The story making the rounds today is of a Catholic high school teacher who was given the boot for refusing to allow an American flag in his classroom. Until his dismisal, Stephen Kobasa was an English teacher at Kolbe Cathedral High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A local TV station ran a very short version of the event on it’s website that makes it sound as if Kobassa was the victim of a nasty school administration.Kobassa reportedly claims he was canned "because he says it conflicts with his Catholic faith and teaching beliefs."
OK – fair enough. Sounds like we have a Catholic teacher who believes an American flag in the classroom will take the focus off God. Or do we? Well, not exactly.
As it turns out, Kobassa’s true reasons for refusing to display the flag have a lot more to do with politics than religion. Here’s how Kobassa sums things up: “Everything in the Gospel rejects what flags stand for: boundaries, hatreds, creation of enemies." Notice how he uses the word "flags" and not the term "American flags." That’s because he adheres to the radical political philosophy that views all nations as equal.
But all nations are not equal, as any one of the millions of immigrants streaming into the U.S. from other countries can tell you. And the notion that the American flag stands for "boundaries, hatreds, creation of enemies," sounds a lot like the anti-Americanism that is so popular in certain circles, which is not surprising since Mr. Kobassa is a member of the quasi-Communist organization, Catholic Worker.
The plain fact is that Kobassa’s repeated and bizarre refusals to even allow an American flag in his classroom, let alone say the Pledge of Allegiance, is not about putting the flag before God, as he claims, but his refusal to acknowledge the unique place in history that the United States holds.