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| FRANCOIS -MARIE AROUET (VOLTAIRE) |
Somehow, brought up with an appreciation of the guarantees of the U.S. Constitution, I had always thought of myself as a liberal. I assumed that I was a liberal, as I was for freedom of expression, academic freedom, equality of opportunity, religious freedom and all those wonderful liberties enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
However, eventually reaching college age, I quickly found that professors professing to be liberal in their politics were those most likely not to be liberal in their classroom style. Some deviated from announced course outlines to talk left-wing politics for a semester, while others even ventured as far as to fail students whose views diverged from their own.
Early on, I was exposed to the 18th century French philosophe Voltaire, whose passionate words came to serve as an ideal for me, as I began to seriously consider the possibility of undertaking a career in higher education:
Although I may disagree with what you have to say, I will fight for your right to say it!
If one loathes another's idea, do not try to quash that idea, but challenge the idea in
open and civil discourse.
Consequently, I determined that I would never use a classroom as a bully pulpit and seek to indoctrinate rather than to stimulate thought and discussion. Students enrolling in my courses were told that the professor did not care what they thought, as long as they made the effort to think and were able to logically support their various points of view.
Unfortunately for students of the present generation, their freedoms of expression are even more under fire than when I was an undergraduate. And this is especially true for students who are of conservative and Christian persuasions.
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| ATTORNEY TRAVIS C. BARHAM |
Recently, I became aware of an organization devoted to defending religious liberty, as well as student & faculty rights to academic freedom and expression on American campuses, which more and more are under the mind-conforming and stultifying effects of the constantly metastasizing authoritarianism called "political correctness." Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Alliance Defending Freedom and its lead counsel, Travis C. Barham, defend students and faculty who, because of their political or religious views, have experienced discrimination to the point of having their careers placed in jeopardy. Attorney Barham's record of defending clients subject to academic harassment is an eye-opener to just how prevalent such abuse is in the ivy-covered halls of American higher education.
Julea Ward, who was a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University, is a prime example of those helped by Alliance Defending Freedom. Because of her steadfastness in her Christian faith, Ms. Ward was expelled from a counseling program in 2009, owing to her reluctance to counsel a client involved in a type of sexual relationship inimical to her faith. Seeking to act professionally and in accord with standards of conduct for the counseling profession, Ms. Ward declined to take the case and asked that the concerned clinic assign the client to a counselor who would not have a conflict of conscience in taking the case.
Unfortunately for Ms. Ward, the graduate program under which she was studying demanded that she undergo remediation to adjust her views on homosexuality to "societal norms." Subsequently, in meeting with a faculty committee concerning Ms. Ward's attitude adjustment, her Christian faith was ridiculed and faculty members engaged in inappropriate discussion about Christian standards. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Ward was dismissed from her graduate program.
After seeking assistance from Alliance Defending Freedom, legal action was commenced, which eventually overturned a district court ruling against Ms. Ward and resulted in a federal court returning the case for retrial.
Michael Adams is a tenured associate professor of criminology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. With a doctoral degree from Mississippi State University, Professor Adams is widely recognized as an authority in his field and has more refereed publications to his credit than most of the members of his department at the university in Wilmington. In addition, he has garnered awards for his excellence in teaching, a quick perusal of student evaluations revealing the high regard in which he is held by students taking his courses. Furthermore, he is the recipient of the university's highest award for service.
However, Professor Adams is also an avowed Christian and a political conservative. In fact, in addition to his scholarly articles, Adams is a regular columnist of conservative opinion for Townhall.com., not an especially attractive blogspot for campus leftists. Furthermore, his membership in the National Rifle Association did not endear him to "progressive" colleagues at UNCW.
Michael Adams' application for promotion to full professor status in 2006 began a struggle in which it was obvious that resentment for his personal views was impeding the promotion which he deserved. After an initial setback in which a district court ruled that the First Amendment did not protect the freedom of expression contained in his conservative columns, Adams, with the assistance of Alliance Defending Freedom, prevailed upon the Fourth Judicial Circuit to rule in his favor, the court stating that there was overwhelming evidence that Adams had not been granted the promotion because of the conservative views contained in his political columns. It therefore followed from this ruling that Professor Adams was deserving of a trial presented before a jury of his peers.
The foregoing examples are only too common these days and represent the "tip of the iceberg" of the sort of bias faced by conservatives and Christians in higher education. In effect, the old definitions distinguishing liberals and conservatives have been turned upside down by the coarse push of leftists to purge traditional values from our social order. In many ways, those whom we call conservatives are the liberals of the 21st century, for now it is they who stand for the freedoms and liberties that have made Americans and their exceptional country great.
Deo Vindice!
May God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!
Julea Ward, who was a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University, is a prime example of those helped by Alliance Defending Freedom. Because of her steadfastness in her Christian faith, Ms. Ward was expelled from a counseling program in 2009, owing to her reluctance to counsel a client involved in a type of sexual relationship inimical to her faith. Seeking to act professionally and in accord with standards of conduct for the counseling profession, Ms. Ward declined to take the case and asked that the concerned clinic assign the client to a counselor who would not have a conflict of conscience in taking the case.
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| JULEA WARD |
Unfortunately for Ms. Ward, the graduate program under which she was studying demanded that she undergo remediation to adjust her views on homosexuality to "societal norms." Subsequently, in meeting with a faculty committee concerning Ms. Ward's attitude adjustment, her Christian faith was ridiculed and faculty members engaged in inappropriate discussion about Christian standards. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Ward was dismissed from her graduate program.
After seeking assistance from Alliance Defending Freedom, legal action was commenced, which eventually overturned a district court ruling against Ms. Ward and resulted in a federal court returning the case for retrial.
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| PROFESSOR MIKE ADAMS |
However, Professor Adams is also an avowed Christian and a political conservative. In fact, in addition to his scholarly articles, Adams is a regular columnist of conservative opinion for Townhall.com., not an especially attractive blogspot for campus leftists. Furthermore, his membership in the National Rifle Association did not endear him to "progressive" colleagues at UNCW.
Michael Adams' application for promotion to full professor status in 2006 began a struggle in which it was obvious that resentment for his personal views was impeding the promotion which he deserved. After an initial setback in which a district court ruled that the First Amendment did not protect the freedom of expression contained in his conservative columns, Adams, with the assistance of Alliance Defending Freedom, prevailed upon the Fourth Judicial Circuit to rule in his favor, the court stating that there was overwhelming evidence that Adams had not been granted the promotion because of the conservative views contained in his political columns. It therefore followed from this ruling that Professor Adams was deserving of a trial presented before a jury of his peers.
The foregoing examples are only too common these days and represent the "tip of the iceberg" of the sort of bias faced by conservatives and Christians in higher education. In effect, the old definitions distinguishing liberals and conservatives have been turned upside down by the coarse push of leftists to purge traditional values from our social order. In many ways, those whom we call conservatives are the liberals of the 21st century, for now it is they who stand for the freedoms and liberties that have made Americans and their exceptional country great.
Deo Vindice!
May God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!
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