Professor Punished for Saying He's Catholic

(Kirtland, Ohio) In March of last year, student Alexis Linton, a pagan, complained to school officials that her philosophy teacher, Dr. James Tuttle, stated in class that he was a Catholic and his faith shaped his personal philosophy. In her complaint, Linton considered Dr. Tuttle's beliefs offensive and recommended he be given "counseling for tolerance." In an attempt to resolve the issue, Dr. Tuttle revised the course description to include a statement identifying himself as "a committed Catholic Christian philosopher and theologian."

None of this set well with James L. Brown, the Dean of Arts and Humanities at Lakeland Community College, who decided to punish Dr. Tuttle by reducing his course load and, thereby, his pay. Dean Brown would also "subject him to classroom monitoring by a fellow professor before reaching a final decision on whether to actually fire him." It's not clear why the dean decided to support the pagan over the professor.

In support of Dr. Tuttle, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has become involved and written a letter of protest to Lakeland Community College President Morris W. Beverage. In the letter, FIRE asserts that Dr. Tuttle's candor about his own philosophical beliefs should be praised rather than condemned and that they are directly tied to the course content. Therefore, what Dr. Tuttle did was more than appropriate. Lakeland has failed to respond to FIRE's letter.

A few things about this issue have to be considered. First, if the professor had been pagan and the student had been Catholic, I'm fairly confident that the Catholic student would have been told to change classes, drop out, go to another school, or something and the pagan professor would continue teaching unimpeded.

Second, Kirtland, the location of Lakeland Community College, has a history of religious intolerance. Some may recall reading that Joseph Smith and his Mormon faithful established themselves and resided in Kirtland for a while before being harshly sent on their way west.

Third, President Beverage and Dean Brown may be excused for their poor decision-making because of severe health problems. Both exhibit signature symptoms of lacking a spine. Additionally, they don't seem to be the type of managers who believe in supporting the people who work for them.

Fourth, Alexis Linton needs to rethink her "counseling for tolerance" statement concerning Dr. Tuttle. As this story has unfolded, she had a problem with Dr. Tuttle. Dr. Tuttle had no problem with her.

In final analysis, it appears that paganism finds Catholicism to be particularly offensive. And, it begs one question. When performing human sacrifices, are Catholics most preferred or least preferred?

[Update] SCSU Scholars posted on this story also.