I think your teacher is immoral to use his authority to coerce what students think or its expression. It gets tricky because in early grades at least, teachers actively try to instill values. Many are still pushing to channel student energy into social justice and so on at later grades too. More than a few go into teaching expressly to 'shape' the next generation. Personally I find that reprehensible. Respecting autonomy is paramount. But I can see how for a religious person with a fundamentalist bent responding in a way that is respectful to you would be very difficult. This is one place where fearing God is clearly detrimental to doing the right thing. A religious dick isn't going to change his spots just because you put him in a classroom.

I teach but I make it a point to avoid sharing my agnosticism or atheism. Tolerance toward my personal views should not be a prerequisite to learning mathematics. They are not there to be converted by me. Their minds are not my play thing nor are they under my jurisdiction. I do 'keep the peace' in the classroom, but that doesn't extend to policing their opinions which offend me. So long as they're on task, that's their business.

(November 4, 2013 at 6:57 am)ToriJ Wrote:

(November 4, 2013 at 6:48 am)pomegranate Wrote: I'm sorry I didn't make it clear enough. It was before class started and it's music class so we were just unpacking our instruments and chatting.

It's okay, I apologize for coming across as a dick in my first post.

I'm guessing reporting him is out of the question?

I was a high school teacher for a long time, and this is probably a bad idea. Reporting a teacher will make problems for the OP if the teacher is this big of an asshole- and there's not much here that would grab a Principal's attention and get any action going. I've seen many teachers like this, and the way to deal with them is just to get through your time with them.

If you suspect that his personal feelings are influencing your grade, or how he treats you in the classroom, then it's time for action.

Your teacher made a mistake that, if made in certain parts of the U.S (frankly it should be all areas but such as it is), would get him severely reprimanded if not canned. He involved himself in religious matters and shamed you for your non-belief in front of others, which is completely unacceptable for a state paid teacher.

(November 4, 2013 at 9:47 am)Aral Gamelon Wrote: Your teacher made a mistake that, if made in certain parts of the U.S (frankly it should be all areas but such as it is), would get him severely reprimanded if not canned. He involved himself in religious matters and shamed you for your non-belief in front of others, which is completely unacceptable for a state paid teacher.

I don't know though...it's a private school, though secular. Does that rule still apply?

(November 4, 2013 at 9:52 am)pomegranate Wrote:

(November 4, 2013 at 9:47 am)Aral Gamelon Wrote: Your teacher made a mistake that, if made in certain parts of the U.S (frankly it should be all areas but such as it is), would get him severely reprimanded if not canned. He involved himself in religious matters and shamed you for your non-belief in front of others, which is completely unacceptable for a state paid teacher.

I don't know though...it's a private school, though secular. Does that rule still apply?

Eh to be honest I'm not sure but it's worth the research if this is a common occurrence at your school. You should also request a copy of school policies regarding the matter. As it is a secular school, ideally, there should be some form of protection in place for equal religious rights but that may not be the case.

At any rate you should not let some music teaching twat waffle suppress your beliefs in a public manner like that unchallenged. It's a hard thing to do when faced with opposition from an authority figure, but usually worth it in the long run (or so I have found it to be). That being said I strongly advise that you research into the facilities policies, and state/federal laws that are applicable to a private school before initiating or answering to such a discussion. While defense of one's beliefs is highly important, expulsion or other disciplinary actions exacted over it may not be worth it for you.

Talk to your teacher about it outside of class time. If they want to remain obtuse, take it up with higher management.

I can't tell from the OP if the teacher was specifically reacting to your comment OR if he considered the entire topic inappropriate?

I would not ever consider intruding into a conversation my students were having on their own time. Everyone is different. As a teacher, I would want to be confronted if one of my students felt that I stepped out of line (college level). But again, everyone is different. Tough call.

I was confused by the "private, secular, school" notation. Who knows what their rules are concerning that stuff?

We have seen numerous outrageous decisions by school boards/administrators lately where their ideas of discipline and the scope of their authority seems to know no bounds.

I was very reactive and antagonistic when I was in high school. Had I been in that situation, I probably would have let the teacher have it in front of the rest of the class. I would have admonished him/her to never intrude on my personal conversations and that my discussion of god's non-existence is none of their fucking business.

Now that the situation has past, though, I would just let it go. If you reported the teacher, it would just be another he said/she said conflict, and those never end in the student's favor. I would just keep an eye on that teacher and make sure to call them out in front of the rest of the class if he/she does something like this again, but that's just me. I don't let people get away with shit like that.