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A professor in a public college in the U.S. state of Wisconsin is being accused by an atheist group of promoting religious beliefs in class.
Professor Hiep Van Dong of the Madison Area Technical College (MATC) is being targeted by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) for telling students in his Leadership, Ethics and Development course to add religion in their lives.
Once, the FFRF claimed, a student submitted a “Self-Awareness Exercise” that included the student’s rejection of religious dogma.
Dong replied in writing: “Taking care of your spiritual health is just as important as physical/mental/emotional fitness. Living according to man-made rules, doctrine, or expectations does not lead to true spiritual freedom.”
When the student asked him to clarify this, Dong said he has “discovered it isn’t about do’s and don’ts, it is about a personal relationship with a living God. It is not about earning my way to heaven or God’s grace; however, it is about seeking a personable Creator and sustainer of my life.”
FFRF described as “inappropriate” Dong’s statements in class.
MATC officials will investigate the complaint, according to Madison.com.
“We will take the appropriate measures when we know all the facts,” said MATC spokesman Cary Heyer.
FFRF also said Dong uses as textbook evangelical pastor John Maxwell’s “Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn,” which it said is a promotion of religion.
The atheist group said the professor’s promotion of religion violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
In a letter to Dean Bryan Woodhouse of the Madison College School of Business and Applied Arts, FFRF said, “Federal courts have upheld public universities’ restrictions on a professor’s religious expression in the classroom and other like settings. These restrictions do not abridge the professor’s free speech rights.”
