A professor at a public university in Georgia is being investigated after atheist activists claimed that he proselytizes and enforces his creationist as well as Christian views on his students. Reportedly, Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science accused Tom McMullen, a history professor at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, for violating the First Amendment.
The secular groups wrote a joint letter to Brooks Keel, university president, claiming McMullen uses his class time to advance his personal religion and proselytizes students. The groups also urged the public university to investigate McMullen for propagating creationism and infringing upon constitutional and ethical lines.
“McMullen allegedly uses extra-credit assignments to try to ‘convert’ students by inviting them to write about McMullen’s religious beliefs,” the statement read. “He has reportedly also promoted Christian propaganda such as the recent movie ‘God Is Not Dead,’ which pits an atheist professor against a Christian student.”
FFRF and Richard Dawkins Foundation included student testimonials in their letter, evidence that points to the fact that McMullen does not believe in evolution or climate change and he does in fact try to push his outdated views in the classroom.
“He spends A LOT of time talking about Darwinism, he’s a huge religious nut,” another testimonial read. “Extra credit is to write a paper summing [up] his views on religion.”
Even though there seems to be a lot of complaints against McMullen, the professor does have an A on the website Rate My Professors, where many of his former students have showered him with praises.
The letter sent to Keel demands Georgia Southern University steps in to make sure McMullen’s religious views and classroom instructions do not overlap.
While speaking with the local media, McMullen denied all the claims made against him by FFRF and Richard Dawkins Foundation. He said several times that he does not teach creationism in the classroom, though noting that some of the topics he covers could be misinterpreted as preaching.
“I don’t try to convert anybody. In some of my classes, like for instance, World History I, we’re doing Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and then Christianity, and then later Islam, and also, I might add Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism,” McMullen said.
However, he did clarify his stand on macroevolution, saying he does not believe that all living creatures descended from one common ancestor.
“I don’t accept that as a scientist,” he said. “I was an agnostic, thought science had the answers and, investigating science, I realized science didn’t have all of the answers, including descent from a common ancestor, and then came to believe in God.”
Photo Credits: A Jew for Judaism
