"He said it would offend others in class,"

Hmm, so does money offend people in this class, since "In God We Trust" is on all our currency? Are these students also offended when people say "God Bless America"? If someone in this class sneezed and I said "God Bless You!", would they also get offended?

This is absolutely ridiculous. I wouldn't be offended by a paper by a Muslim telling why America should be ruled by Islam. I would completely disagree with it, but I would not get offended. This is just more left-wing, hate-Christian bias in our education system.

How many times has God's name been taken in vein in that class? By people in that class? The idea that using it in the proper context for a paper on that very topic would offend people is crazy.

I personally don't see the point in leaving God out of a paper about religion and the government. As long as the paper is objective and non-offensive, it doesn't make sense to police the words used.

However, it's not a freedom of speech issue. You can't write whatever you want in a paper, and then demand an A under the freedom of speech argument. What if the word used was the F word? The student has the right to write whatever she wants. But that means the teacher has the right to grade however he wants.

Since he specifically told her not to use the word "God" in the paper before she even started it, I was be surprised if the grade changed. She knew the consequences before she submitted the paper. If I were the teacher, she'd get a low grade...not because she used the word "God," but because she deliberately did what I asked her not to do.

I personally don't see the point in leaving God out of a paper about religion and the government.

That's a real relief.

As long as the paper is objective and non-offensive, it doesn't make sense to police the words used.

You mean like the crucifix suspended in a beaker of urine that the sniffers on the left decided to call art? Was that offensive? If the student was writing a piece on religion and the government, is it not possible that it was an opinion piece? If so, how can one remain objective? Subjectivity is behind every opinion.

However,

Ahh, the liberal "but" - this time disguised as "However..."

it's not a freedom of speech issue.

No one said it was.

You can't write whatever you want in a paper, and then demand an A under the freedom of speech argument.

She's not.

What if the word used was the F word?

In this educational environment, that paper would have ensure the student a recommendation for tuition aid awards and and honored place in the University libraries display of "truly important papers."

The student has the right to write whatever she wants. But that means the teacher has the right to grade however he wants.

So you think that an instructor has no standards that they must uphold as far as relating grade to quality of the effort? Must be why schools are in such a mess today, people like you agreeing that teachers can just do what they want.

Since he specifically told her not to use the word "God" in the paper before she even started it, I was be surprised if the grade changed.

It will get changed. Why? Because liberal educators are the worst kind of cowardly liberal - any publicity and they run like cockroaches from the light. Every once in a while, a student speaks out and gets the attention of the media of the blogosphere and the cockroaches find themselves in the light. They will cave immediately and run for cover. They may try to rationalize their stupid behavior for a while, but as the scrutiny intensifies, they will fold like a 3 dollar camp chair.

She knew the consequences before she submitted the paper. If I were the teacher, she'd get a low grade...not because she used the word "God," but because she deliberately did what I asked her not to do.

If you were the teacher and made that kind of ridiculous "demand," I'd be signing a petition to have you removed from your job, too.

Qt,

What's the point of writing a paper about religion and not including the word God? That makes as much sense as writing about a library and not using the word books. For a few paragraphs as an exercise it makes sense, but for a serious term paper, it's ludicris. If I'd been the student, I'd have been protesting before I even submitted the paper so I'd have a leg to stand on now.

Take the diploma you would earn from a university that condones such behavior, and replace the Sears catalog in the outhouse with it.

The badly used catalog is more valuable by far.

{I personally don't see the point in leaving God out of a paper about religion and the government. As long as the paper is objective and non-offensive, it doesn't make sense to police the words used.}

I'm with you this far. 'Tis a pity you have to proceed to undermine this promising start. Kind of sounds like those lib seminar callers to talk radio shows that begin, "I'm a lifelong Republican and voted for Bush both times, but...."

{However, it's not a freedom of speech issue.}

The hell it isn't.

{You can't write whatever you want in a paper, and then demand an A under the freedom of speech argument.}

She didn't write "whatever she wanted." Nor is she "demanding an 'A'". Her instructor approved her choice of topic and then forbade her to use the word she could least avoid in order to best and most efficaciously discuss it. If he didn't want to review a term paper containing the word "God" (other than as a profanity), he shouldn't have approved the topic.

{What if the word used was the F word?}

Are you seriously equating "God" with F-bombs?

{The student has the right to write whatever she wants. But that means the teacher has the right to grade however he wants.}

Wrong. The student is obligated to write either on an assigned topic or a topic approved by the instructor. If she does not comply she earns a failing grade.

The teacher, for his part, sets the parameters of the assignment. If the student complies with those parameters, he is obligated to grade her work fairly.

In this instance, the student, by any reasonable standard, fulfilled her responsibilities and should have been graded on the quality of her work. The teacher, by contrast, failed to honor his obligations by imposing an unreasonable, and childishly obnoxious, stipulation that made it impossible for her to carry out the assignment.

It goes without saying that this instructor should be reprimanded at the very least, and deserves to be terminated. Hopefully Victor Valley Community College will at least see discretion as the better part of valor and cut its losses. But given the atmosphere of academia that breeds such reflexive intolerance, even at juco level, I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

"He said it would offend others in class,"

Someone being "offended" seems about as common these days as people saying they are "in love" or "love" something or "hate" something. Let's turn this around ... Let's say that Christians would be offended to hear a report about homosexuals, about promiscuous sex, about anything critical of Christianity or hearing someone talk about the benefits of any other religion than Christianity (ie. Buhddism, Islam, etc). This would rule out a lot of topics. Now, let's take into consideration all other walks of life and all things that offend them. This would pretty much limit the topics for the term papers to ... nothing.

The only case in which this "write your term paper without using the word 'God'" would make sense is if it were a practice of using creative writing. We had numerous writing lessons like that in grammar school and high school English in which we were told to write a descriptive paper about something, without saying what is that something. We also had papers in which we were asked not to describe the same thing the same way throughout the paper. This was a practice in using many descriptive adjectives and adverbs to describe the same something or the same feeling, etc. However, those were for creative writing lessons or papers. A term paper is completely different. It is a research paper in which the student must gather facts to support a thesis and then come to a conclusion based on those facts. I have never heard of adding a creative writing technique to a term paper. Unless of course it was a creative writing class.

However, the instructor's reason for his "no God" condition is not for creative writing purposes, but rather is completely clear: "it would offend others in the class." I would be interested in finding out what other words this instructor has on his "List of offensive words banned from use in term papers". Hopefully this point is brought up in the legal action.