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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: 2) by Snotnose on Monday August 29 2016, @03:23AM

    by Snotnose (1623) on Monday August 29 2016, @03:23AM (#394424)

    I was born in '58, my parents never listened to any music but hauled my ass off to church 3 times a week (sunday morning/night, wed night). I remember the pastor playing the Beatles song "Revolution", then doing an hour long sermon on how godless and anti-patriotic it was. Didn't have the nerve to raise my 10 year old arm in church, but on the way home I was all "um, wtf, they're saying you want a revolution so go have a nice life without us". Got shot down. Hard.

    Oddly enough, I was about 10 when I started asking questions. I'd ask a church elder, they'd say "you have to have faith". I'd reply "if I had faith I wouldn't be asking".

    Dad forced me to go to church 3 times a week until I was 16 and got a job that, hey imagine that, made me work sunday morning/night and wed night.

    Only time I've been in church since I turned 16 was when mom died, I figure the last time I'll be in church is when dad dies.

    --
    Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @03:47AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @03:47AM (#394437)

    That's great, but it's still not a reason to become a liberal.