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Daubenmire Testifies at Freshwater Hearing

Posted on October 29, 2009 at 12:18 am by Madrigal Maniac Under Local | Print This Post | Email This Post |  


Former London Ohio football coach and Christian evangelist Dave Daubenmire testified today at the hearing of John Freshwater. The Mt. Vernon school teacher who was fired for promoting Christianity and burning crosses into students arms. He was also accused of keeping a Bible on his desk, having Christian posters in his classroom, and calling Islam a false religion. Before he was fired he was warned and given a chance to remove these materials and to cease promoting his personal religious beliefs, but he did not. Freshwater was not fired until the parents of a Mt Vernon student complained after their son came home with a cross burned into his arm. Ohio law allows Freshwater to have a hearing before the dismissal is final.

A lawsuit filed against the district by the parents has been settled. Freshwater also has a lawsuit against the district.

For background on Daubenmire and the Freshwater case, type “freshwater” into the search box to the right.

It appears that Daubenmire was more interested in talking about how great he is than talking about how Freshwater violated the separation between church and state. Of course, he has some experience in this area since he quit his job at London after the ACLU filed a lawsuit due his promotion of Christianity to his players.

Daubenmire said it was he who convinced Freshwater to fight the charges.

“If I had not pressed the issue, they would have fired John Freshwater and nobody would have known about it,” said David Daubenmire, a former high school football coach.

The Columbus Dispatch

“It was my press conference,” he said. “I’m the one who called to let the media know what they were getting ready to do with my, John Freshwater. That’s what I do. I call press conferences, to raise awareness to things going on.”

KnoxPages.com

So I guess Daubenmire is Super Dave. Except that it has cost the Mt. Vernon school district tons of money to fight Freshwater’s lawsuit, the lawsuit filed by the parents, and to prepare for his dismissal hearing. Money that could have been spent on the students.

During cross examination by David Millstone, the districts attorney, Daubenmire admitted this.

Daubenmire agreed that defying the wishes of an employer, particularly surrounding religious issues, is insubordinate, but said he answers to a high power.

KnoxPages.com

Super Dave admits Freshwater was insubordinate. End of story, that’s it, bye bye, you’re fired.

Daubenmire ended with this gem.

“Our culture is Christian. The foundation of our laws is Christian,” he said. “We’ve become so afraid of religion in America that we won’t even acknowledge what’s happened. But it’s history.”

First, it’s the Christian evangelical myth that our country was founded solely on Christian principles. It was not. Certainly many of the founding fathers were Christian, but many had fallen away from the faith and were not what evangelicals today would consider practicing Christians. Franklin was a Deist. Jefferson was all over the place. He was considered by many a Deist, a Christian, a Unitarian, and by some an Atheist. Jefferson once wrote, “I am of a sect by myself, as far as I know.”

Second, I don’t even know what Daubenmire means regarding our fear of religion. Whose afraid of religion? I’m not afraid of religion. I respect those who believe but do not force their beliefs on me. America is afraid? We have a church, a mosque, or a synagogue on almost every corner. In Columbus, it’s hard to throw a rock without hitting one.

The only thing I’m afraid of is right wing evangelical Christians who want to create a monotheist state. The only thing Dave Daubenmire is afraid of is someone turning off the spotlight.

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One Response to “Daubenmire Testifies at Freshwater Hearing”

  1. RBH on November 2nd, 2009 11:21 pm

    “The only thing Dave Daubenmire is afraid of is someone turning off the spotlight.”

    Daubenmire’s resentment was palpable when he testified about being told to back off by Pastor Matolyak.

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