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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @04:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 29 2016, @04:34PM (#394798)

    I probably read the Quran before you were born. I took that little task on when I was in the Navy. I was running low on reading material, stumbled across an interesting looking book, and picked it up.

    Oh puhlease, nobody believes that bullshit. You may have thumbed through a copy, but every post you make about islam proves that your understanding of the quran is nothing more than crap you got from dedicated islamofoes. Half the time you post a URL on the topic its from a hate site. If you had a serious interest in understanding rather than scapegoating your sources would be a lot more neutral.

    For all of it's excesses, Chriatianity was founded by a peaceful man. Islam was founded at the point of a sword.

    Really? So, if that is the end all and be all determinant, the fact that Moe and his buddies were chased out of Mecca (the hegira) [historyworld.net] at the point of a sword after a failed plot to assassinate him ought to count for the same. The hegira is the official start of Islam. But that doesn't count, does it? How about his return to Mecca which is negotiated through diplomacy? Nope that doesn't count either.

    Your hypocrisy is especially ripe given how frequently you promote violence in the name of christian superiority.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 29 2016, @05:47PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 29 2016, @05:47PM (#394843) Journal

    Moe was a warrior, a pedophile, a necrophile, a murderer, a rapist, and so much more. I've not discovered any redeeming virtues.

    I've read a bit about the Hindu faith, Native American spirituality, Wicca, Paganism, and more. Compared to any of those, Islam is a death cult.

    I repeat - everything that is wrong with the Christian patriarchy is multiplied a thousand fold in Islam.

    Thanks to that pedophile pig, you can find "learned" imams in Islam proclaiming that it is perfectly alright for a horny man to use infants for satisfaction. Don't believe it? Read this report from the US Army - http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/army-acknowledges-pedophilia-part-of-islam/ [wnd.com]