I occasionally read these stories written by people unfamiliar with college culture. This is not exclusive to elite law schools or elite universities more generally. These sorts of views and this culture is pervasive at colleges throughout the US and in such nations as Australia. It has been pervasive for a couple of decades, at least.
It may seem implausible to people outside academia but, I assure you, it is deeply rooted and pervasive. For years, it has excluded alternative views.
Yes, this is very true.
I’m a survivor of academia. Originally an agnostic. Became Christian at university and this attitude is very pervasive.
University becomes a 4 year never-ending slog of being told that you are wrong, that you are stupid for believing what you do, etc.
And this student shouldn’t be surprised. Catholics were and have been oppressed in the US before. This attitude is why I refuse to go into the teaching profession where I am from (as they require teachers to teach SSM), and have relocated to TX.
I’m glad to see this kid waking up to hatred and bigotry. We need more young conservatives to wake up and realize what’s truly going on.
Many years ago, I had a beginning law course professor who would joke about firing up furnaces when pressed on what should happen to people who resisted the government schools’ socialization process.
Unfortunately you are spot on.Say anything publically,that isn't outright glorious praise towards homosexuals and you can pay dearly.
Even the typical Aussie male,who used to consider 'poofter bashing' almost as a right of passage,is now tentative talking about it and very quickly apologetic when something unsavoury about homos slips out.
I couldn't tell you how many times I've heard the phrase "not that there's anything wrong with that" when homosexuality is discussed,either privately or publically.
The media here is either $*#t scared of,or in full agreement with, the gay-lobby.
For a lot of Aussies,Christianity and practically anything alse religious is looked upon as a sort of leprosy.
That;s how I'm seeing it FWIW.
We have a real problem in conservative circles caused by not teaching our students how to survive and argue and fight back at elite leftist universities and graduate schools, and as a result our sons and daughters either go there and get their faith and politics wrecked or they get discouraged by parents from going there at all. As a result, too many solid conservative young people with excellent high school grades go to community colleges and small state universities to save money, and then settle for third-rate law schools that may prepare them well to run a small criminal or civil law practice but certainly won't prepare them for a top-level law firm.
The result is we conservatives don't produce people who are qualified constitutional lawyers, and that means we can't generate enough candidates for senior state judgeships or for federal judgeships. Then we're surprised when court decisions go bad.
Much the same could be said for many other professions, not just the law.
Not everyone is called to go to elite universities and graduate schools. I understand that, and I am the first to say we need good mechanics and farmers and storekeepers and other small business owners in fields which often don't require a degree at all. Small business owners are generally the best candidates for political office. My wife and I have numerous degrees between us, but we'd much rather vote for a candidate for office who is a successful small business owner than somebody with lots of degrees and little life experience.
But if we don't recognize that anti-intellectualism is incompatible with the long-term survival of the conservative movement, we are in for serious trouble.
3 posted on Sunday, January 08, 2012 3:03:29 PM by iacovatx: “I occasionally read these stories written by people unfamiliar with college culture. This is not exclusive to elite law schools or elite universities more generally. These sorts of views and this culture is pervasive at colleges throughout the US and in such nations as Australia. It has been pervasive for a couple of decades, at least. It may seem implausible to people outside academia but, I assure you, it is deeply rooted and pervasive. For years, it has excluded alternative views.”