On Monday evening, Feb. 13, I attended the Fayette County Board of Education meeting and read the following:
Good evening Chairman Presberg, board members, Dr. Bearden:
My wife and I were here the night you and six other candidates presented yourselves to the board as a possible replacement for the late Dr. Sam Tolbert.
My wife and I were impressed with several candidates and would have chosen Ms. Bonnie Willis. You were our second choice, so we were not disappointed when you were selected.
I was present when you attended the BoE meeting as a new board member. You were selected chairman by a 3-2 vote, Dr. Todd and Ms. Key opposed.
Next, I was somewhat surprised with the Smith, Smola and Presberg vote to settle the NAACP lawsuit without input from the citizens.
I began to read [an opinion column] published in our local paper, The Citizen, revealing disturbing information about you.
I went to the Freethinkers’ website before it was locked out and read, “We’re about freedom from religion, separation of church and state, rational thought and skeptical thinking, secular humanism, agnostic, skeptics, freethinker, atheists, Brights, secular parenting, secularism, wissenschaft, neopagan, recovering from religion, pantheism.”
As a born-again, Spirit-filled Christian, I was alarmed that anyone would participate in such activities, much less our new FCBoE Chairman because these views can’t help but spill over into the direction you may take the education of our county’s children.
Because over 70 percent of Fayette County citizens worship Jesus Christ, it’s all the more concerning based on the stated beliefs of these aforementioned organizations.
I wanted answers and emailed you and we arranged a time to meet. I spoke openly about my faith and my concerns, and asked you what your faith is. You declined to answer, but did say you were raised as a Jew.
Here’s another opportunity, I ask you again to please answer this question, what is your faith?
Mr. Presberg did not answer the question.
The video of this is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwdACdRCBvw.
David Barlow
Tyrone, Ga.
