You see, in America, when you invite a Coptic Christian to speak at your school about the persecution he suffered at the hands of Egyptians, who are Muslim, and are notorious for their persecution of Coptic Christians, well, that's just not something we can tolerate in this grand, glorious pluralistic, tolerant, multicultural society we live in. From the Charlotte Observer:

RALEIGH --The former Enloe High School history teacher who invited a Christian evangelist to speak to his students is not taking his reprimand quietly.

Robert Escamilla said the Wake County School System squelched free speech and academic freedom, and he is finding a growing group of supporters.

In the days since he was reassigned to Mary Phillips High School, 100 of his former students have signed a petition to have him reinstated at Enloe. The chairwoman of Enloe's social studies department penned a forceful letter to the school board calling him a "sacrificial lamb."

Escamilla, 49, maintains he did nothing wrong when he invited Kamil Solomon, an Egyptian-born Christian who lives in Raleigh, to speak to 300 or so Enloe students about his persecution at the hands of the Egyptian government. On the contrary, Escamilla said, he thought the visit by the evangelist was an educational exercise that exposed his students to different opinions and challenged them to form their own views.

The question is, he said: "Are we going to be open to a variety of different perspectives versus are we going to shut down the educational environment to people of certain views?"

Escamilla, who readily avows his own Christian faith, acknowledges that Solomon was not neutral toward Muslims. But he insists his guest did not denigrate Islam.

The school system sees it differently. In a sharply worded release last month, Wake County Schools Superintendent Del Burns said Solomon's primary message was to convey his anti-Muslim and pro-Christian views.

Burns has apologized to Muslims for Solomon's visit.

Yes, an apology was clearly in order. How dare this man allow a Christian to testify about his persecution at the hands of Muslims? Those poor Muslims must've been horrified...by the Coptic Christian impudently exposing Islamic intolerance, that is.

And he issued new guidelines that require guest speakers to sign forms saying they will not denigrate any culture, race, gender, national origin or religion.

Experts on teaching religion in the public school said Escamilla's appeal on the basis of academic freedom or free speech is weak.

"Public school teachers are subject to the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which is designed to ensure that government remains neutral" when it comes to religion, said Charles Haynes at the nonprofit First Amendment Center in Washington. "That draws lines on their exercise of free speech."

If any of my readers can provide me a coherent argument in support of this supposition based on Constitutional law, please email me at [email protected]. Thanks in advance.

At the suggestion of a student, Escamilla invited the evangelist to his Bible in History class, an elective course, to talk about the impact the Bible has had on him.

On Feb. 15, Solomon gave eight talks to groups of students. On a video of one of those talks, Solomon is seen waving a copy of the Quran and calling Islam a religion of violence.

Solomon also distributed pamphlets. One called the Prophet Muhammad "inspired by Satan."

Several parents complained to the principal.

Clearly they have no idea who Muhammad was.

The school system began an investigation.

On Feb. 27, Escamilla got a letter placing him on paid suspension. He was told he was not allowed on any school campus and could not talk to any student, school system employee or member of the media.

Sometimes you have to laugh just to keep from crying.