Showing posts with label academic freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label academic freedom. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

A Bit of a Setback for Professor Ward Churchill: and a Flubbed Prediction for Me

Back in April, after a jury ruled in favor of Professor Ward Churchill, I figured that the judge telling Colorado State University that it had to give him his job back was a foregone conclusion. Never mind the $1.00 financial settlement.

I was wrong.
"...Ethnic studies professor Ward L. Churchill had won a lawsuit in April alleging that the university had retaliated against him for exercising his free-speech rights -- not for the academic misconduct of which he was subsequently accused.

"Yet the jury also awarded him only $1 in damages. Chief Denver Judge Larry Naves cited that in ruling that Churchill would not return to his $96,392-per-year job nor be entitled to a financial settlement: 'I am bound by the jury's implicit finding that Professor Churchill has suffered no actual damages as a result of the constitutional violation.'

"Naves also agreed that Churchill's return would weaken the school's ability to hold students and faculty accountable for misconduct.

"Churchill criticized the decision. 'What he's saying, in essence, is they were not prepared to treat me as any other faculty member would be treated, which was all I ever required.'..." (Los Angeles Times)
Comparing the 3,000 or so people who were killed when New York City's World Trade Center went down to Adolf Eichmann is what's gotten the most attention, but it's a pretty minor part of the trouble he's in: or should be.

For starters, he says he's a Keetoowah indian. Which he is, sort of. So is former President Clinton. They're both honorary members of the tribe. (Rocky Mouuntain News) Trouble is, it seems that Professor Churchill was passing himself off as an actual member of the Keetoowah Tribe - which the Tribe denies is a fact. (April 3, 2009)

Then there was the plagiarism conducted by Professor Churchill, and the irregularities in how he was hired and given tenure. (July 24, 2007)

That "September 11" essay was, from an academic point of view, the least of U of C, Boulder's concerns when their "Indian" Ethnic Studies professor turned out to be an ersatz Keetoowah, and a plagiarist to boot.

However, it looks like anyone who calls 9/11 victims Nazis, and says that America killed Indians with smallpox has a place in the heart of America's Academia. Or at least that part represented by the AAUP (American Association of University Professors). The AAUP is very big on academic freedom.

Or, rather, their version of academic freedom.
"A national faculty group insists Ward Churchill will stay in academia, despite his ouster at the University of Colorado and a judge's ruling this week that denied his reinstatement.

"But others — including his attorney — aren't so sure another university would want Churchill. And one of his former colleagues on the Boulder campus went so far as to say Churchill, 61, might better be suited as a used-car salesman.

"Churchill’s attorney, David Lane, said the former ethnic studies professor is only concerned with regaining his job at CU. Lane said it would be hard for Churchill to leave a community where he has lived and worked for years.

" 'He's still writing and researching, but I don’t know how many options he has,' Lane said. 'He's lived in Boulder for decades, and I don't know if he wants to uproot his life to live somewhere else. CU has spent the last four years trashing his reputation, so I don't know how many schools would hire him at this point, given the hatchet job CU has done.'

"But Cary Nelson, English professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and president of the American Association of University Professors, said there is 'no chance' that Churchill will leave academia altogether. Nelson said he thinks Churchill will continue giving speeches and publishing in the field of American Indian studies.

"The organization, made up of professors dedicated to the advancement of academic freedom, drafted a letter to the judge in support of Churchill's reinstatement before the hearing and fully supports his decision to appeal the case, Nelson said...." Boulder Daily Camera
Churchill's attorney notwithstanding, I think professor Churchill did a fine job of trashing his own reputation.

I also think that the AAUP, the American Association of University Professors, is doing their profession no good by supporting a plagiarist who apparently lied about his background. I've run into enough alleged scholars like Churchill, for whom ideology is more important than fact.

Although it was an unkind slur on the profession of used car salespeople, I was somewhat relieved to hear that one of Professor Churchill's former colleagues did not entirely approve of the ersatz Indian's academic habits.

On the other hand, I think that English professor Cary Nelson is spot-on in his prediction about Professor Churchill's career.

Despite my error in predicting Professor Churchill's triumphant return to U. C. Boulder, I'll make - not so much a prediction as a guess: Professor Ward Churchill's voice will be heard on America's college and university campuses, as long as taxpayer money is available for guest speakers.

I have difficulty imagining supporters of academic freedom, American style, not wanting someone with the views of Professor Churchill to be heard by as many of America's students as possible.

Related posts: News and views:
Posted by at 3 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Genocide! Racism! Down With Columbus Day!!

In today's news:
"University denounces legendary explorer's legacy"

"Providence, RI (WPRI) - Brown University will no longer celebrate 'Columbus Day.'

"This week, the faculty voted to do away with the holiday, after students raised concerns about Christopher Columbus' treatment of Native Americans.

"Last fall, students submitted a petition with more than 700 signatures to the University denouncing the explorer's legacy, and accusing Columbus of genocide and racism...."
(WPRI)
No surprises here.

For people who really believe that all whites are racist, and that Professor Ward Churchill is right about the "little Eichmanns," this is another glorious victory. For the rest of us: it's more of the same.

Related posts: In the news: Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Friday, April 3, 2009

Professor Ward Churchill is Back: A Glorious Victory for Academic Freedom, Tenure, and the American Academic Way

Wherever would we be, without academic freedom, American style?

A better place, probably.

Professor Ward Churchill wasn't fired for writing and saying that people in New York City's World Trade Center deserved to die, because they were "little Eichmanns" - that's the sort of thing that's covered by academic freedom and tenure. He lost his job because he plagiarized - and got caught - in circumstances that would have made ignoring the intellectual theft embarrassing.

Victory for Academic Freedom, American Style

Professor Ward Churchill's vindication in the courts, and his return to the hallowed halls of academia, mark a victory for academic freedom and freedom of expression.

Like this piece of art, created by associate professor Paul Myers, University of Minnesota, Morris:


(from pharyngula, scienceblogs.com, used w/o permission)

When associate professor Meyers originally posted this photo, the University of Minnesota, Morris, quietly removed a few links from their official website - but defended the associate professor's right two insult two major religions.

It's what professors do. The freedom to write and do outrageous things is very important to the academic community.

Deeply buried under contemporary American academia's value system is an extremely important issue: freedom of expression. I've written posts on that before.

I've written about professor Ward Churchill before, too. Including this excerpt:
Professor Ward Churchill achieved national fame in September of 2001, when he wrote an essay titled "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" in which he compared "technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire" working in the World Trade Center as "little Eichmanns," a professorial quote taken from a Wikipedia article.

In 2003, Professor Churchill wrote a prize-winning book entitled "On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: reflections on the consequences of U.S. imperial arrogance and criminality" (ISBN 1-902593-79-0). (Again, thanks to Wikipedia for bringing this information together.)
(July 24, 2007)

Ward Churchill's an Indian: Just Like Former President Clinton

Professor Ward Churchill and former President Clinton are both honorary members of the Keetoowah Tribe. (Rocky Mountain News)

The Keetoowah Tribe's leadership is free to bestow honorary membership on anyone they like: I have no problem with that. I wouldn't seek it out myself: my ethnic background is eclectic enough as it is.

Professor Churchill says the Keetoowah Tribe's lying. He could be right: they could be part of a vast conspiracy to keep people from knowing that the CIA blew up the World Trade Center. It's even remotely possible that all members of the Keetoowah Tribe are shape-shifting space alien lizard people. (Possible, but wildly improbable.) (January 14, 2009)

Freedom of Expression, Academic Freedom: Great Ideas

There is freedom of expression on the Internet - for now. A few years ago there was a well-intentioned (I trust) effort to 'save the children' from online pornography. The issue is a serious one.

I'm a devout Catholic, so you'd think that I'd be all for clamping down on those nasty pornographers. I am. But I don't think that creating government agencies to decide what nice people are allowed to see, and not allowed to see, is a good idea. At all.

When outfits like the Christian Coalition and the Feminist Majority became allies to 'save the children,' and both want Big Brother to look out for the common people: I get very concerned. Maybe it's my sixties roots.

So far, the Internet is free. People, including myself, can express ideas whether or not they're popular, or conform to the ideals of a journal's review board, or satisfy a government agent's idea of what's naughty and what's nice. I trust an open marketplace if ideas a great deal more than I do experts, picked for their proper views.

Academic Freedom - For All?

I'd be a little more impressed with "academic freedom," if I hadn't been in universities and colleges for much of the seventies and eighties, and didn't study the news. Professor Ward Churchill and associate professor Paul Meyers enjoy academic freedom. They also just happen to have views which are accepted by most American academics. Sometimes heartily accepted, sometimes not: but 'everybody knows' that the right to repeat rumors about how nasty America and capitalism and related topics is important.

As far as they go, they're right.

I'd be much more impressed with American academia, if a meteorologist with a national audience - and heretical views on Global Warming - hadn't been yanked from public view. (April 29, 2008) The institution of higher education that pulled the plug on Dr. Gray's hurricane coverage says it was budget considerations, not heresy. Dr. Gray insists that they're right I don't blame him. He's got his career to think of. And, the budget might have something to do with the decision. (March 31, 2009)

If Dr. Gray's was an isolated case, I'd assume that the official explanation was accurate. As it may be: as far as it goes. But there are quite a few 'Dr. Grays' out there - and I think they're starting to be heard. (December 16, 2008)

Time for Change: Real Change

A thorough re-examination of American academia's culture, assumptions, and rules is decades-past overdue. I doubt, very much, that any fuss by "unsavory Ward Churchill online critics" (Not My Tribe)

Until academic reform happens, American citizens will continue to pay taxes which go, in part, to supporting people like professor Ward Churchill and associate professor Meyers. People with approved views will continue having their right to be outrageous: and enjoy the assurance that opposing views will be afforded equal - but separate - protection.

More-or-less related posts: News and views: Background:
Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Sounds of Silence: 2009

"Silence propagates itself, and the longer talk has been suspended, the more difficult it is to find anything to say."
Samuel Johnson, on The Quotations Page

It seems that the quote is from "The Works of Samuel Johnson" Volume IV (on Google Books The quote is from a paragraph that begins:

"It is always observable that silence propagates itself, and that the longer talk has been suspended, the more difficult it is to find a thing to say. We began now to wish for conversation; but no one seemed inclined to descend from his dignity, or first propose a topick of discourse...."

So What?!

There doesn't seem to be any difficulty finding a "a topick of discourse," here at the dawn of the Information Age.

On the other hand, the willingness to "descend from ... dignity" - or self-righteousness, or whatever, is, I think, sadly lacking.
Patriots, Environmentalists, and Crackpots
A marked aversion to people who 'aren't the proper sort' is nothing new. I grew up in the sixties, graduated from high school in 1969, and started doing time in college the next fall. Back then, what I mostly ran into were terribly 'patriotic' people who were, quite sincerely, convinced that 'the Commies' were behind it. 'It' being whatever was troubling them at the moment.

If you watch reruns of M*A*S*H, think Frank Burns, without the humor. And, coming from another direction, there were people who took Paul Ehrlich seriously.

That was then, this is now. The background noise of "Commie threat" has, to some extent, been replaced by "environmental threat" - which I think is as real as the "Commie threat" was. The Soviet Union, China, and North Korea were real. They posed a serious threat to people who had developed the habit of traveling around without authorization, and setting up businesses if they wanted to.

The threat was real. The 'civil rights is a commie plot' claims were, as far as I can tell, bogus. Totally bogus.

Today, there are serious concerns about what's in the air, water, and soil. Where I live, it's not particularly healthy to eat the fish you catch in the lake. But, the 'and we're all gonna die' pronouncements about Global Warming (capitalized or not) and other dooms brought about by vile humanity remind me of the 'good old days' and Commie plots.

It's Not Just Whacked Out Liberals

Check out the list of related posts, below. You'll find references to screwball liberals, conservatives, and ideologies that don't quite fit into mainstream American politics. Every group, I think, has its crackpots.

That's the human condition, and has to be recognized. I won't say "accepted," but that's a topic for another blog.
'Now That the Right People are In Charge - - -
Trouble can start, I think, when one or more of a society's information channels is dominated by people who all feel the same way about the world, and how it ought to be.

When that happens, it's too easy to allow one side's view pass without filtering, while preventing opposing views from being heard. No 'conspiracy' involved: it's just human nature to give ideas which are "obviously" correct pass without review; while scrutinizing those which are "obviously" flawed, or simply sidetracking them.

Back in the fifties, from what I read later, and was told, what we call 'conservatives' dominated American society. The McCarthy hearings and campus radicals of the sixties helped change that.

Now, quite a few of the campus radicals are tenured professors.
The Curious Case of Dr. Gray
Things are different when you're in charge: for you, and for everyone else. Hurricane expert Dr. William Gray may have been yanked from the national spotlight by budgetary considerations. Or, because he had heretical views on Global Warming: and, with monumental lack of good sense, expressed those views.

Dr. Gray isn't making a fuss about it, and I can't blame him. Even if he knew that he'd been blackballed for having the wrong views, he's a career academic: and bucking the system is not how you get your papers published. Dr. Gray's work may make a difference, fifty or a hundred years from now. Right now, he's off the cultural radar.

Let's Give the Marketplace of Ideas a Chance

Quite a bit of me is from the sixties: although I realize that it's no longer 1968.
Sounds of Silence: 2009
So, when I saw that Samuel Johnson quote, I thought of "Sounds of Silence."

The world today isn't exactly what it was in 1965, when Simon and Garfunkle's song entered the culture. But, I think there's still good sense in the lyrics: Not communicating with each other is a bad idea. And, good sense in Simon and Garfunkle's introduction, in a video that's on YouTube.

The video picks up at the end of an introduction to the song:

"...inability of people to communicate with each other: And not particularly internationally, but especially emotionally, so that what you see around you is people who are unable to live each other. This is called 'Sounds of Silence. " (YouTube)

I won't try to sort out what the song "means." There's a variety of ideas on someone else's website. One thing that's generally accepted is that "Sounds of Silence" is about communication: or, rather, the lack of it.

I'm more inclined to accept an artist's word on what a work means, than what a reviewer, 'expert,' or fan says. So, I accept the idea that "Sounds of Silence" was more about interpersonal, than international, communication. And, about a love deficit.

The third verse can, I think, be applied to more than relations between individuals:
...And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence....
(Music Depot)
Run through what's being said and written about the War on Terror, and you'll find plenty of "people talking without speaking," "people hearing without listening."
Expression of Disgust and Exclusion are not "Communication"
People expressing disgust at "towelheads," a politico who should know better describing someone wearing "a diaper on his head and a fan belt around that diaper on his head" are not, I think being helpful. All that they're communicating is that they don't like a specific group of people who aren't just like them. (See post of February 24, 2009)

Conservatives haven't cornered the market for screwballs. A non-conservative politico made a remarkable statement about two years ago:

" 'It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it and it put the leader of that country [Hitler] in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted. The fact is that I'm not saying [Sept. 11] was a [U.S.] plan, or anything like that because, you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box -- dismiss you.' " (See post of July 17, 2007)

If you didn't hear about one of Minnesota's up-and-coming politicos' views on the alleged American plot to blow up the World Trade Center and frame Al Qaeda, you may have heard of a professor with a similar view. (See post of July 25, 2007)

And, there's the hoplophobia that's permeated American culture. The term refers to an irrational fear of weapons. For many Americans, it's a more focused fear of guns. And, since "everybody knows" that guns cause crime, hoplophibia isn't recognized as an unusual condition (See post of December 23, 2007)
Don't Like Turbans? Don't Wear One
People aren't all alike. But we're not going learn from each other by insulting each other - however 'cathartic' that is. (Remember when psychobabble was full of that word?)

If people are allowed to express their ideas, I think that the ideas that make sense will endure. The ones that don't, won't. Except among people who are convinced that towelheads are disgusting, or that the CIA blew up New York City's World Trade Center.

And, we'll have a better chance of surviving whatever outfits like Al Qaeda and the Taliban have planned for people whose beliefs they don't approve of.

Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel (live sound)

Hamp32, YouTube (February 08, 2007)
video (3:19)

Related posts: Background:
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

CCSU Students Talk About Guns: Naturally, Their Professor Called the Police

This is slightly off-topic, but the news item is too weird not to share.

Last October, at Central Connecticut State University, Professor Paula Anderson, told students to make oral presentations discussing a "relevant issue in the media."

Three students presented the view that the Virginia Tech massacre of April, 2007, would have had a lower death toll, if professors and students had been carrying guns.

Naturally, Professor Paula Anderson called the police.

I am Not Making This Up

It gets more interesting. John Wahlberg, one of the three students owns guns!!!!! Even though CCSU strictly prohibits guns on campus and in residence halls. Mr. Wahlberg apparently lives 20 miles off campus, and keeps his guns safely and legally locked up. Smart man.

College Professors, Hoplophobia, and National Policy

One ditsy college professor on the east coast isn't going to do all that much damage. Actually, the incident has it's funny side - although I feel a bit sorry for Ms. Professor Anderson and the three students who talked about guns.

I ran into the word "hoplophobia" about a year ago, in a blog which seems to have disappeared. A formal definition: "Hoplophobia (n) - mental disturbance characterized by irrational aversion to weapons." It's not in most dictionaries, but yes: it's a 'real' word.

As I wrote back then, "The idea that fear of weapons is not normal seems to be one that hasn't gained traction among America's best and brightest."

Note: Hoplophobia is an irrational fear of weapons. Not the sensible reaction to seeing, say, a rifle being stroked by some giggling fellow whose eyes don't focus.

Hoplophobia, like other disorders, isn't a serious societal problem as long as a small percentage of the population is afflicted, and those who are do not hold responsible positions.

College professors are a small minority, but they are, as a group, one of the traditional information gatekeepers in American society. Until the Information Age, they were among the select few who decided what the rest of us were permitted to know, and how events and ideas were presented.

No 'conspiracy' involved: That's just the way things worked, before cell phones, blogs, and text messaging.

College professors are still influential. Some of their students may believe what they say. When significant numbers of professors are convinced that guns are to be feared, some students will learn to fear guns, too.

Aren't Guns Dangerous?

Weapons of any sort are, by definition, dangerous. Like knives. I work at home, next to the kitchen, so there's enough weaponry within 20 feet to start a small gang war.

And, I'm okay with that. I'm also okay with Mr. Wahlberg owning guns. I don't mind people owning dangerous technology, as long as they're not crazy. It's part of living in a free society.

That's why I'm relatively unconcerned about people owning guns, LP gas, ammonium nitrate, anhydrous ammonia, printing presses, fax machines, and computers.

All these give whoever possesses them, and knows how to use them, considerable individual power. I don't mind individuals having power: even if they're not Connecticut college professors.

Related posts: News and views: Related posts, on censorship, propaganda, and freedom of speech.

Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
Posted by at 5 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Free Speech, Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, Campus Activists, and America's Future

Egyptian engineering student Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed pleaded guilty to making a 12-minute 'how to build a bomb' video and posting on YouTube. Technically, that's 'providing material support to terrorists.' He's been sentenced to 15 years by an American court.

His case wound up in an American court, because he was a student at the University of South Florida. Also, South Carolina authorities said they found various bomb-making materials in his possession, when they pulled him over.

Ahmed's Violent Ideology: A Blast from the Past

Court documents dated November 4, 2008, and provided by Wired magazine, show a fellow who seemed oddly familiar:
  1. Dedicated to a cause
    1. He meant the technical how-2 in his post " '...to be used against those who fight for the United States' since he considered them and their allies fighting in Arab countries to be 'invaders'."
  2. Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed's opinion of
    1. Law enforcement officers
      1. "Dogs"
      2. "Christians"
      3. "Infidels"
      4. "Racists"
      5. "Enemies of G-D'"
    2. Americans
      1. A "stupid people"
      2. "One of the most stupid creations of G-D"
    3. America
      1. A "vile nation"
        (In a conversation with his parents on December 20, 2007)
(I copied more extensive excerpts from the court document at the end of this post.)

It's not a perfect match, of course, but I ran into beliefs like that fairly often, back in the day. Particularly B/1/d, B/2/a, and B/3/a. I was a college freshman in 1969, and spent quite a few years, off and on, in the seventies and eighties.

It was very 'in' to regard the police as racist oppressors and/or tools of the military-industrial complex. Americans - the ones who saw something good about the country and said so - were, of course, stupid. And, although the campus crowd wouldn't have used a word like "vile," that's what they thought of America.

A number of the more profound thinkers (by their own standards) might have used "Christian" as an epithet - although they more often simply ranted about Christianity's oppressiveness and how nasty religion was, in general. They certainly wouldn't have identified their opponents as "enemies of God."

Free Speech: It's Important

There are a couple of points here that are important.
  1. Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed's sentence isn't an attack on Islam
    • Unless Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda represent mainstream Islam: which I sincerely hope they do not
  2. He was convicted of recommending that people kill the enemies of Islam, and telling them how to do so
I find the beliefs of Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, as he describes them, very disturbing - and based on a seriously inaccurate view of reality. But I'm not at all convinced that expressing those beliefs should be illegal. Assuming, of course, that the person wasn't saying that reasonable people should go out and kill blacks, whites, infidels, Muslims, or whatever.

As I wrote earlier this year: "One of the strengths of America is that we have a great deal of freedom to say and display what we want: however outrageous, ill-advised, or daft it is. The War on Terror is giving America an opportunity to review and re-define just where freedom ends, and reasonable protections begin...."

Who Will Decide What We Discuss, and How?

Which brings me back to Ahmed and my very earnest fellow-students of days gone by.

I doubt that Ahmed would see the campus activists of thirty-odd years ago as his spiritual brothers. And the flag- and bra- burners of that era might not see themselves in him.

But both seem to believe that American society is "inherently oppressive." Even the groovier end of American academia's interest in "social justice" - which seems to involve taking money away from one set of people and giving it to another, because of what a third set of people did over a century ago - has a strong parallel in what other highly-focused groups believe. (I'd say 'extreme,' but I've run into it too often today, and don't feel like it.)

Both progressive academia's determination to impose social justice, and Islamic terrorists' desire to purify Islam and the world, seem to have this in common: They view groups as more important than individuals. The world, for them is made up of The Rich and The Poor; Blacks and Whites; Muslims and Infidels; Oppressors and Victims.

I recognize that groups exist, and that membership, or lack of membership, in a group may be important in some respects. But, I live in a world where there are individuals: and where an individual should be considered in light of who that individual is, and what that individual has done - not on the person's membership in a group.

In many cases, the campus activists of my youth are now the administrators and senior professors of the colleges and universities they attended. For whatever reason, the American education system has had some very serious problems for decades. The National Association of Scholars (NAS) has identified several, including:
  • Ideological litmus tests in faculty hiring
  • Restrictive speech and 'civility' codes
  • Phony allegations intended to silence opposition
  • Politicized science
This is a serious problem, because colleges and universities are often the places where ideas are discussed - and decisions made.

America is in a very critical period now. It's not always formal, but there's a debate going on about exactly what freedom means. If people who do not regard America as a racist oppressor are marginalized, the results could be just as bad as if people who feel that 'the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim' were able to impose their views on the rules of debate.

Related posts: In the news:

Remember: Mohamed was Convicted of Helping Terrorists

It wasn't Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed's stated beliefs that got him in legal trouble. I think those beliefs are interesting, though, from several points of view.

Court documents dated November 4, 2008, and provided by Wired magazine, show a fellow who seemed oddly familiar:
  • "He acknowledged that 'he intended the technology demonstrated in his audio/video recording to be used against those who fight for the United States' since he considered them and their allies fighting in Arab countries to be 'invaders'."
  • "After repeatedly slurring the officers as 'dogs', 'Christians', 'Infidels', 'racists', and 'enemies of G-D', Mohamed later characterized Americans in that same video as being a 'stupid people' and as 'one of the most stupid creations of G-D.' ... To his parents, in a later conversation with them on December 20, 2007, Mohamed termed the United States a 'vile nation'."
  • "included images of Ossama bin Laden and others connected with violent jihad in the Middle East, as well as caricatures of the President, Vice President, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, all pictured inside of what appears to be a garbage can with a modified image of the seal of the United States above them on which appear the words: 'Profiteers of the United States'. ... The images on the defendant’s computer also included a photograph of a child aiming a anti-tank weapon while stepping on a military helmet which appears to be of American manufacture and also an image of a map of what appears to be Israel circled in what appears to be blood, being held in the palm of a bleeding hand."
  • "Perhaps the coldest statement of this defendant and the most telling as to his hatred and disdain for the United States came in a hand-written letter which the defendant sent to a Hillsborough County jail deputy on April 1, 2008. ... In that letter, which he signed, the defendant 'congratulated' the jail deputy upon the fact that the Pentagon had recently announced the death of more than 4,000 U.S. troops in the Middle East. Next to that line, he drew what appears to be a face with a smile on it.
    He continued on in the letter on the subject of American casualties, stating that the
    'resistance in Iraq says they are 40,000.' Again, he drew a face with what appears to
    be a smile on it next to that line. He then sarcastically stated that 70,000 'veterans from the U.S.' '[l]ost their hearing and became deaf, so unfortunately they will keep silent.'    "
  • "Next to that last line, he simply drew a pair of eyes and a broad smile below it. He then went on to mock the deputy in the letter by pointing out that the Hillsborough deputy would still have to bring food to the defendant while the defendant was in jail."
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, September 22, 2008

More Academic Freedom, American Style?

"Academic Freedom" is a fine thing. I think it's a wonderful idea, to be able to freely discuss issues from many different points of view.

That's the way it was, when I was last in college, back in the eighties. In theory.

In practice, there were instructors and departments about whom it was clearly understood that some points of view were more equal than others. And, in some classes at least, if you wanted to get good grades, you'd jolly well better have the right attitude: and say that you believe the right things.

Times sure have changed.

(Some) professors are still academically free to promote their views. But now, some students aren't keeping quiet any more.

Sarah Palin's Image is a Fairy Tale: And You'd Better Believe It!

At Denver's Metropolitan State College, an English teacher told students to say that Sarah Palin's "fairy tale" image was a fake, and how she was tricking the American people. The assignment was clearly stated: show that Palin is a fake. Do not provide alternatives to the idea that Palin is a fake.

The Denver instructor showed the sort of academic open-mindedness I've become accustomed to when the assignment was handed out:
"When Hallam handed out the Palin writing assignment, the students reported 'he said he would give the Republicans a chance to speak about it and asked who in the class was a Republican. Five of us raised our hands. When we did, [one other student] … said "F*** you!" Mr. Hallam did nothing about this. At the end of the class period, after a lot of the Republicans had voiced their side of the issue, another kid said, "They're full of s***, but we let them talk anyway." ' "
("Prof tells students: 'Undermine' Palin," WorldNetDaily (September 15, 2008))
I suppose I should be glad that students who are 'full of s***' are allowed to talk. It hasn't always been that way.

What Does "Academic Freedom" Have to do With the War on Terror?

Quite a lot, actually.

The War on Terror is so much about personal freedom that I've suggested that it be called the War on Freedom. I grew up in America, and didn't appreciate how precious individual freedom was, until I got to know people who had lived in less open countries, and had managed to escape to America.

I think an indication of how highly America values personal freedom is the degree to which private citizens are allowed to own dangerous technologies like guns, printing presses, and computers (discussed in a previous post).

I believe that people in colleges and universities should be free to express opinions, even if those opinions are not popular, or held by those with power and influence.

And that's why I believe that the "academic freedom" that allows people with one set of beliefs to marginalize those who don't agree with them is a problem. The politically correct version of academic freedom
  1. Prevents academics from discussing issues intelligently
  2. At best does nothing to refute the notion that Americans, and the west in general, is controlled by a bunch of anti-religious zealots
This bit of performance art is protected by 'academic freedom.'



However, I doubt that it significantly increases the regard that scholars around the world have for American culture and academics, and I'm quite sure that it insults at least two major world religions.

What happens on campus doesn't stay on campus. "Academic freedom" or not, it's high time that the powers that be on campus start acting more like grown-ups, and less like a high school clique.
The Denver college English teacher's assignment, as reported on WorldNetDayily.com:
  • "...'Arguably, the entire event was designed to present Sarah Palin in an idealized – indeed, as if her life is like a fairy tale in which America could be included if she is voted into office with John McCain,' he wrote in a copy of the assignment provided to WND by students. 'Note her body language, facial expressions, the way she dressed, what she said and who she pointed out or talked about in her speech. How do these elements form a "fairy tale" image about Sarah Palin as a person and as a politician that the Republican Party may wish its members and the American public to believe? How may the story "Sleeping Beauty" and/or Tanith Lee's "Awake" be used to compare the image of Palin with fairy tales, especially as they portray women, their behavior, and their lives?
  • "He said students should find commentaries that criticize Palin.
  • " 'Using clear reasoning, explain how these sources may undermine or otherwise paint a different picture of Palin as a person and as a politician than what she or the Republican Party may wish the American public to believe,' he said.
  • "There was no opening for students to find commentaries or statements supporting Palin or her positions. But Janna Barber, who is among the students who have raised concerns about the instructor, said she would do the assignment and include a number of supportive arguments as well...."
In the news:
  • "Metro State Prof Stays Silent, On The Job"
    cbs4denver.com (September 19, 2008)
    • "DENVER (CBS4) ― Metro State College is investigating a professor who asked students to write an essay critical of Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin. One student said the instructor singled out Republican students in the class and allowed others to ridicule them...."
    • "...Barber shared the class' first assignment with CBS4 Wednesday. Hallam asked students to write an essay to contradict what he called the 'fairy tale image of Palin' presented at the Republican National Convention...."
  • "College Probes Professor Who Assigned Students to 'Undermine' Palin in Essay"
    FOXNews (September 18, 2008)
    • "An English teacher at Denver’s Metropolitan State College is being investigated by the college for bias, bullying and harassment after he gave students in his class an assignment to "undermine" the Republican portrayal of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin...."
    • "Prof tells students: 'Undermine' Palin" WorldNetDaily (September 15, 2008) "Metro State class assignment compares VP candidate to 'fairy tale' "
    • "Students in an English class at Metropolitan State College in Denver have been told to assemble criticisms of GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin that "undermine" her, and students say they are concerned about the apparent bias.
    • " 'This so-called 'assignment' represents indoctrination in its purist form,' said Matt Barber, director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel, whose sister, Janna, is taking the class from Andrew Hallam, a new instructor at the school...."
Previous posts on this topic: Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.

Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Another Teacher in Trouble in a Muslim Country

Remember Gillian Gibbons? The British teacher in Sudan who was (mercifully) merely booted out of Sudan for letting one of her students name a teddy bear "Mohammed?" ("Good News for Infidel Teacher: Still No News on Anti-Islamic Teddy Bear" (December 3, 2007).)

Dissing the Prophet: Not a Smart Move

Another foreign teacher in a predominantly Islamic country is in trouble. This time it's a college teacher. She's accused of showing her students a picture of the prophet Mohammed. "Improperly dressed," as the Gulf Daily News put it. It's anyone's guess what that means, specifically.

The charge is insulting the Prophet Mohammed.

It gets better. She also insulted a student for wearing a head scarf. She called it "a barrier to knowledge."

The news doesn't say who this wunderkind is. The American ambassador in Bahrain won't even confirm that an American is involved. Whoever she is, I'd guess that she may have forgotten where she was.

This case, the latest example of religious sensitivity in Islamic countries, shows how hard it is for Americans to understand people from (most) Islamic countries, and vice-versa.

Bahrain? Where's That? For That Matter, What's That?

Bahrain is a little island, and a bunch of smaller islands, off the coast of Saudi Arabia. They've started running out of oil sooner that most of the other Middle Eastern nations. Bahrain's leaders seem to be rather smart: they're diversifying. They've shifted from oil production to petroleum processing and refining and have made their country into an international banking center.

The islands of Bahrain cover an area about three and a half times the size of Washington, DC. Roughly 718,000 people live there: 81% of them Muslim, 9% Christian, and 10% something else.

Bahrain is a fairly literate country: 86.5% of Bahrainians over 15 can read and write. For comparison, here's the literacy rate for Bahrain and three other countries.
Literacy Rate All Women Men
Bahrain 86.5% 83.6% 88.6%
Saudi Arabia 78.8% 70.8% 84.7%
America 99% 99% 99%
Sudan 61.1% 50.5% 71.8%

One of the big differences between Islamic countries and places like America isn't so much the number of people who can read and write: there's quite a range of literacy in the Islamic world. It's the cultural values that go along with how people are taught.

Educational Standards of Behavior, Culture, and Communication

It looks to me like the case of Sudan's blasphemous teddy bear and Bahrain's teacher with a naughty picture of Mohammed have something in common: a western educator failing to understand just how seriously people in many Islamic countries take their beliefs, and how little reverence they have for "academic freedom."

In some countries where Muslims run the schools according to their standards, conventional respect for the Prophet is a must. In other words, teddy bears must not be named Mohammed, and students must not be shown a picture of Mohammed improperly clothed. Or any picture of Mohammed, I gather. Many flavors of Islam have an understandable concern about preventing idolatry: which translates into banning any picture of the Prophet, among other things.

That sort of tightly controlled, ideologically pure, approach to education reminds me of my college years in the eighties, when political correctness was in bloom. The American university where I learned which thoughts were rewarded and which were punished didn't have the same ideological foundation as Bahrain's system, of course, but the prudent student learned that some things were best left unsaid.

Times have changed since then, a bit. American colleges and universities - in common with most of western higher education - holds academic freedom in very high esteem.

That's why, when an associate professor in a Minnesota state University had someone steal a host from a Catholic church, took a page from the Quran, another page from the works of a respected atheist, drove a nail through all three, tossed the lot in the trash, and posted a photo of the mess, his superiors explained that his actions were protected by academic freedom. (" 'Self-Satisfied Ignorance?' Eucharist, Quran, and Atheist Book Trashed" (August 5, 2008).

Communication is easier when there's some common ground. In some ways, people from America and people from some Islamic countries live in vastly different worlds:
  • Legal sanctions against insults (real or imagined) against their beliefs
  • Defense of sacrilege, to uphold academic freedom
In some ways, there just isn't much common ground.

Still, I insist on being optimistic. I prefer to believe that there are reasonable people in the Islamic world, and in the west.


Bahrain, this isn't: Academic freedom, American style.

Is it any wonder that some Muslims believe that America is anti-Islamic?

In the news: Statistics from "The World Factbook," Central Intelligence Agency.

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

"Self-Satisfied Ignorance?" Eucharist, Quran, and Atheist Book Trashed

The University of Minnesota, Morris' associate professor Paul Myers does a quite good job of clarifying his views in a blog post of July 24, 2008. In reference to the pages from the Quran and a book by atheist Richard Dawkins, associate professor Myers wrote, "They are just paper. Nothing must be held sacred."

My reaction to the way he demonstrated that opinion is in two posts: To say that I'm upset about this display of disrespect for the beliefs of others is a great understatement.

I'm also disturbed that so little attention has been paid to associate professor Myers' treatment of the Quran (Qur'an, in this Latinization). I don't understand just what the Quran means to a follower of Islam, but have gotten the impression that it is regarded as more than "just paper." (Paul Myers explained that "... I didn't want to single out just the cracker, so I nailed it to a few ripped-out pages from the Qur'an and The God Delusion. They are just paper....")

Repeating a request from yesterday's post, I would appreciate it if a Muslim would explain (briefly, if possible) what significance the Quran has to Muslims, whether or not associate professor Myers' acts are acceptable: and why.

Academic Freedom and Our Tax Dollars at Work

Associate Professor Myers' blog is not connected with the University of Minnesota, Morris. In fact, the U. of M., Morris, removed a link to his blog from their website.

The chancellor of the U. of M., Morris, has termed associate professor Myers' statements and actions "reprehensible." ("I believe that behaviors that discriminate against or harass individuals or groups on the basis of their religious beliefs are reprehensible," as quoted in yesterday's post.)

The chancellor also wrote that the university's policy on academic freedom and responsibility "affirms the freedom of a faculty member to speak or write as a public citizen without institutional discipline or restraint, and the responsibility to make clear that he or she is not speaking for the institution in matters of public interest."

So, associate professor Paul Myers is off the hook. Academic freedom, at least in Minnesota, means that he can insult two world religions, and the 'stupid' people who follow them, and desecrate what about a billion people believe to be sacred.

And, along with other Minnesotans, I get to have part of my tax money used to keep associate professor Myers employed.

I do have sympathy for the chancellor of the U. of M., Morris. As she's defending his right to insult and abuse my faith, he's informing the world that she's overseeing "a third-rate university." It can't be easy, being an administrator with someone like that on the staff. Particularly when the rules don't require the staff member to exercise the sort of mature responsibility that most of us must.

Fresh Eyes, a Questioning Mind, and Nailing the Quran

I thought that these excerpts, from two different blogs on scienceblogs.com, would shed light on associate professor Myers' bit of performance art.
  • "24 hours of silence"
    Greg Laden's Blog (July 24, 2008)
    • "This blog will now engage in twenty four hours of silence as a show of respect for the all those who have suffered at the hands religious zealots around the world and throughout history.
    • "I say this out of inspiration from a post written on Pharyngula by biologist PZ Myers. PZ makes the link between medieval anti-Semitic church law and the original idea that the Eucharist is holy. You must read his post, the best written and most meaningful thing on the internet this day...."
    • [following an enlargement of part of associate professor Myers' photo] "...Jesus' Tits, Margaret! If that ain't a picture of Jesus himself them I'm a monkey's nephew. And I AM a monkey's nephew!!!!
    • "It is almost like the rusty nail is pointing right at the Image Of Christ! I can see the thorns in his forehead and everything. Won't Richard Dawkins be surprised!!!!
    • "Well, clearly, the 24 hours of silence is off... "
  • "The Great Desecration"
    Pharyngula (July 24, 2008)
    • "It is finished.
    • ""I wonder how many of our Catholic friends have heard of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215? This is the event where many of their important dogmas were codified, including the ideas of Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, that the Eucharist was the sacrament that only properly ordained priests of the Catholic church could give, and that the Jews were a pariah people, who could hold no public office, had to pay a special Jew tax for their right to exist, and were required to wear special clothing to distinguish them from Christians. The yellow badge marking the Juden was not an invention of the Nazis, but a decree by faithful Catholics in the Middle Ages. That's an interesting juxtaposition, that a symbol of Christian exceptionalism was formalized at the same time that they formally decreed the Jews to be inferior, and a target of hatred.
    • "That combination was useful, too. Declare something cheap, disposable, and common to be imbued with magic by the words of a priest, and the trivial becomes a powerful token to inflame the mob — why, all you have to do is declare a bit of bread to be the most powerful and desirable object in the world, and even if it isn't, you can pretend that the evil other is scheming to deprive the faithful of it. Now you could invent stories of Jews and witches taking the communion host to torture, to make Jesus suffer even more, and good Catholics would of course rise in horror to defend their salvation. None of the stories were true, of course — Jews and infidels see no power at all in those little crackers, and the idea that they were obsessing over obtaining a non-sacred, powerless, pointless relic is ludicrous — but heck, it's a cheap excuse to make accusations illustrated by cheesy woodcuts of hook-nosed Jews hammering nails into communion wafers and lurid tales of blood-spurting crackers and hosts that pulsed like and beating heart, and thereby providing a pretext to encourage massacres....."
    • "...OK, time for the anticlimax. I know some of you have proposed intricate plans for how to do horrible things to these crackers, but I repeat…it's just a cracker. I wasn't going to make any major investment of time, money, or effort in treating these dabs of unpleasantness as they deserve, because all they deserve is casual disposal. However, inspired by an old woodcut of Jews stabbing the host, I thought of a simple, quick thing to do: I pierced it with a rusty nail (I hope Jesus's tetanus shots are up to date). And then I simply threw it in the trash, followed by the classic, decorative items of trash cans everywhere, old coffeegrounds and a banana peel. My apologies to those who hoped for more, but the worst I can do is show my unconcerned contempt.

      (from PZ Myers, Pharyngula (July 24, 2008), used w/o permission)
    • "By the way, I didn't want to single out just the cracker, so I nailed it to a few ripped-out pages from the Qur'an and The God Delusion. They are just paper. Nothing must be held sacred. Question everything. God is not great, Jesus is not your lord, you are not disciples of any charismatic prophet. You are all human beings who must make your way through your life by thinking and learning, and you have the job of advancing humanity's knowledge by winnowing out the errors of past generations and finding deeper understanding of reality. You will not find wisdom in rituals and sacraments and dogma, which build only self-satisfied ignorance, but you can find truth by looking at your world with fresh eyes and a questioning mind."
Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.

Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
Posted by at 15 comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Monday, August 4, 2008

Quran, Eucharist, Atheist Book Nailed by Equal-Opportunity Desecrator

Not a whole Quran, actually: just a few pages.

A University of Minnesota, Morris, associate professor, Paul Myers, put a rusty nail through the some pages of the Quran and a book by atheist Richard Dawkins. Professor Myers did the same to a consecrated Host, and chucked the whole mess in a trash can.

Myers had a reason for desecrating the Quran pages and the Host, and mistreating a book written by an atheist. Earlier this month, a University of Central Florida student took a consecrated Host from a Catholic church, and later returned it. Then, the student said, he got death threats.

So, the University of Minnesota, Morris, associate professor posted this response:
"There are days when it is agony to read the news, because people are so goddamned stupid. Petty and stupid. Hateful and stupid. Just plain stupid. And nothing makes them stupider than religion...."
My guess is that associate professor Paul Myers believes that sticking a rusty nail through some pages of the Quran and a book by atheist Richard Dawkins, doing the same to a consecrated Host, and throwing them away is a very reasonable response to what happened in Florida.

Religious Beliefs Matter

If professor Myers' system of belief is similar to what I encountered in my college days, he believes that the "cracker," as he puts it, and those sheets of paper with ink on them, are equivalent. And disposable.

I'm not sure what a follower of Islam would think of professor Myers' treatment of the Quran. As a Catholic, I do know that his treatment of the Eucharist is appalling.

That "cracker," since it has been consecrated, is the Body of Christ. You don't have to believe that. I'm not trying to force you to accept that. But that is what informed Catholics believe. (The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" has a somewhat technical discussion of the Eucharist: "Article 3 The Sacrament of the Eucharist" (1322-1419).)

Catholics see those "crackers," after they're consecrated, as the Body of Christ. That may help you understand why Catholics are not happy about associate professor Myers' treatment of the Eucharist.

About what he did to a Quran: I'd appreciate it, if a Muslim would leave a comment, saying whether removing a page from the Quran, piercing it with a rusty nail, and tossing it in the trash, is acceptable or not. And, why.

Tolerance and Academic Freedom

I used to know what "academic freedom" meant. Now, I'm not so sure.

On July 25, 2008, Jacqueline Johnson, chancellor at Morris, made this statement (excerpt from Catholic Explorer (July 31, 2008):
  • "I believe that behaviors that discriminate against or harass individuals or groups on the basis of their religious beliefs are reprehensible," Johnson wrote, adding that the University of Minnesota board of regents' "Code of Conduct" prohibits such behavior in the workplace.
  • At the same time, she added, the university's policy on academic freedom and responsibility "affirms the freedom of a faculty member to speak or write as a public citizen without institutional discipline or restraint, and the responsibility to make clear that he or she is not speaking for the institution in matters of public interest."
To the University of Minnesota, Morris' credit, they've removed a link to Myers' blog. That would seem to take care of the "reprehensible" part of the chancellor's statement. The associate professor has received no disciplinary action. Apparently, that's the affirmation of academic freedom.

My Take on the Morris Mess

Some people, faced with ideas and behavior they don't like, call for prayer. Others, like Jim Adkisson, shoot up a church. Still others, like associate professor Myers, go out of their way to stir up emotional reactions.

A point that I think quite a few news articles and blogs miss is that Myers' actions were not anti-Catholic. They were anti-religion. By including pages from the Quran in his demonstration, associate professor Myers made it clear that he disdains Catholicism and Islam: and, since he describes himself as an atheist, probably all religions.

The Morris mess is another case where I've got more in common with faithful Muslims than with secular academics. (More at "I'm With the Devout Muslims on This One" (September 19, 2007). My reactions as a Catholic are at "Sacrilege Down the Road: A Very Serious Post" Through One Dad's Eye (August 4, 2008).)

I find his treatment of what people hold sacred despicable. Although I'm personally involved in this one, I hope I'd say the same, if Myers had limited his desecration to a Quran.

America, and the world, is in a very stressful period. It's time for all of us to act like grownups.

In the blogs:
  • "READER ALERT: Update on Professor Paul Myers' hate attack"
    InsomiMom (July 24, 2008)
    • "Paul Zachary Myers, benighted professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris, looks to be having a great big giant fatwa opened up on his head with his latest hysterical rant that he will desercrate both the Eucharist and a copy of the Koran in a childish display of equal opportunity bigotry...."
  • "University biology professor desecrates the Eucharist"
    St. Michael's Cyber Parish (July 29, 2008)
    • "For all the talk of tolerance and freedom in our society, I find the following story nothing less than unbelievable, from CNA:"
    • "Saying 'Catholicism has been actively poisoning the minds of its practitioners' and characterizing religious instruction as 'a devastating crime against the whole of the human race,' University of Minnesota at Morris biology professor Dr. Paul Zachary Myers claims to have carried out his threat to desecrate the Eucharist.
    • "Prof. Myers says that he pierced a Host with a rusty nail and then threw it in the trash alongside coffee grounds, banana peels, and pages torn respectively from the Koran and a book by the atheist polemicist Richard Dawkins...."
  • "IT'S A FRACKIN' CRACKER!"
    Pharyngula (July 8, 2008)
    • "There are days when it is agony to read the news, because people are so goddamned stupid. Petty and stupid. Hateful and stupid. Just plain stupid. And nothing makes them stupider than religion...."
    • "...That's right. Crazy Christian fanatics right here in our own country have been threatening to kill a young man over a cracker. This is insane. These people are demented f***wits. And Cook is not out of the fire yet — that Fox News story ends with an open incitement to cause him further misery...."
    • "...So, what to do. I have an idea. Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion wafers? There's no way I can personally get them — my local churches have stakes prepared for me, I'm sure — but if any of you would be willing to do what it takes to get me some, or even one, and mail it to me, I'll show you sacrilege, gladly, and with much fanfare. I won't be tempted to hold it hostage (no, not even if I have a choice between returning the Eucharist and watching Bill Donohue kick the pope in the balls, which would apparently be a more humane act than desecrating a goddamned cracker), but will instead treat it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web. I shall do so joyfully and with laughter in my heart. If you can smuggle some out from under the armed guards and grim nuns hovering over your local communion ceremony, just write to me and I'll send you my home address...."
    • (I've Bowdlerized one word in the Pharyngula excerpt. Associate professor Myers was quite frank and candid in presenting his position.)
In the news:
  • "Clergy confraternity calls for prayer and fasting in reparation for Eucharistic desecration"
    Catholic News Agency (July 29, 2008)
    • "Baltimore, ... (CNA).- The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, a national association of over 600 priests and deacons, has responded to the reported desecration of the Eucharist at the hands of a Minnesota biology professor and science blogger by asking for the Catholics of Minnesota and the entire nation to join in a day of prayer and fasting.
    • " 'We find the actions of University of Minnesota (Morris) Professor Paul Myers reprehensible, inexcusable, and unconstitutional,' the group said in a statement. 'His flagrant display of irreverence by profaning a consecrated Host from a Catholic church goes beyond the limit of academic freedom and free speech.'
    • "The confraternity argued that Myers' claim to have acquired and desecrated a consecrated Host is a violation of the freedom of religion guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.
    • " 'Lies and hate speech which incite contempt or violence are not protected under the law,' they further asserted, arguing that freedom of religion means 'no one has the right to attack, malign or grossly offend a faith tradition they personally do not have membership [in] or ascribe allegiance.'..."
  • "Minnesota professor claims to have desecrated Eucharist"
    Catholic News Agency (July 26, 2008)
    • "Morris, MN, ... (CNA).- Saying 'Catholicism has been actively poisoning the minds of its practitioners' and characterizing religious instruction as 'a devastating crime against the whole of the human race,' University of Minnesota at Morris biology professor Dr. Paul Zachary Myers claims to have carried out his threat to desecrate the Eucharist.
    • "Prof. Myers says that he pierced a Host with a rusty nail and then threw it in the trash alongside coffee grounds, banana peels, and pages torn respectively from the Koran and a book by the atheist polemicist Richard Dawkins.
    • "In a rambling prelude to his announcement of the desecration, Myers tried to explain his actions in a Thursday post on his blog 'Pharyngula.' Referencing the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, which he said codified Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist and established legal punishment for Jews, he said that accusations of Eucharistic desecration had been harmful to Jews in medieval Europe.
    • " 'That is the true power of the cracker, this silly symbol of superstition. Fortunately, Catholicism has mellowed with age — the last time a Catholic nation rose up to slaughter its non-Christian citizenry was a whole 70 years ago, after all — but the sentiment still lingers,' he said, apparently making a reference to the Spanish Civil War...."
  • "Communion wafer held 'hostage' raises holy heck"
    Minneapolis Star Tribune (July 11, 2008)
    • "A Minnesota university instructor and avowed atheist is jousting with a national Catholic watch dog group over a smuggled communion wafer, which the associate professor dismisses as a 'frackin' cracker.'
    • "Paul Z. Myers, who teaches biology at the University of Minnesota, Morris, on his blog this week expressed amazement that a Florida college student who briefly took a wafer 'hostage' from a church ceremony has been receiving death threats for an action that was characterized 'a hate crime' by the Catholic League.
    • "Under the headline, 'It's a frackin' cracker!' Myers wrote in an at-times profane blog entry: 'Crazy Christian fanatics right here in our own country have been threatening to kill a young man over a cracker. This is insane.'..."
    • (Note: news reports have carefully stated that the University of Florida student has claimed to receive death threats. That's not quite the same as "Crazy Christian fanatics right here in our own country have been threatening to kill a young man over a cracker.")
  • "Minnesota professor encourages theft and desecration of Eucharist"
    Catholic News Agency (July 11, 2008)
    • "Morris, MN, Jul 11, 2008 / 07:09 pm (CNA).- A Minnesota professor and science blogger has said he will personally desecrate the Eucharist and publish photos of the desecration on the internet if any of his readers acquire a consecrated Host and mail it to him. 'I'll show you sacrilege, gladly, and with much fanfare,' he has written.
    • "Paul Zachary Myers, an associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota at Morris, made the threat while commenting on a University of Central Florida incident in which a student senator stole and held hostage a consecrated Host from a June 29 Mass.
    • "In the Florida incident, student senator Webster Cook presented himself at Sunday Mass to receive the Eucharist. According to wftv.com, Cook said he intended to take the consecrated Host back to his seat to show a curious friend. After being stopped on his return to his seat, he put the Host in his mouth but removed it upon sitting down.
    • "He said a church leader grabbed his hands and tried to retrieve the Eucharist, after which he left with the Host. Cook filed an official abuse complaint with the UCF student court, while Catholic students filed other complaints alleging Cook engaged in disruptive conduct.
    • "Cook stored the Eucharist in a Ziploc bag for a week and then returned it last Sunday.
    • " 'I want to thank the individuals who explained the emotional and spiritual pain my possession of the Eucharist caused them to experience,' Cook wrote in a letter to the church, according to wftv.com. 'They have demonstrated that the use [of] reason is more effective than the use of force.'
    • "He said some people had threatened to break into his room to retrieve the Eucharist. A spokesperson for the Diocese of Orlando said the diocese does not condone the threats but is happy Cook returned the Host.
    • "Professor Myers criticized the incident in a derisive July 8 post on his science blog Pharyngula, hosted at scienceblogs.com. He also solicited his readers to acquire consecrated Hosts...."
  • "Student Who Took Religious Icon Getting Death Threats"
    MyFox Orlando (July 7, 2008)
    • " ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35, Orlando) --A University of Central Florida student claims that he is getting death threats for messing with something sacred.
    • "Webster Cook says that, instead of eating a Eucharist wafer as he was expected to do during the Sacrament of Holy Communion, he smuggled the blessed piece of bread out of mass. Once blessed, the piece of bread is viewed by Catholics as the true Body of Christ...."
Reading associate professor Myers' blog brought back memories of the years I spent in college classrooms. The University of Minnesota, Morris, has removed their link to Myers' blog, but the biology professor is still posting:

Pharyngula
("Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal")

The name of the blog, Pharyngula, is a technical term: "pharyngula: a developmental stage in vertebrate embryos, after fertilization, cleavage and gastrulation, in which the embryos are characterized by a notochord, a post-anal tail, and a series of paired folds in the neck region."
(From Explore Evolution.)

Related posts, on Islam, Christianity, Religion, Culture and the War on Terror.

Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Unique, innovative candles


Visit us online:
Spiral Light Candle  • Find a Retailer
• Spiral Light Candle Store

Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.