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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 Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday August 31 2016, @04:48AM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Wednesday August 31 2016, @04:48AM (#395581) Journal

    Oh no, not at all. I'd be incredibly hypocritical to have a problem with gay men, as a gay woman, simply for BEING gay. Suck all the wang you want, so long as you're honest with all your partners and, if married or otherwise in a committed relationship, have permission from your SO. Just use protection and don't do anything stupid. I've seen some frightening statistics about men who have sex with men...

    No, it's all the *other* bullshit that goes along with your slow-motion 50-car-pileup of a worldview that I've got an issue with. Specifically, your constant macho attitude and your right-wing politics are rather anti-gay in the collective even if you yourself aren't, and by contributing to that you're being very hypocritical if you're actually anywhere in the LGBTQ bowl of alphabet soup.

    Oh, and anyone who uses the term "virtue signalling" or "cuck" automatically loses; it's Godwin's Law for the mid-to-late 2010s.

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    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @04:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @04:35PM (#396240)
    • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday September 01 2016, @04:51PM

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday September 01 2016, @04:51PM (#396247) Journal

      *siiiigh*

      Look, dipshit, "virtue signalling" is a snarl word. It's what jackasses like you use when you have no argument. My pointing this out, and then turning it back on you and showing you how you're doing an even worse version of the same thing, is not only not losing, it's a coup de grace. Not only was your complete lack of argument exposed, it was shown to you that you're attempting to do the same thing you accuse others of, *and failing miserably at even that.*

      Am I just expecting too much from the average poster here? Have I been ruined by all that study in logic and argumentation I did?

      --
      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...