truth: creationism is religious, it is a product of superstition, and it is nonsense — it doesn't fit any of the evidence we have about the history fo the world or life on it. We have to have the right to tell students not only that something is wrong, but that it is stupidly wrong.

Secondly, we are being told over and over again that Christianity is not equivalent to creationism. This teacher has specifically said that creationism is nonsense, and this judge has equated a dismissal of a weird anti-scientific belief with making a rude remark about Christianity. So…where are all the Christians rising in outrage at the slander of their faith?

Thirdly, and this must be said, Chad Farnan is a self-righteously moronic creationist wanker who deserves to have his stupidity pointed out publicly, in the classroom and out of it, far and wide. Spread the word.

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic ....