Scott Martindale, over at the Orange County Register, reports here on a lawsuit alleging a high school history teacher made intolerant remarks toward Christians in the classroom. I had the great fortune to take both AP Art History and AP European History from Dr. Corbett my senior year in high school at CVHS.

This article has dredged up all sorts of conflicting feelings about Dr. Corbett, education and religion in general–I hope I can express a little of it articulately.

1. I am so thankful I had Dr. Corbet as a teacher. I took his classes as a senior in high school (the student in the lawsuit is a sophomore, like most in his AP Euro class) and I believe he prepared me to think critically and work at a level appropriate for a college student. He wrote me the best recommendation letter of my academic career (including one that I wrote for a teacher to send) and I have corresponded with him on and off through the years. I hope to the God he doesn’t believe in that this lawsuit does not strip him of his teaching position or finances.

2. I sincerely doubt that most Christian students who take his class feel the same way. The article is correct in reporting that he made disparaging remarks toward Christians on a regular basis. Most kids at 15 or 16 don’t know how to handle this. The two reactions I observed were: a) the student tries to defend his or her beliefs and can not give a well thought out or articulated argument and gets shot down or b) the student stays quiet but feels like a kicked puppy.

3. I think the big issue in this case comes down to the definition of an AP class. AP stands for Advanced Placement and counts as college credit for many universities. In my opinion, if Corbett’s class is taken in lieu of a college history course, then he should have every right to lecture as a professor would on a college campus. If the AP class is merely an advanced history class for high school students, then the teacher needs to operate with the assumption that the students are not ready for a true college experience.

I have always believed in trial by fire when it comes to my beliefs. Dr. Corbett did a great job of encouraging me to think for myself and accepted that my conclusions were not what he had hoped. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this case.