Matthew LaClair: still a deadset legend

Back in November 2006 I posted on Matthew LaClair, the US high school student who took a stand against a proselytising Evangelical Christian history teacher and invoked the wrath of the loving Christians in his community. I tangled with a few of those loving Christians myself, both at Five Public Opinions (on Blogspot) and on the discussion board “Kearney on the Web,” encountering all manner of logical fallacies and argument from CAPSLOCK.

In a recent speech delivered to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, LaClair recounted his dealings with the history teacher and an obfuscatory school board, as well as his treatment at the hands of his fellow students and townsfolk. As LaClair put it, “the religious right has no discernible shame or sense of decency.” Indeed. The good news is that his story received national media attention, and he has been able to attract some notable speakers to school assemblies, including the biologist Kenneth Miller and Barry Lynn from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

Via Friendly Atheist, where you can read LaClair’s speech in full.