IN THEORY:

A Los Angeles City College student is suing the Los Angeles Community College District after he claims his professor called him a “fascist bastard” for a speech he made in his public speaking class against same-sex marriage. When he tried to find out his grade, the professor allegedly told him to “ask God what your grade is,” according to the suit. Some of his classmates reportedly also argued the student engaged in hate speech. Do you think the professor and students crossed the line or was it inappropriate for the student to broach religion in a public school?

If the professor is guilty he should be fired on the spot.

He is a disgrace to every honest professor who loves young people and is sacrificing to help them become critical thinkers who are not required to check their brain at the door while bowing to the idols of political correctness.

It is incredible that public education has deteriorated to the point that taxpayers are paying the salaries of intolerant bigots who use the classroom as a bully pulpit.

I find it interesting that this cowardly professor allegedly told the student to “ask God” what his grade was. Based upon the despicable actions of the professor, it is not difficult to deduce who he considers to be God.

I for one am extremely thankful that we still have students with enough courage to stand up and defend what every culture and every religion has known for thousands of years — the only marriage that is natural is between a man and a woman.

I fear that we have reached the point in America where being “the land of the free and the home of the brave” means you have the courage to not allow your free speech to be stolen along with your ability to think by fascist professors.

Pastor Dwight Tomlinson

Liberty Baptist Church

Newport Beach

Should the freedom of individuals to make personal choices in their personal lives supersede the coercive power of the majority of society to establish regulations to the common benefit of society as a whole?

Religiously, same-sex relationships do not threaten the survival of the institution marriage as we know it. Now you are bringing this issue into the classroom.

Does it belong there? Is this a moral issue and does it fit into the school’s regulations of morality or not? Does separation of church and state apply here? This is the question.

The Jewish tradition does call upon us to affirm certain moral values. Who we choose to live with as a partner is not directly a moral issue but a religious one. Religion, morality and civil laws at times see different things. This is one of them. Many cannot help but remain troubled by the conclusion.

The issue is everywhere in the media and will be discussed in the school. You cannot stop it.

It will be debated by teachers and students alike. Society and life standards have changed on many levels. If this dissatisfaction of acceptance of a real and viable lifestyle is the inevitable result of competent modern thought, so be it. To those who disagree, get over it and live with it.

Rabbi Marc Rubenstein

Temple Isaiah

Newport Beach

Wow, how about this for cross- communication!

Unfortunately, this professor lost his focus and his conduct was not appropriate.

However, according to the report in the newspaper, the lawsuit was not about the professor’s conduct as much as it was about how some Christian students feel subjugated for their point of view.

What if a non-Christian student took an un-Christian view of this subject in a Christian university? Might not they run into the same kind of inappropriate response from the Christian professor, the administration and/or even the students? This is a disadvantage for public schools.

But if the professor is mature — no matter what kind of university they’re in — they will not let the content of a student’s speech interfere with their responsibility as a teacher. They will, in fact, help the student become an even better communicator and speaker, irrespective of their point of view. That is their job!

Pastor Jim Turrell