University Conservatives Take Stronger Stand on Campus, Liberal Intolerance Increases

Agape Press ^ | 4-14-04 | Jason Collum

[narses]

College kids? Read this.

[TOUGH STOUGH]

Good News and how refreshing. US Rep. Walter Jones and David Horowitz deserve a standing ovation.

[Luircin]

I'm reading it and I know what it's like. My Bio teacher is very much a liberal and possibly an atheist to boot. It seems to me that she's at least TRYING to be fair, so I can respect her for that, but her various comments on "religion" and abortion make it obvious what side she's on.

At least I haven't yet been tarred and feathered for reading Ann Coulter on campus.

[RightWingAtheist]

A student majoring in microbiology made a comment about intelligent design on a paper and was docked two letter grades and slammed

This is the one case mentioned where the professor was justified. There is no left and right in the hard sciences, only right and wrong. This particular student had no more a right to an appeal than a geology student arguing that the earth is flat, or a physics student making the case for perpetual motion.

[narses]

RightWingAtheist says:

This is the one case mentioned where the professor was justified. There is no left and right in the hard sciences, only right and wrong. This particular student had no more a right to an appeal than a geology student arguing that the earth is flat, or a physics student making the case for perpetual motion.

Aren't you overstating the case? While there are clear black and white issues in science, THEORIES are not facts. The Theory of Intelligent Design, if argued based on fact, is no more justified in being derided than any other fact based hypothesis.

[ikka]

This is the one case mentioned where the professor was justified.

Actually, there is not enough information to determine that. We don't know the nature of the comment, and whether he actually argued ID or just mentioned it in passing.

[liberallarry]

What's your idea of fair?

Professors as well as students have opinions - liberal, conservative, religious, athiest, etc. - and those opinions are bound to find expression in what they teach.

In the sciences (biology excluded) this is not a problem. The public won't get excited if you show a pronounced preference for string theory. But in every other field someone will scream if you express your opinions.

[RightWingAtheist]

Aren't you overstating the case?

Not in the least. Evolution by natural is not just a theory; it's a proven fact. Intelligent Design claims to be based on fact, but it's hinged on metaphysical speculations which belong in a philosophy or comparative religion department, not in the hard sciences.

Believe me, I know personally how insidious the left-wing bias in academia is. I'm a Ph.d student in communications (with a concentration in rhetoric), and there isn't a single conservative on the faculty, and as far as I know, I'm the only conservative grad student. Any left-of-center viewpoint, no matter how fallacious or simplistic, is considered acceptable, while any position even remotely conservative is anathema, no matter how many facts you use or how well you argue it. But the hard sciences are completely different. Science deals with matters of fact which exist independently of personal opinion. Your typical science or engineering department is like an Irish pub-you don't bring in politics or religion unless you want to get kicked out.

[patriciaruth]

Ping...

[narses]

Evolution by natural is not just a theory; it's a proven fact.

Wow, this is news to me. Which theory of evolution are you claiming is now FACT?

[BADROTOFINGER]

Not in the least. Evolution by natural is not just a theory; it's a proven fact.

Huh? This is news to me. Could you elaborate, or possibly point me to a study that uses the scientific method (with all of its stringent standards) that backs up your claim? If it exists, it sure must have slipped by me, and I would very much like to read it...JFK

[judgeandjury]

In February, an English professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill sent an e-mail to her entire English class berating a student for his comments against homosexuality. He called it disgusting and a sin. According to several newspaper reports, instructor Elyse Crystall wrote in the e-mail, "What we heard Thursday at the end of class constitutes hate speech and is completely unacceptable." Crystall went on to refer to the student, only identified as Tim, as "a white, heterosexual, Christian male" who "can feel entitled to make violent, heterosexual comments and not feel marked or threatened or vulnerable."

It sounds like Professor Crystall is engaging in hate speech. I find that completely unacceptable.

[GATOR NAVY]

We don't know the nature of the comment, and whether he actually argued ID or just mentioned it in passing.

Exactly the point I was going to make, although the phrase "made a comment" sounds more like the latter. Of course, I also understand the author may be understating the case to prove his point.

[daverad1]

Evolution by natural [sic] is not just a theory; it's a proven fact.

Preposterous. There is more evidence disproving evolution than supporting it. Mathematics, microbiology, and chemistry (your "hard sciences") lead you toward a creator not away. I suggest you do your homework. Last I checked, evolution is still a theory. It does not qualify as anything else using the scientific method. I'll be happy to provide references.

[rwfromkansas]

RightWing Atheist. Interesting nick and shows where your allegiance lies.

Narses hopefully will ignore you.

[Tax Government]

I would bet a large percentage of college professors believe their real job -- the one they are actually paid for -- is to be liberal partisans, squashing conservative values whenever the chance appears. That is astounding, and is similar to the situation in totalitarian countries.

[narses]

Why should I ignore him? His argument appears well meant.

[Lancey Howard]

Hey, college kids! Be the talk of the dining hall!

Dixie Outfitters

[rmh47]

the hard sciences are completely different. Science deals with matters of fact which exist independently of personal opinion. Your typical science or engineering department is like an Irish pub-you don't bring in politics or religion unless you want to get kicked out.

I beg to differ. I have recently been helping a young man of my acquaintance with an introductory college chemistry course he is taking. Although it has been over 35 years since I have studied chemistry, I was a pretty good science student back then, and I'm finding that with a little work it is all coming back. At least the actual chemistry part of it is.

The chemistry course he is taking, which is for non-chemistry majors, has been rendered PC. At least one-third of the homework and test questions are about political matters, e.g., the Kyoto Treaty, global warming, the ozone layer, etc. And this is not just stuff that the teacher has thrown in; the textbook devotes at least a part of every chapter to this kind of crap. I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself: A politically correct chemistry textbook!