An interesting little string of events have happened our way at lil ‘ol Marquette University. Now, I don’t know much about Marquette other than the fact that we can see it on our way home when leaving the Lake or downtown area. My cousin Stacy went there prior to attending Chiropractic school and I adore her so I assume only nice people go there. I guess it’s a Catholic school which probably means more to Catholics than me.
It’s a college filled with impressionable college kids and by impressionable I mean bratty and cheap. True story, when we went to a coffee shop nearby to grab a sandwich after my weightlifting meet there were scores of students taking up space drinking either water out of water bottles they brought from home or some had the balls to just go ahead and bring in their own cup of coffee. Uhhh, kids? GTFO to people who actually spend money.
Kids these days. (I said that in my best Get Off My Lawn voice.)
But things have gotten a bit dramatic over at Marquette. I heard some rumblings on the radio that a Professor, a Conservative Professor to be exact, has been suspended after blogging about a different Philosophy Professor’s disallowing discussion of a student’s views on anti-gay policies due to the fact that it may offend gay students and instantly be labeled as homophobic.
Uhhhhh, hold on. Back up. First off, this happened in a philosophy class. Now, I only went to little old Midland Lutheran College (newly retired Highland Games Pro Sean Betz went there too so that gives me cred YO) but when I went to philosophy class (which I showed up for cuz it was after lunch so I was up by then) we discussed, oh I dunno, PHILOSOPHIES. But that was a Lutheran school so maybe the Catholics roll differently.
Or maybe this is just the age we live in. Colleges no longer are here to help guide young adults along to become informed and detailed when sharing opposing views. They are no longer here to dig deep into issues; history; the pathology of human nature and how we all just need to ‘get along.’ Nope. Now, it’s shut up or you’ll offend someone. Actually that’s not true, because what if the dude or dudette who wanted to talk about their views was offended. Shit. Slippery slope.
You can’t, oh I dunno, say, “Look, this is a personal topic for many. So we’ll discuss it but we will have boundaries for both sides. Here they are; x, y, and z. Cross those lines and you’re done. There is no “they” and “we.” There are policies that have helped America or hurt America and you’re going to back up your opinion with real numbers.” Gee, wouldn’t it be refreshing to have a political discussion like that? Ya know why no one does anymore? Cuz they don’t know how. They just know how to divide; accuse; be offended; scream; call names.
Oh yeah, here are a few little known facts. People with Christian values are not always the opposite of people who support Gay rights. But we have come this far, i.e. Christian means Homophobic. See how quickly you can dismiss an opposing view? Call a name. Also, people who support Gay rights do not always support Gay lifestyles. Again, slippery. Hate the sin, love the sinner. A nice little glib Christian saying. But wait a minute, we’re ALL sinners so we’re all in the same boat. Comforting.
All in the same boat: Christians; Gays; Blacks; White Police Officers; Atheists; Priests; Marathon runners. All of us. In the same boat. Why are we fighting those we need to rely on to be a strong America?
Cuz it’s fun. It give the press something to do, divide Americans. Use labels, further the message that large groups of people are being “held down by the man.” (But, uh, your Man is black too…so slippery.)
Anyways. Writing the story of the philosophy class happenings on his blog, Professor McAdams has been suspended of duty. GTFO dude, tow the line or GTFO. So not only can you NOT have open discussion in class, but out of class also. Memo to me: don’t send Oz to Marquette. He’s 14 and already has pretty firm opinions and convictions. He won’t last long spending days in a place where he can’t even share them even while being respectful of those who disagree with him. Which means he’ll never be heard and that tends to annoy him.
The hub bub at Marquette seems to revolve around two issues. 1) The original philosophy Professor said no to a very real discussion because she didn’t want anyone offended even though it was within her power to guide the discussion and keep tight reins on it but chose not to because she probably doesn’t even know how. (A bigger problem for Marquette in hiring Professors ill equipped with the tools to guide dissenting views. Status Quo man.) B. Another Professor blogged about it. (DO NOT EVER HAVE AN OPINION THAT DIFFERS FROM THEIRS. EVER!) 3. (Ya, I know I said two earlier) The University is handling things poorly in not keeping to their own policies in suspending Professors and keeping them off campus (uh oh, the trouble with not following your own policy with college professors is that said professors are usually smart enough to call you out on it.)
SNAFU from green light.
At then end of the day, I don’t care about either Professor at Marquette. What I care about is that this nation gets more divided every day. If you’re not for us (“us” being our belief) you’re against us and we must end your right to speak…or exist. We have become weak because real world issues are going on and Americans are scrambling on the internet to find their next “Can’t Breath” t-shirt. (Don’t even get me started on that.)
The divided America is a weak America. I don’t know why more people aren’t seeing this. If I become your enemy because I have a different opinion than you, congratulations, you’ve just become a parody of yourself. Here’s your sign:
I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.
John Adams
tosabarbell 