After some thought on seeing what is appearing to be okay to say and do on college campuses and in the media, I thought it might be important to talk about something that very few people seem to value anymore and appear to be willing to trade in for a little collegiality–I am speaking about our right to be heard and our right to express our opinion. Progress cannot occur if some opinions and ideas are viewed and treated as heresy and others are not.
“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.” ~John F. Kennedy
REAL HATE
A recent news report about McGill University told the following story:
“A McGill University student is under investigation by police after he allegedly made death threats using his Twitter account. The student, Haaris Khan, was watching a documentary screened by the Conservative Party’s campus arm, Conservative McGill, when he appeared to become increasingly agitated and expressed himself on Twitter using his BlackBerry. “I’ve infiltrated a Zionist meeting. I feel like I’m at a Satanist ritual,” he allegedly wrote at the March 8th screening. “I want to shoot everyone in this room,” another tweet said. “Never been this angry.” The tweets call the documentary a “Zionist/Conservative propaganda film” and the gathering, which attracted about 20 students, “a secret Zionist convention.” Then: “I should have brought an M16.”
The article goes on to say that Khan continued tweeting the following day: “The jihad begins today.” (thestar.com)
“INDOCTRINATE U. “ – the movie
The movie they were watching at McGill University is called ‘Indoctrinate U,’ which has – interestingly enough — nothing to do with Islam, Jihads or Pita Bread. What makes it interesting to us, is the fact that some local San Luis Obispo heroes, villains and our very own Cal Poly plays a part in this fun story that rivals the best old fashioned Melodrama. (BTW, you can see excerpts of ‘Indoctrinate U.’ on YouTube and, if you look very closely, you can even see a clip or two of me providing wisdom.) The film is actually about the suppression of constitutionally protected free speech in academia. Are you confused? Why would anyone react so violently to a movie about free speech?
The answer to this question is very troubling. On college campuses today, the suppression of free speech has been used to freeze discourse, specify approved points of view, and indoctrinate students and faculty to the accepted truths as seen by those in charge. ‘Accepted views’ become a litmus test for any candidate being hired into academia. Then we get reports saying that American students are not very good at debate any more. Can you possibly imagine why, when all differences from the “approved” opinions are suppressed?
THOUGHT POLICE
A common tactic of the ‘thought police’ is to accuse someone of being ‘racist’ or as using ‘hate speech.’ This is a way of maintaining power over any group. However, there are some groups that it is still okay to hate.
In American society today, there are two groups: those groups that are okay to hate and a second protected class that is not okay to hate, or criticize, or even “tolerate,” because “tolerate” implies you’re putting up with someone instead of “celebrating” him or her. On the surface, most people can throw some candidates into each pile for discussion. It may be okay to say that you hate child molesters but you think hating a particular ethnic group is wrong.
The Supreme Court continues to rule in favor of ‘free speech’:
“Freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order. If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.” – Supreme Court Ruling West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624
WHO IS IT OKAY TO HATE? – U.C. Davis Case & Academia
I have a family of teachers and I have taught quite a bit myself and although there are many wonderful people in the profession; as a whole, it is a mess.
The two groups that are still okay to hate, particularly on college campuses, are Christians and conservatives.
Up until very recently, the University of California at Davis had a statement on its website that said:
“The loss of power and privilege to those who do not practice the dominant culture’s religion. In the United States, this is institutionalized oppression toward those who are not Christian…”
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education said:
“… Even more shocking is the fact that under this definition, Christians cannot be the victims of religious discrimination. No, because Christianity is ‘the dominant culture’s religion,’ UC Davis maintained that Christians cannot themselves be subject to discrimination…”
At Cal Poly, just ask a member of Campus Crusade for Christ how they are treated by professors when their membership is known…. Here is the data on who is okay to hate:
The majority of American professors admit to ‘hating’ Christians (Profiles of the American University, by Gary A. Tobin and Aryeh K. Weinberg). Also on the list of people who are okay to hate are Republicans. Try to get a job in academia today if anyone knows you are a Republican. One Cal Poly professor told a classroom of students that the primordial ooze of evolution is where you would find Republicans. Substitute the name of any “protected” group into that sentence, and the professor would be national news. As it is, nothing will ever happen to this person, except maybe a pat on the back. Another professor, soon after the Arizona shooting of Gabby Giffords, told his class that “everyone would be happy if Dick Cheney’s airplane crashed.” I’m betting that these two professors are very likely to sport “Hate: See it, stop it” posters on their office doors.
WHO ARE WE ALLOWED TO BULLY?
“What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books.” ~Sigmund Freud, 1933
I am sure you have heard how important it is to address bullying in the schools; however, it is the definition of who is protected and who is excluded that raises concern. Here is something surprising from the Washington Times:
“…Here is the catch. DOJ will only investigate bullying cases if the victim is considered protected under the 1964 Civil Rights legislation. In essence, only discrimination against a victim’s race, sex, national origin, disability, or religion will be considered by DOJ. The overweight straight white male who is verbally and/or physically harassed because of his size can consider himself invisible to the Justice Department. Apparently, the Justice Department is going by George Orwell’s famous Animal Farm ending: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
SUMMARY
The key to remember is that not all ‘hate groups’ wear hoods or black or green masks, some just hide in the public sector, or occasionally put on doctoral robes and teach in our universities or they may have traded in their protest signs and gone into indoctrinating our young.
There is a long road ahead of us. We must protect free speech, ensure a diversity of ideas on campus and change the faculty climate.
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