Law Students Flunk Academic Freedom 101 (Gaystapo alert)

http://correspondents.theatlantic.com ^ | Jul 27 2009 | Wendy Kaminer

[Maelstorm]

Another day, another casualty in a conflict pitting equality and demographic diversity against free speech and diversity of opinion: "A Singapore law professor who was to teach a human rights course at New York University Law School this fall has withdrawn after students protested what they called her anti-gay views," the New York Times reported last week. The anger at Dr. Thio Li-ann's appointment as a visiting professor was understandable: According to a petition protesting it, she had opposed repeal of a Singaporean law criminalizing homosexual conduct and "supported the imposition of a $15,000 fine on a free-access Singaporean television channel for presenting a gay couple and their child as a family unit." (If the latter claim is accurate, it surely undermines her credibility as victim of censorship.)

The trouble is that the petition in opposition to Professor Thio imagines her appointment as a violation of NYU's "own policy of nondiscrimination." In other words, gay students (and members of other historically disadvantaged groups) are said to suffer actual discrimination when the administration hires faculty members who argue against anti-discrimination laws. This confusion of speech and action -- of advocating for discrimination and actually engaging in it -- is common in academia, where academic freedom is too often limited to the freedom to advance prevailing ideals of equality. (See thefire.org)

The refusal of law students even to hear opposing views, reflecting opposing moral codes, is particularly worrisome. I wouldn't want one of these future lawyers ever advocating for me. They're unlikely to learn how to argue effectively if they limit their law school debates to matters about which only presumptively reasonable people disagree. Uniformity of opinion breeds complacency, close-mindedness, and a tendency to mistake attitudes for arguments.

...

[Maelstorm]

Here is a link to the video that caused such a stir.

Thio Li-Ann presents anti-gay agenda via kwout

[SunkenCiv]

thanks Maelstorm.

Viewpoint: What we can learn from intolerance
(Not agreeing with gays is anti-human rights?)
http://www.dailytexanonline.com | July 27, 2009 | Jillian Sheridan
Posted on 07/27/2009 9:18:14 PM PDT by Maelstorm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2302522/posts