A ll eyes were focused on northwest Alabama over the past couple of weeks, and we were not cast in a favorable light.
An ominous 84-second audiotape recorded during a high school psychology class included derogatory remarks by Lauderdale County High School teacher, Bob Grisham.
The tape includes Grisham asking if anyone knows who is behind the 600-calorie school lunch. “Fat butt Michelle Obama,” he reportedly said. “Look at her. She looks like she weighs 185 or 190. She’s overweight.”
Later in the audio Grisham makes reference to the U.S. going in the wrong direction. He goes on to tell the students, “You can get pissed off at me or not. You can go tell the principal, call the superintendent and tell her. I don’t believe in queers. I don’t like queers, I don’t hate them as a person, but what they do is wrong and an abomination against God. I don’t like being around queers.”
We don’t have the space to thoroughly discuss the statements here. One thing is for sure. Public educators across this country portray, imply, and describe Christians as mindless, uneducated fools following folly on a weekly basis. Universities knowingly invite Christianbashers and compensate them with what amounts to taxpayer money. And we never hear about it. However, a few sacrosanct topics of our day always seem to motivate the media into polarization mode.
I don’t know that any of Grisham’s opinions during the rant lack merit. Each is worth discussion in the proper forum or context. However, his tone and words clearly demonstrated frustration and animosity. The spirit in which he conveyed his opinion was sorely lacking for someone in his position.
Most surprising is that Grisham is also the head football coach of a pretty good high school team. He teaches his players discipline and mental toughness. He stresses that in critical situations, losing one’s cool or making stupid mental mistakes can be highly detrimental to the team’s success.
He was also teaching a psychology class. Was this a new approach that would somehow win some people over to his way of thinking? Was this his way of speaking the Truth in love as described in Ephesians 4:14-15?
The merits of his twoweek suspension without pay can be argued for weeks. Some say his free speech rights were violated and that any punishment is out of line. Others say he should have been terminated.
The real joke here is the mandatory sensitivity training. That is nothing more than a politicallycorrect term for overt indoctrination, something with which our society is becoming far too comfortable.