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Life, liberty, and the avoidance of reality
www.townhall.com ^ | May 31, 2005 | Prof. Mike S. Adams

Posted on 05/31/2005 5:50:18 AM PDT by Millicent_Hornswaggle

University administrators, professors, and student newspapers are becoming so detached from reality that one can hardly write satire about university life. Nor can one muster the sarcasm necessary to give these people the ridicule they deserve.

For example, I recently mocked the editors of UNC-Wilmington's student newspaper, The Seahawk, for wanting Christian organizations to sign a non-discrimination clause that would clearly trump constitutionally protected freedoms of religious expression. I jokingly suggested that the paper believes that "students who believe that rape and pedophilia are good must be allowed to join, vote, and hold office in a Christian fraternity."

Unfortunately, The Seahawk missed the sarcasm and gave this serious two-word answer: "They should." They even explained their position:

"The one incontrovertible legal point at the center of the Alpha Iota Omega debate is that AIO is an official student organization, funded by student fees. And, thank God - no pun intended - it's University policy that organizations funded by student fees should be open to all students, without discrimination of any kind. End of story."

The quote you just read shows why a university without a journalism school or a law school should not publish a student newspaper offering legal opinions. In the lawsuit filed by AIO against UNC, the Christians won an injunction against the school, just weeks before the Seahawk editorial was published. So much for that "one incontrovertible legal point."

The reason the lawsuit is going badly for UNC probably lies in the fact that those student fees came from the students in the first place. In this lawsuit, the federal judge clearly recognizes that the university's policy would require Christians who oppose rape and pedophilia to; first, pay mandatory student fees (another name for tax) to a government-run school, and then, second, agree to allow rapists and pedophiles (or anyone else) to join the group as a condition of getting the money back.

Thankfully the federal judge, unlike the UNC administration and these top-notch Seahawk reporters, understands that such a policy is absurd, not to mention totalitarian.

In addition to being bad journalists with a bad sense of humor, the Seahawk writers don't know much about history. This is shown in the following quote: "The bigger question (is): How paranoid do you have to be to believe that a group of neo-Nazis is going to take over your Christian fraternity? Clearly, if the university allows any student to join AIO, it will soon be overrun by baby-eating street thugs who (sic) vote out the Christian leadership."

That statement is problematic for two reasons. The first problem is one of historical ignorance.

In 1956, the United States Supreme Court rejected a demand by the State of Alabama that the NAACP make its membership lists public. In its first case to explicitly establish the "freedom of association," the Supreme Court declared: "It is beyond debate that freedom to engage in association for the advancement of beliefs and ideas is an inseparable aspect of the 'liberty' assured by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which embraces freedom of speech."

This case was necessitated by the efforts of white racists (with beliefs similar to neo-Nazis) to invade and control the NAACP. But now, the "liberal" student newspapers and administrators are on the side of those white racists and segregationists. They are now fighting to undo the work of the Warren Court and the NAACP. Is it possible that they have gone so far left that they are now far right?

But there is a second problem with the position of the UNC system and the Seahawk. The problem is logical, rather than historical.

By saying that someone has to be paranoid to believe that anyone hostile to Christianity would ever want to join a Christian group, one is making the best possible case against the non-discrimination clause. Put simply, this is the same as saying that the policy is good because it will never actually have to be implemented.

To say that the best idea is the one which has the least application to reality is to understand the source of the problem. It shows that these students are merely parroting the ideas of their professors. Professors like to keep their ideas as far removed from reality as possible.

If that statement seems far-fetched, just image the headlines these students would have to run if they actually tried to eliminate every form of discrimination, rather than merely saying that they oppose every form of discrimination:

"UNC-Wilmington Discriminates Against Whites in Student Admissions"

"UNC-Greensboro Discriminates Against Sex Offenders, Fires Convicted Pedophile"

"Study Shows Athletic Department Discriminates Against the Obese"

"Extra! Extra! Read All About it! Phi Beta Kappa May be Excluding Dummies"

"Dwarves Systematically Overlooked in Basketball Try-outs, Read Our Exclusive Story!"

"Discrimination Against the Handicapped Persists: Blind Bus Driver Fired for Failing Physical"

"Time to Protest University Use of SAT and GPA to Exclude College Applicants!"

"How Grades Discriminate Against the Drunk and Lazy"

Will university liberals ever seek a "solution" to any of these "problems"? Of course not.

Today's university liberal is as apathetic about the consequences of his ideas as he is ignorant of their historical origins. But none of that matters to him. In his heart, he knows he's still right.

©2005 Mike S. Adams


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Philosophy; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: academia; christians; liberals; university

1 posted on 05/31/2005 5:50:19 AM PDT by Millicent_Hornswaggle
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To: Millicent_Hornswaggle

As usual, he writes a good article.


2 posted on 05/31/2005 5:53:37 AM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (-I can only contribute to FR monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS contributes to her campaign every day)
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To: Millicent_Hornswaggle

bump


3 posted on 05/31/2005 5:55:39 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE!)
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To: Millicent_Hornswaggle

btt...a good read


4 posted on 05/31/2005 5:58:21 AM PDT by dannyboy72 (How long will you hold onto the rope when Liberals pull us off the cliff?)
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To: Millicent_Hornswaggle
They are now fighting to undo the work of the Warren Court and the NAACP. Is it possible that they have gone so far left that they are now far right?

This is one point I must take issue with because it is the LEFT that has ALWAYS been the problem. The Nazi (and now the Neo-Nazi, which just means New Nazi) were SOCIALISTS, i.e. leftists.

5 posted on 05/31/2005 6:02:05 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (G-d is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
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To: Millicent_Hornswaggle; eyespysomething
Overall, it's a funny and entertaining column, and makes me glad my kids aren't yet in college. I take issue with this, though:

Is it possible that they have gone so far left that they are now far right?

Neo Nazis are not "far right." I'm far right because I believe in limited state governments and a federal government who makes its business only national defense and lighthouses. That's far right.

Killing people who are different than you or disagree with you is far left: Hitler (socialist, dictator) Stalin (communist), Louis XIV, Napoleon ... these are leftists who believe in a powerful centralized government and kill their adversaries. These are the ideological contemporaries of the Neo Nazis, who would gladly use the force of government to quash their enemies.

Far right just means you want folks to leave you alone.

6 posted on 05/31/2005 6:02:08 AM PDT by SittinYonder (Tancredo and I wanna know what you believe)
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To: SittinYonder; Millicent_Hornswaggle

The Nazis never were Christians. They sometimes used the cover of Christianity and other religions in their propaganda but they developed their own Pagan rituals for weddings, births and other important ceremonies. They also exterminated thousands of priests and millions of Christians in concentration camps.

The Nazis used any religion to further their power. For example, the Nazis raised two Muslim Waffen SS Divisions during the war. These were the only true "religious" SS Division the Nazis ever created (and it is safe to say that the Germany was not a Muslim nation). Himmler was fascinated by the thought of Muslims to be fearless soldiers willing to kill for their religion. One of these Muslim Waffen SS divisions (The Hanjer Division) was responsible for the murder of over 90 percent of the Yugoslavian Jewish population.

They were left-wing socialists. Yes, the National Socialist Workers Party of Germany, otherwise known as the Nazi Party, was indeed socialist, and it had a lot in common with the modern left. Hitler preached class warfare, agitating the working class to resist "exploitation" by capitalists -- particularly Jewish capitalists, of course. Their program called for the nationalization of education, health care, transportation, and other major industries. They instituted and vigorously enforced a strict gun control regimen. They encouraged pornography, illegitimacy, and abortion, and they denounced Christians as right-wing fanatics. Yet a popular myth persists that the Nazis themselves were right-wing extremists. This insidious lie biases the entire political landscape, and the time has come to expose it.


7 posted on 05/31/2005 6:07:43 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - They want to die for Islam, and we want to kill them.)
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To: 2banana

Well ... exactly.


8 posted on 05/31/2005 6:11:04 AM PDT by SittinYonder (Tancredo and I wanna know what you believe)
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To: 2banana
Many, many, people in this country and others want to tie the National Socialist Party , in other words, Nazis to the far right. They were about as far left as one could get.

But, there are those who want us to think that nothing bad comes from the Left.

9 posted on 05/31/2005 6:23:18 AM PDT by Citizen Tom Paine (An old sailor sends.)
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To: Millicent_Hornswaggle

BUMP!


10 posted on 05/31/2005 6:26:59 AM PDT by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen, ignorance and stupidity.)
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To: Citizen Tom Paine
Many, many, people in this country and others want to tie the National Socialist Party, in other words, Nazis to the far right. They were about as far left as one could get.

I had a PolySci teacher, in California no less, make an observation that to this day I still use to confound the self-admitted "Progressives".

He drew a line on the blackboard and partitioned it off into the usual Left Wing/Right Wing divisions with Communism on the Left, Socialism just left of center, Capitalism in the center and Fascism on the right. Everybody agreed that was correct.

He said that that was on an economic system scale. Now lets measure it in terms of individual freedom. Anarchy on the far right, Capitalism, Socialism, and voila! - Communism AND Fascism were suddenly cheek-by-jowl compatriots. Some of the Lefties in the class cried foul but couldn't realign the isms any other way. A few dropped the class because the instructor was "reactionary".

Now when these idiots start to spout off, I ask them what scale they are using and then proceed to lead-pipe them. P!$$ed off more than one and left me feeling that my work there was done.

11 posted on 05/31/2005 8:17:16 AM PDT by Oatka
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To: Millicent_Hornswaggle

Mike's columns are always a good read. Thanks for posting this one.


12 posted on 05/31/2005 8:52:34 AM PDT by kayak (Have you prayed for your President today?)
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To: Alia

NC ping list material.


13 posted on 05/31/2005 8:53:28 AM PDT by kayak (Have you prayed for your President today?)
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To: kayak

Yer right. NCers need to act on this; stop this forced "mandatory" union fees to pay for socialist claptrap, exclusive.


14 posted on 05/31/2005 8:57:53 AM PDT by Alia
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To: Constitution Day; TaxRelief; 100%FEDUP; 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; ~Vor~; A2J; a4drvr; Adder; ...

NC *Ping*

Please FRmail Constitution Day OR TaxRelief OR Alia if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.
15 posted on 05/31/2005 8:59:29 AM PDT by Alia
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To: Oatka

The World's Smallest Political Quiz - the first link on this page:
http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz-faq.html

When you first see it, you'll want to show it to everyone you know. There's much more info on this site, and other places about it. Their take on "fascist" vs "communist" is a bit different from yours.

I end up a 40/80 "conservative" ... and though not in the far corner - that is the group they poll as most rare. They probably have an overrepresentation of "centrist", though, due to the way they categorize.

Enjoy.


16 posted on 05/31/2005 10:05:55 AM PDT by AFPhys ((.Praying for President Bush, our troops, their families, and all my American neighbors..))
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To: Alia

Adams scores again.


17 posted on 05/31/2005 6:57:13 PM PDT by JWinNC (www.anailinhisplace.net)
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