Posted on 10/12/2006 8:59:50 AM PDT by Land_of_Lincoln_John
Catholic League president Bill Donohue issued the following remarks today about an incident involving a DePaul University professor:
“Catholics have every right to expect that Catholic colleges and universities are free from bigotry of any kind. Unfortunately, a recent ugly incident by DePaul professor Norman G. Finkelstein has betrayed that trust. To be specific, an online column he wrote at indybay.org suggesting that Alan Dershowitz be assassinated, coupled with an obscene depiction of the Harvard professor, is cause for alarm.
(My note: If you go to the Catholic League link, there is a link to the indybay link and the cartoon is there but is NOT SAFE FOR WORK!)
“Finkelstein has every right to quarrel with Dershowitz’s proud defense of Israel’s right to exist, but when he compares him to a Nazi (this despicable charge is made twice), then elementary standards of civility have been shattered. Similarly, calling Dershowitz a ‘moral pervert’ who ‘missed the climactic scene of his little peep show’ is the language used by street propagandists, not academicians. Make no mistake about it, Finkelstein wrote this to illustrate the vicious cartoon he commissioned: Dershowitz is depicted masturbating in glee over dead Lebanese civilians. It doesn’t get much lower than this.
“There are plenty of arenas in and around Chicago where those who want to rant can go to express themselves, but a university is not such a venue: the university exists so that the truth may be pursued. That is what a liberal arts education is expected to provide, and it is nothing but a travesty when the rights afforded faculty members are abused in the way Finkelstein has done. This is doubly true when it happens on a Catholic campus.
“The time has come for responsible Catholic leaders to hold up a stop sign to this kind of ad hominem assault. Robust free speech should be welcomed on campus, but if it is to have pedagogical value, it must respect logic and standards of evidence. Character assassination of the kind Finkelstein engages in does not meet that test. He has abused his rights as a faculty member and he has defamed Catholic education.”
This is shocking. I hope DePaul listens and acts on Finkelstein's loathsome display.
It's sponsored by the Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.
Are they Catholic or are they "Catholic" like John sKerry is "Catholic"?
I'd lay odds that academic "freedom" to publish juvenile obscenities will take precendence over any Catholic consideration of acting for the common good in the minds of the administration and most faculty members at any given "Catholic" university.
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I'd like to describe my position as "hopeful", but perhaps I'm just naive.
"I'd like to describe my position as "hopeful", but perhaps I'm just naive."
If things were going swimmingly we would have no need of hope. I don't think we can do without it just yet.
From Wiki:
DePaul has developed a reputation as a progressive and liberal Catholic university in the US. In 2006, DePaul caused some controversy by becoming the first Catholic university to formally establish a "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer Studies" minor.
In recent years, DePaul has been the target of criticism by various conservative and free speech organizations, including some that oppose the university's inclusive Catholicism. The most active of the free speech groups is FIRE, a free speech civil rights advocacy group. FIRE awarded the President of the University its award for the worst protector of Free Speech by a university president [4].
FIRE and others have criticized the university's decision to suspend without public hearing and not renew the contract of part-time faculty member Thomas E. Klocek in September 2004 for comments made to and behaviour towards Palestinian students concerning the conflict with Israel. The event resulted in FIRE's harsh criticism of the university's level of support for open discussion and debate [5]. University supporters maintain that the issue was not Klocek's views but the manner in which he expressed them.
The university limited flyers protesting a visit of Ward Churchill, declaring them "propaganda." [6]. Churchill's visit garnered a bomb threat that prompted the University to limit attendance at the event.
Oy. What a travesty.
High volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. also
2006israelwar or WOT
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. . .but it was just Bill; altogether a different story. . .
Thanks.
DePaul has; Finklestein was denied tenure.
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