NC college has problems with definitions
posted at 10:41 am on August 15, 2012 by Ed Morrissey
Yes, I realize that we’ve nearly exhausted our outrageous outrage over the Chick-fil-A controversy, which started over some bad reporting at CNN and exploded into two national movements, one of which got thoroughly outclassed by the other in every imaginable way. That doesn’t mean the pettiness over the underlying issues has ceased, as The Daily Caller reports today. Davidson College in North Carolina has blocked Chick-fil-A from participating in a series of monthly events … in order to demonstrate Davidson College’s “inclusiveness.”
No, I’m not kidding:
Students led a petition to ban the restaurant chain from monthly “After Midnight” events — free food and entertainment events from midnight to 2 a.m. run by the Union Board, a student activities organization. The nighttime events sometimes feature Chick-fil-A sandwiches.
The Union Board has decided not to schedule Chick-fil-A sandwiches until they get more feedback from students. …
Union Board president Adriana Nassar and vice president Cameron Joe claim they are trying to create an inclusive environment for the student body.
“The Davidson College Union Board is firmly committed to building an inclusive community that serves each member of our student body,” Nassar and Joe said in a joint statement Monday.
Let’s take a look at both sides. The owner of the business on one side has an opinion on the definition of marriage that has been the standard for thousands of years, which was so universal that the current liberal in the White House professed it repeatedly in his last campaign and only changed his public position on it three months ago. Despite this opinion, the business itself welcomes and serves job seekers regardless of sexual orientation, and even passed out free water to protesters a couple of weeks ago.
The other side — in this case, specifically Davidson College — refuses to welcome a business owned by someone with a different opinion on this matter, implicitly demanding that anyone who wants to do business with the college must agree with its own position or find itself barred from campus.
Which one of these fits the definition of “inclusive“?
Oh, and there’s also this issue:
“Davidson College is an institution of higher learning established in 1837 by Presbyterians of North Carolina. Since its founding, the ties that bind the College to its Presbyterian heritage, including the historic understanding of Christian faith called The Reformed Tradition, have remained close and strong. The College is committed to continuing this vital relationship” —Davidson College Constitution (.pdf), Preamble, Statement of Purpose.
• • • “Marriage is a gift God has given to all humankind for the well-being of the entire human family. Marriage is a civil contract between a woman and a man. For Christians marriage is a covenant through which a man and a woman are called to live out together before God their lives of discipleship. In a service of Christian marriage a lifelong commitment is made by a woman and a man to each other, publicly witnessed and acknowledged by the community of faith” — from the Book of Order (.pdf) (or constitution) of the Presbyterian Church in the USA.• • • So, if Dan Cathy’s views are identical to those of the Presbyterian Church, to which Davidson College maintains “close and strong” ties, what exactly is the problem with serving Chick-fil-A meals on campus?
Remember when colleges actually taught knowledge and logic? Or at least understood English? Here’s a hint to the academics at Davidson: If you’re excluding in the name of “inclusiveness” or acting intolerant in the name of “tolerance,” you’re doing it wrong.
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That just reminded me, I saw a bumper sticker or t-shirt in Manitou Springs last weekend that said “You call me witch like it’s a bad thing”. Pretty typical stuff for that area.
dentarthurdent on April 26, 2013 at 11:14 AM
Well… most the original neo-conservatives were disillusioned Trotskyites, so Mathews has that correct. However, they are those who rejected Trotsky Communism, and became adamant anti-communists.
Sackett on April 26, 2013 at 1:36 PM
Chrissy,
it does not matter if YOU are well read or not, (my bet is on ‘not), nobody is going to donate money to build a Chris Matthews library.
Sir Napsalot on April 26, 2013 at 1:59 PM
Yes, Irving Kristol, who is considered sort of the father of neoconservatism was, as a young man in the 20s and 30s, a Trotskyite communist. That was because he believed it was the only answer to the fascist threat that was threatening the west. Norman Podhoretz, another influential neoconservative, had a similar experience.
But they broke with communism, Trotsky-version (they were always anti-Stalinist) in the 1940s and 50s, and became anti-communist and pro-American/pro-Western advocates.
But what does this have to do with the neoconservatives in the Bush Administration? None were Trotskyites as young men and none were Straussians. Irving Kristol had a friendship with Strauss but what does that have to do with the Bush Administration?
Matthews read an article somewhere – my guess is that it was one written by Hitchens – and extrapolates from events 80 years ago to today.
It’s sophomoric, historically illiterate, and intellectually simplistic.
But those are Matthews’ best qualities.
SteveMG on April 26, 2013 at 4:20 PM
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