[RightWingAtheist]

I've just started my Ph.d program at U of Minnesota, and so far I've put myself "in the closet" politically, so to speak. The first thing I did when I moved into my new office was take down the "WELLSTONE!" banner which was hanging above my desk, but I otherwise haven't done anything which would set off alarm bells. Oddly enough, when I did my Master's degree at Wayne State, the liberal faculty not only actually welcomed hearing my dissenting views, they practically demanded it.

[bmauer]

You describe perfectly what I see in academia. I did my M.A. at University of Minnesota and wrote papers from a variety of positions. The key to success in academia is to support your claims with good evidence and good reasoning, taking into account the various other positions that are out there and positioning yourself in relation to them. There are no presuppositions about what is acceptable and not acceptable other than that your work follows the guidelines established by the discipline for "quality" (which is the main issue -- P.C. is not the issue)

[bmauer]

One more point: if one goes through school holding onto to one's ideology for dear life ("I will retain a conservative position on this issue no matter what") one is refusing to engage fully the learning process. If one's views cannot be changed no matter what evidence and arguments challenge them and no matter how powerful the challenge, then one is refusing to learn.

I am a successful scholar because I am willing to have my views changed if confronted with a better argument than the one I hold.