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Published: February 13, 2009
“Ask God what your grade is”
Federal lawsuit filed on behalf of LA City College student whose professor called him a “fascist bastard” for speaking against same-sex marriage in public speaking class
News release from Alliance Defense Fund
Feb. 12, 2009
LOS ANGELES -- Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom filed a lawsuit against officials of the Los Angeles Community College District on Wednesday, Feb. 11, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuit comes after a professor censored and threatened to expel a student following a speech about marriage and his Christian faith during an open-ended assignment in a public speaking class.
 “Christian students shouldn’t be penalized or discriminated against for speaking about their beliefs,” said ADF senior counsel David French. “Public institutions of higher learning cannot selectively censor Christian speech. This student was speaking well within the confines of his professor’s assignment when he was censored and ultimately threatened with expulsion.”
On Nov. 24, 2008, Los Angeles City College speech professor John Matteson interrupted and ended Jonathan Lopez’s presentation mid-speech, calling him a “fascist bastard” in front of the class for speaking about his faith, which included reading the dictionary definition of marriage and reciting two Bible verses. Instead of allowing Lopez to finish, Matteson told the other students they could leave if they were offended. When no one left, Matteson dismissed the class. Refusing to grade the assigned speech, Matteson wrote on Lopez’s evaluation, “Ask God what your grade is.”
One week later, after seeing Lopez talking to the college’s dean of academic affairs, Matteson told Lopez that he would make sure he’d be expelled from school. Matteson’s treatment of Lopez during his speech follows an earlier incident in which Matteson told his entire class after the November election, “If you voted yes on Proposition 8, you are a fascist bastard.”
“Professor Matteson clearly violated Mr. Lopez’s free speech rights by engaging in viewpoint discrimination and retaliation because he disagreed with the student’s religious beliefs,” said French. “When students are given open-ended assignments in a public speaking class, the First Amendment protects their ability to express their views. Moreover, the district has a speech code that has created a culture of censorship on campus. America’s public universities and colleges are supposed to be a ‘marketplace of ideas,’ not a hotbed of intolerance.”
ADF-allied attorney Sam Kim and attorney Michael Parker of the Buena Park firm Sam Kim and Associates APC, are serving as local counsel in the case.
To read the lawsuit, Click Here.
Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 12:55 AM By Aaron
Lopez was completely within his rights to express his faith in class. The Professor was incredibly wrong and should be fired! Even though I am gay, no professor in a public institution has the right to abridge a student's right to speak his personal opinions. The professor is a Fascist Bastard!!!!!
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 2:20 AM By Charles O'Connell
It used to be that speech and debate students were taught the meaning of the logical fallacy "the ad hominem attack", in which a losing opponent is reduced to disparaging, not the proponent's ideas, but his person. Of course, this behavior makes us ask about "the question behind the question". NARTH and Courage teach us that adults who haven't achieved a confident sexuality become hardened in their "lifestyle". (In "One Man, One Woman: A Catholic's Guide to Defending Marriage", Dale O'Leary relates The First Fact about homosexuality: if mid-adolescent young people experiencing same sex attraction are just left alone, a high proportion of them will achieve confident sexual identity and abandon homosexuality.) There is a great deal of anger in the homosexual lifestyle, enough so that most of the orange-vested abortion "clinic escorts" are homosexuals. If someone is so angry as to take it out on the lives of defenseless children, is it any wonder that they do so on grown up college students?
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 4:24 AM By Pilsun
That's why I frequently donate money to ADF, and would encourage others to do so as well. Mr. Lopez is a brave soul. God Bless him.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 5:04 AM By Jeff Thomas
Los Angeles Community College should immediately dismiss this professor for his unprofessional conduct in a classroom, and for his intolerant hate speech violations using deragatory and very imflamatory language against his student Jonathon Lopez, and violating Mr. Lopez's free speech rights that all Americans enjoy under the Constitution of the United States of America since1776. As well hate speech violations should also be filed against this professor for denying Mr. Lopez's the right to state his Christian beliefs in a classroom environment where learning and being accepting and tolerant about different points of view has been a fundamental hallmark of the true educational experience for all students right across America since the founding of this great nation called the land of the strong and free. For the sake of Jonathon Lopez and all other students across Amercian universities and colleges, let us pray that true justice and liberty is presered with a successful ruling in favour of freedom in this Federal lawsuit filed by the Attorneys of the Alliance Defence Fund For Academic Freedom. God Bless Amercia.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 5:25 AM By St. Christopher
This is so excellent. Professor Matteson and the City College will surely lose in this legal exchange. More importantly, anyone who attends this school, and that lives in CA, generally, are being seriously short-changed and should leave immediately. It is unlikely that anything of value is being taught there. The State is so full of coded demands for every exchange of information, whether education or the simple interplay of government and the populace. In fact, the people of CA are virtual prisoners, being fed the "PC Poison" on a daily basis. Perhaps Mr. Matteson will be disciplined when he is forced to give Jonathan Lopez's paper, and perhaps the College will be forced to back off at least some of its speech code restrictions. This will amount to little more than cleaning off the tip of one shoe after walking through a barnyard. Better to leave CA to its evil.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 6:18 AM By Ted
Please don't believe for a moment that this environment is unusual on a college campus. It's rampant across America to have things happen like this, and most students know better than to speak out for their values if they are not Politically Correct.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 7:17 AM By Tom Byrne
This sounds right out of "Education for Death", an expose of the Nazi school system by a US teacher who had taught for a time in 1930s Germany. If you can't get the book, you might find the old Disney propaganda cartoon of the war years that was based on it. This vicious ridicule and threat of persecution was a standard fascist tactic.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 8:31 AM By Henry
Unbelievable! I wrote an email to the Dean of Academic Affairs, Ms. Allison Jones, to express my disbelief -- as well as an encouragment to do the right thing. Seriously, the hypocrisy of a facist professor calling a student a facist! Matteson clearly has much deeper issues to deal with. The man needs counseling.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 8:33 AM By Harry
Tom, I agree with you. But we differ from Nazi Germany and many other totalitarian regimes. Generally the public had no way of knowing what was really going on in (say) Russia or Germany during the rise of Communism or Nazism. In America, we do, or can, know. Trouble is we have been conditioned not to CARE. We have been conditioned to care about what the mega media tell us we should care about (e.g. global warming!), and not to care about what they tell us not to care about (e.g. the death of 1.3 million unborn each year). The media is now our nations' catechism. Everybody can see the glaring ripoff that is taking place under the new administration, namely the stimulus bill, but it elicits little more than a yawn from the public because MSNBC tells us to suspend our critical faculties and believe our new president can't do wrong. That, to me, is the most ominous feature of our society today. Anyone can detect the hatchet of George Soros and other subversive elements in the events taking place now. But people seem willing to watch like sheep while the Americn System is dismantled and replaced by some brutal uptopianism.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 8:47 AM By John Zakharia
I urge all of us to contact the Los Angeles College Academic Senate and ask them to discipline the teacher. Go to the LA city College website and then find the Academic Senate and then look for the emails.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 8:48 AM By Bob B
Is this the sort of behavior the "stimulus" bill will help fund with "aid to education"? If Professor Matteson doesn't have tenure, he should be fired because the reported behavior is not his first case of penalizing students who disagree with him. If he has tenure, the responsible disciplinary body at the school should take whatever disciplinary steps are in their power. Matteson stifles and threatens reprisals against students because they won't toe his line -- and he's calling THEM fascists?
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 8:55 AM By maria
I wonder what the Professor would have yelled if the student's speech had been praising the homosexual lifestyle.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 9:33 AM By ann
Charles O'Connell,
You said: most of the orange-vested abortion "clinic escorts" are homosexuals.
Where is your evidence for this statement?
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 9:37 AM By Frank Munoz
I wonder if the speech had been anti-Christian, would Professor John Matteson stop it on its tracks.
I don't think so.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 9:40 AM By Richard Mc Candlish
Perhaps Matteson should ask God what HIS final grade will be. Despicable.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 10:12 AM By Almond Milk
God bless this student. I agree with Aaron, this teacher went out of line. So much for freedom of speech. I guess students aren't allowed to think for themselves, they need these sort of modern day teachers to tell them what is right and what is wrong. But what does one expect from a secular school, education is now becoming so liberal and so anti-God and anti-Christian, this does not surprise me but I am thankful that this student stood his ground and is fighting back, this should give out a loud message. I am not surprised because we have dealt with many liberal teachers who think they know better than the parents, they think they have a right to tell our kids what is right and what is wrong, they are out of line and most parents work full time jobs that they are trusting their kids to these sort of teachers, in which some of them want to take away the rights of many good and conservative children.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 10:15 AM By Almond Milk
Tom Byrne I have heard a lot on this topic on the Nazi school system. We may not accept the fact that it is happening today in our schools but it is. I believe it and I also believe that many liberal parents are in favor of it as well.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 10:46 AM By marc j belllm
I ANY parent is bewildered by their kids bad behavior, look no further than their local public school. As a recent college graduate, I could fill pages of these types of stories. All commited by liberal loons who sole purpose in life is to create reproductions of themselves through classroom "instruction."
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 11:33 AM By Peter
Was the class on public speaking or evangelization? Two very different things.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 12:04 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
ann,
When we were rescuing, the escorts would flick their sweat on us and proclaim that they were homosexuals and hoped we would get AIDS. I personally witnessed this and attest to what Charles has written.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founder & Chairman
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 2:03 PM By Dan
I am deeply disturbed to hear of this insanity. I have been a full-time community college instructor for almost 20 years now and if this happened at Pasadena City College where I teach I assure you it would not go well with that instructor. Our school is undergoing accreditation this year and last year I was part of a committee that looked into our code of ethics, which consists essentially of District policies designed to support academic freedom in an atmosphere free of what happened here. I suppose all community colleges have such policies; the question is-- are they enforced? What John Matteson did was a childish, disgusting breach of ethics. I am embarassed for him and the black mark on our profession.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 2:44 PM By Charles O'Connell
Thanks for your response, Ann. I hope my claim wasn't too wide ranging. I should perhaps say, "based on my experience". I don't know about people's intimate habits - and wouldn't care to know. I do know that, in the high-conflict environment out at the abortion facilities, those who undertake the "clinic defense" posture, habitually and openly espouse "gay liberation" slogans. An acquaintance of mine, the Rev. Don Blythe of At the Well Ministries, Stockton CA, related the experience of spending long hours out at the abortion facilities, arranging practical "truces" with certain members of the opposition, exchanging information in a "neutral" environment ("they ask about us, we ask about them"), and discovering that most of the orange-vested "clinic escorts" are homosexuals who were molested by ostensibly-religious family members - thus accounting for some of their anger. But none of this should be any news to anyone who attends the annual Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco. The demonstrators are overwhelmingly homosexual, and exclusively pro-abortion: the two usually go together. Nobel Prize-winning discoverer of DNA Dr James Watson advocated the "right" to abort a baby based on some imagined, in utero discovery of a "gay" predisposing genetic condition - the "right" to abort "gay" babies. Realizing the implications of this, there are some homosexual persons who are pro-life: witness PLAGAL, the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 3:12 PM By John Feeney
Why isn't the ACLU taking action against LA City College and Professor Matteson for their violation of Jonathan Lopez's rights? Because the ACLU obviously think it's OK when hate filled liberals do it. Hate filled liberals who are being paid with our tax dollars.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 3:23 PM By Charles O'Connell
Kenneth M. Fisher, thanks for your witness. I had similar experiences: Out at an abortion facility at Marconi & Eastern in Sacramento, some homosexuals battered and threatened me as I stood cater-corner from the facility: a woman violently thrust her finger into my sternum and threatened to sexually-mutilate me. Instructions in the March 1990 BACAOR (Bay Area Coalition Against Operation Rescue) assault manual "Clinic Defense" are that "We use what we know of them psychologically to defeat them, and in almost all cases, the most our physical contact with them amounts to is a 'scuffle': pushing, shoving, grabbing. . . . Chivalry is not dead with these people (just convoluted), and that means they have an inordinate sense of modesty and 'honor' about being accused of touching women. There are innumerable instances of clinic defenders neutralizing male [pro-lifers] by shouting 'get your hands off me, don't you dare touch me' all the while they are tagging or pushing [pro-lifers] out of the line. Although in general sexual jokes or extreme harassment are not useful with the [pro-life] picketers (they tend to settle right into martyrdom) if baiting a [pro-lifer] about his treatment of women, his sexuality, and how many times he masturbates will keep him from bothering clients and from being able to effectively direct the others, do it."
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 3:23 PM By Charles O'Connell
In another sad story, I was on the sidewalk outside the Marconi & Eastern, Sacramento abortion facility, praying with a woman named Joy, who held a large icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe. (And did Joy show me how to pray the rosary with joy - she SANG her rosary!) A homosexual woman who was later seen on t.v. as a Child Protective Services worker (explaining her department's posture about a beautiful 2-year-old, blond boy who was scalded to death in a bathtub), was on the sidewalk screaming at us. She had previously torn a piece out of my sandalwood rosary; she flicked the segment of beads which she was wearing as an earring, mocking me. A few days later, waking from an afternoon nap, I saw, in a waking-up state, the view of that incident, from the traffic island in the middle of the street: there was Joy with her icon of Our Lady; there was I, being confronted by the "clinic escort"; and lowering behind the poor, unfortunate homosexual woman, was a monstrous black form about 10 feet high, its arms thrust out at us, over her head.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 3:46 PM By Elizabeth
I am not surprised!
I worked at a Community College here in California for quite a long time and saw so much liberalism going on, you just would not believe........
And yet when we try to get a table at the yearly health fair, they always have some 'lame' excuse........
Definately a 'big time' agenda going on in all the colleges, just not the right one.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 4:51 PM By ann
Kenneth M. Fisher,
You give anecdotal evidence which is good. But I want to know where Mr. O'Connell finds evidence for his statement "MOST of the orange-vested abortion "clinic escorts" are homosexuals.
This is very important. If it is true, it needs investigation. If not, we need to be careful in our rhetoric.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 6:16 PM By sonojim
Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts with the professor himself. Here is his email: mattesjc@lacitycollege.edu
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 6:20 PM By sonojim
And the Speech Department Chair:
Jeanne Dunphy
Department Chair/Speech Department
Phone: 323 - 953 - 4000 ext. 2967
dunphyjs@lacitycollege.edu
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 6:26 PM By KG
As someone who was raised Catholic, has an uncle who is a priest and spent 12 years in Catholic education, I cannot adequately express how sad and disgusted I am that a Catholic publication will so easily and so willingly publish an article with such a complete lack of journalistic integrity. You have published this press release from the ADF without having made even the most cursory of attempts to verify the factual claims made in this release. This suit has absolutely no merit and will be dismissed in summary judgment because nothing in this filing or release is factual. The editor replies: The item was referred to clearly in bold type as a news release from ADF. As regards accuracy, why should we believe your claims over a national legal organization that regularly engages in such litigation? Moreover, while the ADF release provides specifics about the allegations, you merely dismiss them as not factual but provide nothing by way of evidence to support your position.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 6:43 PM By MarkF
This is exactly what I've encountered myself. Any criticism at all of homosexuality is labeled as hate speech. Sometimes I've said too many things on gay boards that, though true are a bit tough. And I got labeled as engaging in hate speech. So I softened it down, and I mean a lot. On one board, the only thing I said was, "Maybe it's not such a good idea afterall." I didn't bring up sin, the Church, nothing. And I was banned from the board for just saying that. Yeah, sometimes people on here use the wrong words like calling gay people "sodomites", which is kind of a rough word. But we have to remember that no matter how gentle the words are, or how reasoned the arguments are, that many radical gay people will have a tantrum. Aaron and Peter on here aren't like that. But this professor is. I know everyone saw what Fr. Perozich wrote about homosexuality being a state of prolonged adolescence. This is what we see so much of with the radical gay people. This is what Kenneth saw with gay people flicking sweat on people to scare them with AIDS. I've seen gay guys in their thirties who still have coloring books. I've seen adult gay guys who still have toys like a little kid. I know one guy who's pushing forty and who sucks his thumb. It's a state of arrested development. My God, look at Michael Jackson, Rosie and Boy George. I see it all the time, and I see it in myself, though as I get further away from the activity I seem to be finally growing up.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 9:19 PM By Victoria
Well, Matteson is most certainly going to lose this law suit along with his job. And he certainly had no right to stoop to the language of the gutter to make his point of disagreement with Mr. Lopez. What ever happened to, "While I disagree with your argument, under our Constitutional Right of Free Speech, I will defend your right to say it"?
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 10:03 PM By Dan
"This suit has absolutely no merit and will be dismissed in summary judgment because nothing in this filing or release is factual. " KG -- it should be a small matter to find out if the incident occurred. After all, there was a classroom full of students.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 10:11 PM By Charles O'Connell
Ann, I appreciate the sincerity of you inquiry, "what evidence is there that the orange-vested abortion facility 'escorts' are overwhelmingly homosexual"? I would be at a loss to explain why this isn't apparent to you, if you've ever been out to an abortion facility. I'm sorry, but it's axiomatic, in that people who go out, know it's true, without the slightest doubt, from numerous unambiguous anecdotes, and none that I can recall that contradict the weight of the evidence. (I.E., I've never known of many "I'm straight but I'm not narrow", heterosexual people who do "clinic escorting".) The first time I ever went out, I'd had no interest in pro-life, I was coming from concern with the defense of marriage. As a matter of fact, I was brought out to my first abortion facility after seeing the cover of our local, radical, free newspaper, (the Sacramento News & Review, overwhelmingly supported by sex-ads, though it is carried outside all the 'legitimate' grocery stores and other businesses). The cover of the particular throw-away newspaper issue in question, showed the backs of two orange-vests with homosexual slogans on bumper-stickers applied to the vests. I came out, not for pro-life, but for defense of marriage; it was only after I had come out to an abortion facility, that I became converted to pro-life. If you don't know it's true that the orange-vested "clinic escorts" are largely homosexuals, Ann, you need to go out and discover for yourself the truth of the matter.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 10:20 PM By JLS
ann, all you have to do to find out is be there and look at them. Also, why would normal people want to be abortion goons? Homosexuals are chock full of anger and search for ways to deliver it. Those goons protect the most viscious cruelty on the face of the planet. Go and see for yourself.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 10:24 PM By JLS
MarkF, are you sure there is an end point in "growing up"? I kind of think it continues to the end of one's days.
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Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 11:20 PM By Almond Milk
KG I am disgusted and ashamed by you letting us know that you are Catholic, having an uncle who is a priest and then state that you are disgusted with this article. Please don't embarrass us who truly love our faith by making those statements. Why would anyone be in denial that this sort of stuff is actually going on? Why would you be so against ADF? If it wasn't for them we would not have enough justice for Christian men and women who are being mistreated daily due to their religious believes. It is no wonder that people label us Catholics as lukewarm, your comments only keep proving to outsiders that our faith is truly lost and water downed. It is embarrassing that someone with your background would be disgusted with this article. Why don't you speak up and be disgusted with the mistreatment of this student, with all the lukewarm Catholics, or better yet be disgusted if the faithful are silenced for their believes, be disgusted when Jesus is offended, when our blessed Mother is mocked. That would better suit you and better suit all those who are in denial.
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Posted Saturday, February 14, 2009 5:21 AM By Thomas Miles
I voted NO on prop Eight, this professor does not belong in the classroom! Good for mr. Lopez!
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Posted Saturday, February 14, 2009 5:53 AM By BJ
The USA is fast becoming a Marxist / totalitarian state where all dissent is crushed mercilessly.... and with violence if necessary. Mao and PolPot had a similar attitude and `fear of the regime` is deliberatley institutionalised.
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Posted Saturday, February 14, 2009 9:39 AM By Fr. M.P.
Expect more of this to continue, but we must fight for Truth in the public square. MarkF's testimony can be echoed by a great many. Anyone who is obstinately attached to mortal sin, and not just the active homosexual type, will always try and eliminate the opposition in any way they can. (I cannot recall which Bible verses talk about that too.) That's why there are martyrs, who refused to support the pagan or atheistic lifestyle in times past, and even in today's world. There were more martyrs in the 20th century than in all past history. That's why there is the effort to prohibit any mention against a mortally-sinful and totally unnatural homosexual lifestyle - more properly called a death-style - because they just don't want to hear it. You have seen many here say that even old ladies should have violence done to them for wearing a Crucifix during a Proposition 8 event. Pray for these souls on the wide road to destruction and fight their errors in the public square.
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Posted Saturday, February 14, 2009 11:09 AM By Tom Byrne
Father M.P: read the second chapter of Wisdom.
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Posted Saturday, February 14, 2009 1:15 PM By Victoria
Almond Milk wants to have his/her hands over the ears going, "LAH-LAH-LAH-LAH" so as not to face the realities with which we, of the Catholic Faith are faced today. KG has every right (and yes a duty) as a Catholic, a Human Being and as an American Citizen to express an opinion on so important a subject.
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Posted Saturday, February 14, 2009 2:36 PM By Life Lady
In a speech for a class I spoke about the miracle of the sun at Fatima. The professor corrected me with "the sun 'appeared' to dance in the sky, it didn't actually do it" to which I answered with the question "How do you explain that everyone was drenched when the event started, and their clothes were dry when it ended?" which rendered him speechless. I had a lot of questions after, and gave out a lot of information on where students could get more information. That was a fun day, and I got B+ just because I countered wtih my question, but it was worth it. Never back down, people, we are in a war here, and we warriors have to be willing to take the hits, and to get out the big guns when it is called for.
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Posted Saturday, February 14, 2009 7:32 PM By MarkF
I think I've mentioned this before, but anytime you hear someone start off with "I went to Catholic school for X years..." etc., what follows is nothing very Catholic. Now I don't know much about the ADF group. Maybe they are not always factual. But they are pro-life and they are pro-Christian. I'd tend to believe them more than groups whose agendas we all know - "Catholics for Choice", Dignity, Call to Action, anything that comes out of the mouth of Sr. Joan Chittester, etc. And there is reason for being glad too. I've spent some time lately on dissenting message boards, and let me tell you, they are scared, very scared. They correctly see (and hate) what Pope Benedict is doing. They know which way the pendulum is swinging, and tradition, Jesus, the light, life, decency is all winning in the Church. Our society may be growing darker, but the Church is growing in holiness.
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Posted Sunday, February 15, 2009 10:22 AM By OneoftheSheep
What part of free speech does Professor John Matteson pretend to be ignorant about in his classroom antics? Fire the professor and take away his free speech rights to state his case and let's see how he likes it.
Of course, I say this tongue in cheek. I had a radical professor in my Catholic college back in the 1970's. I challenged his statements on abortion and lived to graduate summa cum laude.
Those days appear to be over, my friends.
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Posted Sunday, February 15, 2009 1:22 PM By JLS
Victoria is correct; even the devil has the right to free speech, the right to deceive souls away from God, the right to butcher babies, the right to engage in the most obscene activities ... yes, KG has made a great point, that the only people who have no rights are those who actually voice the truth of God.
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Posted Sunday, February 15, 2009 6:29 PM By Dan
"KG has every right (and yes a duty) as a Catholic, a Human Being and as an American Citizen to express an opinion on so important a subject." True Victoria, but what is frustrating about KG's post is that he dismisses the ADF suit out of hand without a shred of evidence to back his position. If KG is sure there is no basis to the suit, let him back up his assertion, which he all the more should do because he speaks like he is in the know. The fact that Lopez spoke to a college dean a week later surely is evidence that there is some weight to the ADF position. KG is right to his opinion, but I would like to read a position backed with reasons and without the condescension.
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Posted Sunday, February 15, 2009 10:42 PM By Almond Milk
Victoria your comments regarding mine sure don't make sense. You must be in Lah Lah Lah land.
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Posted Monday, February 16, 2009 5:46 AM By Fr. M.P.
Thanks Tom Byrne. There are others in the Psalms too, and obviously in the Gospels. But I just cannot memorize verse numbers. *** Life Lady, great response. I recall reading a science estimate that it would take a large nuke to provide all the energy needed to evaporate all that rain water and dry all the clothes in the short time it happened.
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Posted Monday, February 16, 2009 6:10 PM By Marty P.
I have searched all over the internet and the big question seems to be what exactly Jonathan Lopez said. Seems like most of you THINK you know what happened in that classroom. Do you? What is in this speech? Everyone is so quick to jump on this and yet no one actually knows what he said. But alot of you seem to know that he was wronged. We know there's a lawsuit, but there's a lot of frivolous lawsuits because someone feels they were wronged and a lawyer thinks they can get something out of it. Why is it that people always take offense at things they know nothing about? Any of you watch Prayers for Bobby on Lifetime this month. That's an example of what happens when you do that sort of thing.
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Posted Monday, February 16, 2009 6:58 PM By Mark from PA
I watched "Prayers for Bobby." The way that mother treated her son was so sad. She just kept calling him a sinner and drove him away. It is good that she came to her senses and is now speaking out against hatred and prejudice but sadly it is too late for her son. I cried at the end of that movie. My heart breaks for young people who are mistreated.
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Posted Monday, February 16, 2009 10:35 PM By Dan
This sorry episode has now gone national as it was part of the OReilly Factor tonight. Listening to the segment, I came away convinced that what we have here is a simple confrontation between political correctness and Christian witness. The ammunition of the politically correct is the statement, "I was offended by your hate speech." KG may turn out to be right -- college administrators are in general more beholden to this sentiment, far more, than they are to Christian truth and natural law. In fact emotion has replaced reasoned debate on the entire homosexual marriage issue. A more subtle attack on natural law is not to label Christians as hateful, but to assert that they are destructive to hold to truth and objective morality (as in Prayers for Bobby). Anyone who appeals to Lifetime as a reliable moral guide has jettisoned reson for emotion and caricature.
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Posted Tuesday, February 17, 2009 8:37 AM By Jessica
This is a Christian founded nation. Generations of Ignorance and indifference has caused people to not research and forget that. A Jewish family purchased and restored Thomas Jefferson's house b/c they were glad he helped establish a country where they could worship freely.
For this Instructor, no PHD to force his views on his captive audience, class, during the election & later STOP an Informative Speech b/c he didn't agree w/ the views IS FASCIST BY DEFINITION!
He is no roll-model for any organization or cause of tolerance. The Catholic Church failed when it shamefully demanded tortured "sincere confessions of Faith" and Ins. John Matteson is a failure when he destroys students lives b/c they're opinions differ.
With students on the PHI RHO PI circuit Matteson will be judging speeches students give at Nationals from all over the US. GIVEN Matteson's stunt and gross abuse of power that right should be revoked! OUR families and Matteson's all deserve to live in a better America than the one Matteson has created in his class room. The price for the freedom of speech has been paid with the blood of Patriots. We are Free Moral Agents. God wants us to choose Him. When we don’t that is between us and God. The freedom to choose is what makes America Great! God lets it … “rain on the just and the unjust” Matt. 5:45. God does not abuse His power, just men like John Matteson.
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Posted Tuesday, February 17, 2009 6:23 PM By JLS
"all deserve to live in a better America than the one Matteson has created in his class room": Well said, Jessica !!!
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Posted Tuesday, February 17, 2009 10:05 PM By Jessica
Bible answer to "Prayers for Bobby".
Mat 10:37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
Watch "The Passion of Christ" I don't think it will be on Life Time for Women, but it does address the innocent being condemned and murdered.
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Posted Tuesday, February 17, 2009 10:44 PM By jessica
Posted Friday, February 13, 2009 11:33 AM By Peter
Was the class on public speaking or evangelization? Two very different things.
Peter, They are not two different things. The structure, diction, speakers physical appearence, information backed up with quotes and source sites are what speech grades are based on in SCOM 101. In fact he could have literally given a speech on the history of Evangelism for an Informative Speech. If the speech became a Persausive Speech then the student would have missed the mark. Accounts are that the speech was "This is What Christians believe... Informative Speech. Perhaps the Instructor broke a basic tenant of Communication, and stopped listening as an audience member when his Hate for Christianity blinded him to reason and tact. But the word of God is powerful even to non-believers. Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.Peter there was censorship and abuse of power here.
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Posted Tuesday, February 17, 2009 11:22 PM By Almond Milk
Jessica you speak with backbone! Good for you! God's graces be with you and guide you in all of His ways. His ways combined with backbone equals greatness for God!
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Posted Friday, February 20, 2009 11:35 AM By Ruth Peters
Jonathan Lopez's grade is higher then his Professor's and Obama's combined.
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Posted Friday, February 20, 2009 12:17 PM By Peter
Jessica - The student missed the mark.
From other sources: "One of the students stated that "His speech was not of the informative style (public speaking) that our assignment called for, but rather a preachy, persuasive speech (evangelization) that was completely inappropriate and deeply offensive. I respect his right to freedom of speech, but I also do not believe that our classroom is the proper platform for him to spout his hateful propaganda."
The second student said, “I don’t know what kind of actions can be taken in this situation, but I expect that this student should have to pay some price for preaching hate in the classroom."
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Posted Friday, February 20, 2009 5:49 PM By Almond Milk
Ruth Peters that is definitely true.
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Posted Sunday, February 22, 2009 3:47 PM By Almond Milk
Peter I take great offense to your post! Your statement stating that he was preaching hate crime is a total lie! There is a book which I can't recall the name of it that actually teaches the homosexual agenda on how to intimidate Christians by calling them haters, by calling them homophobes etc. This book actually helped those infiltrate the homosexual agenda into society by making the Christians look like they were the ones with the problem. It was an interesting book, helped expose how these "sick" individuals got into our society by helping down play sin and taking away the rights of Christians little by little. Peter, do you want to take away the rights of people who don't agree with you?
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