Well, they've done it again. One of the articles I linked to in a post not too long ago (you can find that here) is the source of a serious debate in the community.
It seems as though BYU has fired the professor that wrote an op-ed piece that said he believed that opposing gay marriage and seeking a constitutional amendment against it is immoral. (Here's the link to the article he said that in.)
This is preposterous. Has anyone heard of academic freedom? or what about the freedom of speech? Why should someone be fired for voicing an opinion? Doesn't that go against the values of our nation? Why should someone be at risk of losing his job for making a moral statement in the face of outrageous immorality? This is perhaps one of the most frustrating stories I've read all year.
All this proves is that BYU is probably one of the worst schools you can go to.
Also: I was hoping for some type of lively debate or conversation on my last post about Same Sex Marriage, in fact I even asked for it. Was everyone asleep at the switch or just completely apathetic about the Anti-Marriage debate?
11 comments:
BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said the decision to let Nielsen go came from the philosophy department.
"The department made the decision because of a recent opinion piece that publicly contradicted and opposed a statement by the First Presidency," Jenkins said. "Such contradiction is in violation of university policy."
When I read this, I couldn't stop laughing. Sounds like a real first rate education.
BYU is to education what Keystone Kops are to the SWAT team
Pirate Club,
I think the professor was just trying to say the church might be wrong on its views of gay marriage. He wasn't saying, "The church is false" or " Fuck BYU". And it's probably the 3,667,458,798,405,394th time that someone within church has spoken out about rules and/or doctrine that needed to be changed. (i.e. Polygamy, Blacks in the Church, Death Oaths in the Temple, etc).
In the past, those who brought up the issue were usually chided and punished, but the church eventually progressed anyway. So, in a way, the church needs people like Jeffrey Nielsen.
As for BYU offering good things in exchange for selling out all your beliefs on free speech, etc., that's a personal decision. Agreed, BYU has a great program for the animated arts. I just hope you're not a gay animation student at BYU. Cuz then you're fucked.
I'm not saying I'm surprised, I'm saying it's shitty. I'm saying it's wrong. Would you fire someone for writing a well-thought out and well-put editorial with which you disagreed? No, because you aren't a hurt five year old who puts their fingers in their ears and shout "la-la-la-la-la-la" everytime you hear a dissenting opinion.
And the fact that the guy is right probably hurts their case quite a bit as well.
At BYU, there is some sacrifice of academic freedom in order to foster an environment where students can learn and not have their Constitutionally-protected beliefs assaulted by crackpot academics (see U of U). Hearing differing viewpoints over social issues is only a very small part of one's education.
This does not go against the values of our nation, any more than the comment moderation on this blog goes against the values of the nation.
I would have liked to debate same sex marriage with you, but I was already doing it on several other blogs, and didn't have time for one more. Maybe next time.
Personally, I think the comment moderation on this blog is silly. I think it was needed for a little while, but that time has passed.
Moderation is now off, Bryan. I just made your life a little less silly.
oh....
and we still need the verification stuff.... otherwise we'll be slammed with spam.
The thing is, this was an affect of behaviour of the professor OUTSIDE the classroom and outside his workplace.
That is really dodgy to me.
P.S., I didn't write the damn article, nor do I agree with everything written by Barber (just like I didn't agree with everything written by Nielsen) - I was just pointing out a similar action taken by an employer.
So, let's hear everyone talk about the facists at Allstate.
yup. pretty funny huh?
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