Comment by Frink on February 6, 2009 at 1:45am

That church needs to be investigated and subjected to taxes. The school administrators/board members needs to be fired by the state board of education. The teacher should sue like crazy. Somebody probably ought to go to jail for corruption. That's my take on it.

Comment by Rev. James Thomas Hicks, D.D. on February 6, 2009 at 1:56am

Wow, I never knew the government was out to put atheist away too. FEMA & the concentration camps are goin' to be so over populated.

Comment by Pam on February 6, 2009 at 11:29am

That's utter crap. Did you read the comments, particularly the one from Justin B? He's a former student of Mullens' and wrote a great comment denouncing his alma mater.

Comment by Frink on February 6, 2009 at 12:04pm

Yeah, I saw the comments. I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming at this point. This school is run by bigots who ought to be loaded into a rocket and shot into the sun.

Comment by Johnny on February 6, 2009 at 2:56pm

Sounds like the rumor is they are going to let the preacher fill in to teach History, Government, and Economics. Not only is that a total crock, but how much more of an unqualified person could you get for those three subjects? Total trump would be if he was filling in to teach Science classes too.

Comment by Johnny on February 6, 2009 at 2:58pm

The other things that's just infuriating is that the principal tells him they are suspending him for being an atheist and being too liberal. Then if that isn't bad enough, the letter of suspension says its for inappropriate contact with students.

Comment by Johnny on February 6, 2009 at 3:04pm

A couple other links:

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/brookeland_isd_teacher_resigns_under_pressure_from_school__parents_02-05-2009.html

http://westtennessee.blogspot.com/2009/02/richard-mullens-update.html

http://westtennessee.blogspot.com/2009/02/friends-of-richard-mullens-monday.html

I'm also a little ticked at how little media coverage there is on this. You know there would be a phenomenal outcry if the guy were suspended for (almost any) religious view. I agree with Frink that it sounds like an easy lawsuite.

Comment by Johnny on February 6, 2009 at 6:22pm

A letter from his son, Clint Mullens, was posted over on Pharyngula.

Hi, I’m Clint Mullens, I am the son of Richard Mullens. I understand that my dad’s situation has come to the eye of a widespread amount of people throughout the internet. And I know I’m not only speaking for myself but also for my father, when I say that the help and support is SO greatly appreciated. It has also come to my attention that many people are skeptical about my father’s situation, and questioning the legitimacy of his own written statement. And I will do anything I can to clear things up for anybody, being the son of Mr. Mullens, I am up to date with his situation, and if anyone would like to be further informed or updated regularly, I will be glad to do it.
My email address is:

cmckinleym@yahoo.com

I am leaving my number here also, for an easier way of contacting me.

1-915-345-4491

I am currently a student in college, so calling and me answering may not always be possible. But if you leave a voicemail, I would be more than glad to return your phone call.

The following is to clarify some misunderstandings that some people may have about the situation.
My father was put on administrative leave for a week; the reasons expressed to him by the principal were that my father was “too liberal” and an “atheist”. Like stated in my father’s letter, these were brought to the attention of the school board by a few community members.
I’m going to clarify one thing before I proceed. What sparked this situation, I am referring to the “conversation” that was stated as being inappropriate in my dad’s class that made “this girl” go to the office and complain. The conversation was started when a few students in my father’s class began talking about love, one male student in the class basically stated that he believed “love was not real”

The girl then seemed to have gotten offended and left the classroom. The girl that made this “convo” known to the principal, had her mother come to the school and hold a meeting with my father, Mr. Turner(principal) and the girl’s mother. Again like stated by my father, the girl’s mother brought up attacks against him with statements ranging from, “he doesn’t even believe in god (being atheist)” to judging his parenting abilities. (which has no relevance)( but to clarify things, my father is a wonderful parent, I have grown up with just him since I was at the age of 11.)

Now let’s move forward to the suspension of my father, the principal of my former high school, told my father that the board was getting heated pressure from community members that my father should not be teaching at Brookeland High School because he is “an atheist and too liberal”. If you understood the environment of Brookeland, TX and actually the area as a whole, you would know that it is the “Bible-belt” of East Texas.

As my father began to fight for justice, and getting more notice by the minute, Mr. Turner sent my father a letter stating he had “improper contact with a student during his suspension.” What this meant, was that students contacted my father, (with Brookeland being a small school, it is easy to get a hold of a teachers contacts, especially since I just graduated last spring, and my little brother and sister still attend) and informed them that he had their full support in his fight for justice. That is the misunderstanding that many people are getting on many of these blogs.

And my father was never informed that he could not talk to any students during his suspension.

My father tried to instill in his students the same things he instilled in me, individuality, uniqueness, open-mindedness. And with this lesson he tried to teach students, his students did exactly that. They stood up for something, which if you knew half the students in this school, never really knew what to stand up for. Just what their parents would tell them to say. These students passed around a petition to reinstate my father as teacher of the history class. Like I stated in another blog entry, 101 of 103 students signed the petition. Of those two students that didn’t sign, on was a daughter of a school board member, and the other, the girl who left my father’s class.

Unlike, what was stated by Mr. Turner to the Beaumont Enterprise, which he stated that he did not know of any such petition, is ridiculous. I have heard from MANY of the current students, and they all stated that the petition was put forth to Mr. Turner and he refused to even give it any thought.

And just like in any situation when someone starts feeling the heat, Brookeland School Board members and the Principal began too, try and cover their “cabooses”, by making different allegations. But I believe with the support that my father is receiving he will receive justice!!

Again, I would like to thank everyone for the help and support. It is so greatly needed.

Sincerely,
Clint Mullens

Comment by Johnny on February 6, 2009 at 6:23pm

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/02/it_must_be_tough_to_be_an_athe.php#comment-1375714

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