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posted by CoolHand on Monday August 29 2016, @01:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the it-takes-all-kinds dept.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/opinion/sunday/a-confession-of-liberal-intolerance.html?_r=0

WE progressives believe in diversity, and we want women, blacks, Latinos, gays and Muslims at the table — er, so long as they aren't conservatives. Universities are the bedrock of progressive values, but the one kind of diversity that universities disregard is ideological and religious. We're fine with people who don't look like us, as long as they think like us.

O.K., that's a little harsh. But consider George Yancey, a sociologist who is black and evangelical. "Outside of academia I faced more problems as a black," he told me. "But inside academia I face more problems as a Christian, and it is not even close."

I've been thinking about this because on Facebook recently I wondered aloud whether universities stigmatize conservatives and undermine intellectual diversity. The scornful reaction from my fellow liberals proved the point.

"Much of the 'conservative' worldview consists of ideas that are known empirically to be false," said Carmi. "The truth has a liberal slant," wrote Michelle. "Why stop there?" asked Steven. "How about we make faculties more diverse by hiring idiots?"

To me, the conversation illuminated primarily liberal arrogance — the implication that conservatives don't have anything significant to add to the discussion. My Facebook followers have incredible compassion for war victims in South Sudan, for kids who have been trafficked, even for abused chickens, but no obvious empathy for conservative scholars facing discrimination.

The stakes involve not just fairness to conservatives or evangelical Christians, not just whether progressives will be true to their own values, not just the benefits that come from diversity (and diversity of thought is arguably among the most important kinds), but also the quality of education itself. When perspectives are unrepresented in discussions, when some kinds of thinkers aren't at the table, classrooms become echo chambers rather than sounding boards — and we all lose.


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @06:21AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @06:21AM (#394490)

    It surprises me that any one of us would expect anything other than antagonism.
    The Bible tells us to expect it (for example, 2 Timothy 3:12).

    2 Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

    That verse is a favorite of the wrong kind of christian, because to the self-righteous, all criticism becomes proof of righteousness.

    It is carte blanche for acting like an asshole and shifting personal responsibility for bad behavior on to scripture and God instead. Jesus said a lot of things about compassion for others, [biblehub.com] not wearing one's religion like a badge, [biblehub.com] and not being self-righteous. [biblehub.com] The bible is packed with verses like that.

    But the wrong kind of christian ignores those verses and is quick to cite 2 Timothy 3:12 to avoid self-examination. In my experience, citation of that verse is so strongly correlated with un-christian behavior that it should be avoided at all costs.

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