World Humanist Day Celebration: In God We Teach

With Special Guest Matthew LaClair

BES joins the Baltimore Coalition of Reason to celebrate this day with a screening of the documentary In God We Teach. Filmmaker Vic Losick tells the story of Matthew LaClair, who rose to national prominence by challenging his history teacher who preached religious views in class. Matthew will take questions and read from his forthcoming book The Preachin’ Mr. P: Condemned in a Kearny Classroom.

About the film: Are teachers allowed to express their personal opinions in the classroom? Can competing theories be taught alongside evolution in a public classroom? These and other questions are the focus of the full-length documentary, In God We Teach, which follows the “separation of church and state” controversy played out in a very public feud between a high school student and his history teacher in Kearny, NJ, a blue-collar, all-American town within sight of downtown New York. Learn more at http://ingodweteach.com.

About Matthew LaClair: Matthew LaClair started out as a student activist, challenging his U.S. History teacher for preaching his religious beliefs during class time and taking on an American Government textbook that contained inaccurate and biased information. He has appeared on and in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, and Brian Lehrer on NPR. Since 2009, Matthew has hosted a talk show called “Equal Time for Freethought” on WBAI 99.5 FM in NYC, interviewing authors, scientists and public figures including Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lawrence Krauss, Chris Mooney, and Ellery Schempp. He graduated from The New School in NYC with a B.A. in Culture and Media studies this past summer and will be attending Columbia Journalism School starting in late August to pursue an M.A. in Science Journalism. Matthew is the brother of BES member Kate LaClair.