"Academic Freedom" at Hamline Universioty

The speech police are alive and well at Hamline University in St Paul, Minnesota. A lecturer has now been fired after having shown a picture of the Islamic prophet Mohammad to his/her class as part of a lecture on Islamic art. The images were not insulting, but Islam objects to the showing of any visual representation of their prophet. So now that complaints have been made by Muslim students, the lecturer has apologized, but the university is showing no mercy. The teacher has now apparently been fired.

The student newspaper, Oracle, posted this report on the controversy apparently prior to the firing of the lecturer. I have submitted a comment, but it is unlikely that it will be posted. You see, I made a reference to the hate that is repeatedly expressed towards Jews and Christians in the Koran, which will forever be ignored by the office of inclusion or whatever they call themselves at Hamline. 

The conservative legal blog, Volokh Conspiracy, has posted a lengthy article on the matter which can be accessed here.

It has been well-documented over the years that freedom of expression does not exist on college campuses. In my opinion, had the professor used his/her classroom to attack Islam or any other religion, the complaints would have been justified. That was not the intent of the professor, and sh/she gave students time and opportunity to remove themselves from the showing if they did not want to see it. Unfortunately, that did not satisfy certain students, nor did it satisfy the campus Office of Inclusion. The practical effect here is that Hamline University is subjecting its students and staff to Sharia law.

How many times have I asked myself where the UC Irvine inclusion officers were when Jews were being attacked openly on the campus by the words and images presented by the Muslim Student Union/Students for Justice in Palestine and their invited speakers.

Let us suppose for a moment that a professor had used his/her classroom to attack Christianity or Judaism (keeping in mind that the Hamline professor wasn’t attacking anything just doing something that Islam does not allow). Had anyone raised objections, the professor and the university would have simply;y claimed the right of academic freedom.

Yes, academic freedom. Under academic freedom, you can attack America, Israel, Western Civilization, Jews, Christians, white people, Republicans, etc. 

But today, a professor in Minnesota is looking for a new job-and will likely have a difficult time getting one at any other university.