Opinions
Veteran: You Fought for Your Country, Now Set Yourself Free
Memorial Day is a time to remember those who have fallen in the service of ...
War
Christian War Veteran Talks NATO Protest, War, Faith and Peace
Jacob George, a Christian war veteran who served three tours of duty in ...
Column
Hypnosis and Yoga Open Hidden Spiritual Doors
Hypnosis and yoga are a couple of mystical practices which have basically gone ...
Pastors
Seven Keys to Preventing Pastoral Burnout
I have the incredible opportunity to interact with pastors regularly. In recent ...
A former high school wrestling coach filed a federal lawsuit Monday against a Dearborn, Mich., high school and its Muslim principal a year after being fired.
Gerald Marszalek, who coached wrestling for 35 years, claims his contract with Fordson High School was terminated because of his association with a Christian volunteer coach, who the principal accused of converting a Muslim student to Christianity.
"We are getting a glimpse of what happens when Muslims who refuse to accept American values and principles gain political power in an American community," said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of Thomas More Law Center, which filed the lawsuit on the former coach's behalf.
The law firm is suing for violation of constitutional rights to free speech and exercise of religion, and Michigan laws against discrimination. Marszalek is seeking his back pay, injunctive and declaratory relief, damages, and to be reinstated as coach of the wrestling team.
Conflict arose more than three years ago when Marszalek's volunteer assistant, Trey Hancock, held a summer wrestling camp where a Muslim camper converted.
According to Thomas More Law Center, Fordson High School principal Imad Fadlallah punched the student who converted and told him he had disgraced his family.
Like us on Facebook
Fadlallah ordered Marszalek to ban his assistant from the school and all wrestling events.
Hancock, a pastor of the Dearborn Assembly of God, said last year that he never mixed religion with sports.
But complying with the school, he stopped his work as an assistant.
Hancock, however, had a son on the wrestling team and attended the wrestling meets to support his son. A Muslim parent complained to the principal that the coach didn't do enough to keep Hancock away from the students, Marszalek explained to FoxNews.com last year.
After the wrestling season ended, the school did not allow Marszalek, also a Christian, to reapply to his coaching position.
"Failure to renew coach Marszalek’s contract had nothing to do with wrestling and everything to do with religion," Thompson said.
The city of Dearborn has a large Muslim population. An estimated 30,000 of its 98,000 residents are Muslims, according to Thomas More Law Center.
229
