Carpe Datum

Stay Out of My Lecture Hall

Chris Bowers over at MyDD has a very timely post about the next logical step for the ConservaBorg anti-reality crowd: stifling academic freedom. It seems a stupid legislator in Ohio doesn't like all those liberal college professors indoctrinating their students with disloyal and traitorous notions like voting Democratic or what have you. So when a conservative sees something he doesn't like, what's the response?

Well, if you said "let the market decide" or some other such libertarian tripe, that's just precious. So Reagan-esque. So classic. But wrong. See, today's conservatives intend to use the gummint to control things they don't like because, well, you see, apparently the gummint is now our friend. The morons in Ohio want to pass a law requiring some kind of equal time for both sides in the classroom (huh, how about reviving the "Fairness Doctrine" on talk radio while you're at it, big guy). Does that mean we get to teach about evolution at Bible colleges, too?

Chris sums it up well:

It is amazing how often conservatives decry "relativists" until it is time for their views to undergo peer review. Then, all views must be presented side by side because, after all, everything is just opinion, and as valid as everything else, right?

I talk about issues like global warming in my class, at length, and I present it fairly (see Stupid Conservative Myth #5 for an example). I couldn't invite some oil company shill into my class to talk about how fossil fuel burning is wonderful. I just couldn't do it in good conscience. It's not that I would worry about what the class would think or believe. I'd just be plain embarrassed for the guy because I'd make a fool of him.