I just searched this blog, and to my surprise, I have never blogged about my 3.5 years in Federal Court. Go figure.
In late fall of 1987, I was an untenured (i.e. NON-permanent, contingent) professor of Physical Education at a large southern university that loves football (that last part doesn't narrow it much does it?). I had decided by this early point in my career in Higher Education that the prospects of being the "greatest teacher this university has ever known" were steadily dimming. Instead I had elected to try to impact this uni for the L^rd, Jesus the Christ.
I decorated my office to reflect this commitment, including prominently placing my 1957 worn KJV Bible on my desk. I began to communicate to my students that the most important thing they could know about me was that I "was a Christian". I also developed a talk on my specialty science area called, "Evidence of G^d in Human Physiology".
Coincidentally, my immediate supervisor had grown up devoutly Roman Catholic. As an young prof, he had fallen in love with a married woman--and you don't have to know much about Catholicism to know this is a NO-NO. In the end, the woman won out over the church, which undoubtedly created greater inner dissonance for my boss. He had sworn to stamp out ANY mention of Christianity he encountered in Higher Ed., undoubtedly to help reduce his own sense of guilt.
The announcement was made that no one should promote Christianity on campus, as that would be "improper". Hmm, since I was the only person in our unit doing this, the announcement was clearly aimed at me alone. Seemed a bit "chicken" way to "correct" me.
A few days later, my bosses' boss called me to his office where he presented me a letter telling me personally to never mention Christianity again on campus. Hmm, what now?
Brenda and I discussed this at length. I was the sole supporter of 3 children, a wife and another child on the way. It didn't take us too long to adopt Martin Luther's statement, "Here I stand, I can do no other." He could not recant, and neither could I. My job, and my salary, would clearly be put into a high-risk position. Frankly, if I were the uni., I would have speedily fired me, and thus be quickly done with a pesky problem. But, they did not.
After some consultation with folks who know about such things, Brenda and I decided to file a lawsuit against my employer--the one who sent me a check at the end of every month.
Hmm, this could go very badly.
Read on next blog.
In late fall of 1987, I was an untenured (i.e. NON-permanent, contingent) professor of Physical Education at a large southern university that loves football (that last part doesn't narrow it much does it?). I had decided by this early point in my career in Higher Education that the prospects of being the "greatest teacher this university has ever known" were steadily dimming. Instead I had elected to try to impact this uni for the L^rd, Jesus the Christ.
I decorated my office to reflect this commitment, including prominently placing my 1957 worn KJV Bible on my desk. I began to communicate to my students that the most important thing they could know about me was that I "was a Christian". I also developed a talk on my specialty science area called, "Evidence of G^d in Human Physiology".
Coincidentally, my immediate supervisor had grown up devoutly Roman Catholic. As an young prof, he had fallen in love with a married woman--and you don't have to know much about Catholicism to know this is a NO-NO. In the end, the woman won out over the church, which undoubtedly created greater inner dissonance for my boss. He had sworn to stamp out ANY mention of Christianity he encountered in Higher Ed., undoubtedly to help reduce his own sense of guilt.
The announcement was made that no one should promote Christianity on campus, as that would be "improper". Hmm, since I was the only person in our unit doing this, the announcement was clearly aimed at me alone. Seemed a bit "chicken" way to "correct" me.
A few days later, my bosses' boss called me to his office where he presented me a letter telling me personally to never mention Christianity again on campus. Hmm, what now?
Brenda and I discussed this at length. I was the sole supporter of 3 children, a wife and another child on the way. It didn't take us too long to adopt Martin Luther's statement, "Here I stand, I can do no other." He could not recant, and neither could I. My job, and my salary, would clearly be put into a high-risk position. Frankly, if I were the uni., I would have speedily fired me, and thus be quickly done with a pesky problem. But, they did not.
After some consultation with folks who know about such things, Brenda and I decided to file a lawsuit against my employer--the one who sent me a check at the end of every month.
Hmm, this could go very badly.
Read on next blog.
Hummm! I wonder, keep church out of school. Good Luck with employer.
ReplyDeleteWell, your suggestion is impossible. Schools ALWAYS transmit someone's "church" values. Yes, I loved my employer-- still do. I had a terrific career! Blessings,
ReplyDelete