So-called conservatives believe deeply in protecting the right of everyone on college campuses to express their opinions, including opinions others might find offensive — except when they don’t.
They hate the idea of carving up colleges and universities into “safe spaces” — except when they are intent on sending liberal professors packing.
The hypocrisy is so thick, you can only cut it with a power saw.
The latest case in point is a bill just approved by the Texas state Senate proclaiming that “A faculty member of an institution of higher education may not compel or attempt to compel a student enrolled at the institution to adopt a belief that any race, sex, or ethnicity or social, political, or religious belief is inherently superior to any other race, sex, ethnicity, or belief.” Comically, it purports to do this in the name of intellectual diversity.
Imagine an economics professor who, in the tradition of Milton Friedman, wishes to explain to students the virtues of capitalism and the drawbacks of communism or socialism: He would be violating the ban, as capitalism and communism are social and political beliefs. Same with a political science professor who urges democratization and a move away from the divine right of kings.
And what of the academic who believes the military-industrial complex has driven America into far too many unnecessary wars, and communicates that in unvarnished terms to her students? The religious studies professor who researches cults, and makes no bones about his disdain for Scientology, a religious belief, or radical Islamism and the terrorism it has been known to motivate?
Texas, of course, is only following the lead of Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose marquee war on “woke ideology” in Florida’s public universities wants to tie the hands and tape the mouths of Sunshine State professors — unless those professors happen to agree with the governor.
Contrary to the Texas bill, the fact is that some beliefs are inherently superior to other beliefs — and one unquestionably superior belief is that academic freedom ought not be curtailed.
— The New York Daily News
