Regular readers will know that I harp on this theme constantly here but I lack the ability to put it as bluntly, as articulately and as effectively as fellow pajamahadeen Jeff Goldstein:
... what we have here is an example of a university promoting an idea of “tolerance” that is nothing short of the soft-totalitarianism of actively enforcing an “offense-free” zone (a decision that has the practical effect of assuring an array of victim groups, each of which will be given the equal “right” to censor those they consider offenders)—all while claiming to protect free speech.
This “right” not to be offended shows up in many different forms (from “coercion” in the Pledge controversy, to the hanging of Ten Commandments, etc)—and it is directly opposed to the idea of free speech which helps ground western liberalism.
That it is pervasive in the university culture is a sign that we have a lot of work to do to turn the tide back toward our own constitutional mandates, which—let’s face it—have become so twisted by pretzel logic in some cases that they are barely recognizable.
Beautifully put.
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