Was my science teacher allowed to make this comment?

Question

I was 12 (I'm 16 now) and I was in a science lesson. I can't remember how the subject came about but one boy in my class said 'but sir, what about Adam and Eve?' he said it jokingly and he's not Christian. Anyway, my teacher goes 'Christianity is false, if it wasn't, that means we'd all have to be related to each other. Christians believe the Earth was made 4000 years ago which is completely ridiculous.' The class just laughed then. I felt quite embarassed, like he was mocking my religion but I never complained against him and neither did anyone else (I think I was probs the only Christian in the class.)
I'm still not going to complain, I don't care about it anymore but I just wonder whether he is actually allowed to make a comment like that? Sure he's entitled to his opinion on religion but I don't think he should be allowed to make a comment like that. Anyone know?

I live in the UK phlebob. We only have 30 people per class. It is not that odd that I'm the only Christian in it. There are hardly any Christians in my year/grade..whatever you call it in America.

machineheader....I'm saying it exactly like he did. It wouldn't have bothered me so much if he said 'in my opinion....' or if he got his facts right...since I believe the majority of Christians don't think the Earth was made 4000 years ago.

Hey, I'm very open minded about religion. All my friends in school are athiests, my religion is personal to me and I don't speak about it in school. I don't get offended that easily either....that's why I still remember that incident though, because of the way he said it.

As I stated previously, I'm not going to complain. It doesn't bother me. All I wanted to know whether teachers are allowed to make comments such as that.

Darlingthat'sfabulous: Well of course I don't expect him to say: 'yes Adam and Eve are real'
I think he should have said something like: Well, everyone has their own personal beliefs about God but my subject is science and it is neither my role nor within the curriculum for me to be teaching you about Christianity. Personally I don't believe in Adam and Eve but this is my opinion only and you all have your opinions on it'

No other science teachers have ever said anything like what he did. Not even the Religious Education teachers have made comments like that. My R.E teacher is not part of any religion but he never makes strong comments like that, he's always told us what he believes but has always been respectful to all beliefs.

Machineheadliner: You have already decided that I am misconstruing the truth. If that's what you want to think, then fine...I'm not about to spend my time persuading you to believe me on this trivial matter. It's just a question on yahoo answers and you're making it out to be a court case.
I'll tell you one final time that I am not twisting his words, there is no reason for me to. Why should I? I already said I wasn't going to complain and I'm not sad enough to make up things just to prove a point to people over the internet. That is way in which my teacher said it. I was just 12 years old, I wasn't 'poised to take offense.' I'm being perfectly honest with myself and if you can't believe that then this is your problem and it affects me in no way shape or form. Have a good day.

I can't believe the fuss that this question has caused. It's my fault really, I should have asked it in the 'education' section rather than this one. I simply wanted an answer from a person like a teacher who was knowledgable in the rules of teaching to tell me whether or not he was allowed to make this comment. And I thank the few that managed to do this. I do not care for the answers that said 'well he should be allowed to say it' or 'he was saying the truth' because quite frankly, you are not answering my question.

Answer 1

Hi,

I've recently done teacher training (primary school) in the UK, (finished 2 years ago) and no - teachers aren't allowed to make comments like that. You're allowed to say "I believe... " but you're not allowed to say make definate statements like that about any religion. (I think the rules are different in faith schools.)

I don't know what I would have done in your situation. Ideally, if I was brave enough, I'd have challenged the teacher there and then, or talked to them, or the head later on, although I think you'll just have to let it go now after 4 years.

(If you are ever in the same situ, if you can force yourself, it would prob be good to try to do something - would probably help other Christian students in later years.)

X

God bless

Answer 2

I doubt it was said that way, 'tis distorted by you, I think.
That said, if that is exactly it was phrased, it would have been wrong for your teacher to say that, particularly the part about Christianity is false. If your teacher didn't say that (as I suspect is the case) but merely made a case for the falsity of the story, then it is not wrong, legally or ethically IMHO.


Edit: OK, what idiot gave this distorted reality question a star? To misconstrue the truth of what happened to make a point is to put it in the realm of the hypothetical. If it is such, it should be stated so, as opposed to masquerading as the truth. Why doesn't the questioner address these doubts, and why don't answerers doubt the validity of this reality? I find it hard to believe that a teacher would have made these comments in exactly this manner. And if this is distorted, would the questioner be guilty of libel?

Edit 2: Keep in mind that you were 12 at the time and obviously oblivious to the fact that there were probably other Christians in the room. It sounds like you were poised to take offense to something in what the teacher said here. Be honest with yourself.

Edit 3: To address other answerers: From the text question, it was a student who raised the issue of religion by invoking the story of Adam and Eve, and therefore the onus is not on the teacher for 'raising' it. I am also not familiar with the laws in the UK in this regard.

Edit 4: Your opinion on 'what should have been said' is exactly that: an opinion, and could be your own attempt at censorship of the teacher. By definition, unless otherwise stated, or unless a religion can be proven as fact, any such comments are an 'opinion' on the teacher's part. Why would they always need to be 'prefaced' as such? Do you say "it is my opinion..." at the beginning of every sentence?

Answer 3

I don't know the laws in the UK but if you can find two or three kids who remember he said that and will back you up, I would report it if he's still teaching. He has no business giving his opinion of religion to a group of impressionable l2 year olds. He wasn't even right. Christians don't believe the earth is 4,000 years old. Some believe it's between 6-10,000 years old though. He could have just passed off the remark about Adam and Eve by saying "never mind about Adam and Eve" or something like that. He didn't have to indoctrinate a whole class of kids into atheism. Luke 17:2 says "It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones." Pray for his salvation. He's in big trouble with God if he doesn't repent.

Answer 4

Well he's factually incorrect. Judaism itself is older than 4000 BC which would mean that according to genesis life started over 6000 years ago.

Thats still a silly estimation though, and the Jewish dates may have more to do with the changes in which people have measured time, than it has to do with reality.

One can postulate that Judaism evolved from a progenitor Parsi, Sumarian or Vedic religion, as many of the stories in the old testament are shared accross the middle east and Asia. We know that those religions are over 10,000 years old (and egyptian culture goes back over 8000 BC).

When it comes to facts about time, one shouldn't totally believe everything one reads in religious books. This is because written record only goes back 4000 BC (for Judaism). Even in Jesus' time, it was the common practice to pass religion aurally, as many people were illiterate. The first new testament book was probably the Gospel of Thomas, written 10 or 20 years after Jesus' crucifixion. It is likely that many stories have been corrupted via a kind of chinese whispers over the centuries, before they got written down.

Everybody is entitled to his/her opinion about religion, so its not important what the science teacher personally thinks. There are many scientists who believe in God, but there will always be people who are not at that stage.

Answer 5

Well if it was a public school, it should have been considered a violation of separation of church and state. The schools cannot endorse any religion, or mock it. They have to leave religion alone to free inquiry. My Biology teacher basically said the same thing, about how Evolution disproved the Bible and thus there is no God. People say we are making this stuff up, but I know what I heard. I don't know if this is a rare occurrence, but I would bet it happens a lot.

But these people who support Evolution in the classroom ignore Separation of Church and State. They think, "If the Bible can be disproved, it is perfectly fine to teach that"

I don't agree. If the Qur'an could be proved, I don't think it should be taught. If Mormonism could be absolutely disproved, I don't think that should be taught. Religion should be left out of the classroom of the public school.

Teachers get away with a lot. In high school, during class one of my teachers said that President Bush should be executed. I mean I am not a Bush fan but threatening the Presidents life like that is illegal.

I have no idea how teachers can say these things and nothing happens.

Think of it this way. I want to teach history, but what if I said in class, "Jesus died for your sins and you need to accept him as your Savior"... I would be fired in a heartbeat. Yet people can say all they want about the Bible being wrong. It isn't right. Religion is just best left alone, and not to be mixed with the classroom agenda.

Answer 6

I'm not really sure about rules in the UK, sorry. But in the United States, it would be fine for a teacher to express that we can't all be related as well as that the Earth is far older than 4000 years. It would not be okay for him to say Christianity is false, however, as Christianity varies.

Answer 7

That depends on the school and the circumstances. Ridiculing Christianity would not be inclusive behaviour if he knew there was a fundamentalist Christian present - but this was 4 years ago and we were less sensitive then.

The early chapters of Genesis reflect the scientific knowledge of the Jewish people around 2,000 - 2,500 years ago. Whether they are literally true or not should not affect your relationship with God. Science has to teach what science currently believes. In 2,500 years' time, we'll believe something else.

Answer 8

All religions are equally false. They were made up by people just as the stories that religions are based on. Any time you prefer your belief to truth you are creating mental illness for yourself. It is a teacher's obligation to offer you the best explanation to any question. Any explanation that includes a reference to magic such as gods, is a deliberately misleading explanation. We live in a natural universe. Everything that happens is natural. We have valuable explanations for many things. There remain many things we still cannot explain well. That we don't now have an answer that is functional for some issues, is poor excuse to rely on what we know is untrue such as religious beliefs.

Answer 9

He is obviously very uninformed. The earth was made, according to Genesis, in 7 days. However later in the bible it also states that one day to God is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. Thus the time the earth was made is an open ended argument even in the bible. The 4000 years is from the time that the Jewish bible was written, this does not go beyond the first man, in this case man means people and lots of them, I think that the change wrought by God on Adam with the removal of one side was the change from being able to reproduce by non sexual means to the present two sexes. The Bible was written to enable a people who were not necessarily literate to understand where they came from without going into great detail. Your science teacher was obviously not much of a scientist or he would have had a proper argument, in scientific terms, to back up his statement.

You are quite right to dismiss him as ignorant.

Later: I see that the atheists are out in force tonight, no doubt the vampires will also be logging on soon.

Answer 10

Yes, he has a right to his opinion. However, there are times in the workplace where your opinion is best kept to yourself. Obviously your science teacher missed that class in his college for this was probably one of those times. Could he say it? Probably. I've run into a lot of teachers who have used their position to further their political views, religious views and, well, whatever floats their boat. I look at it as an opportunity to hear another side of something and to develop my own critical thinking skills.