Friday, October 16, 2009

Silencing the Debate - Intellectual Elitism

In America, here in the land of the free, there is trouble. This morning I heard Jim Gilchrist of the Minuteman Project was scheduled to speak at an immigration conference at Harvard University. However; he's now been disinvited. Isn't this the same school that Beer Summit rock-star, Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a professor? Isn't this the same Harvard that invited past president Jimmy Carter to speak-- well, with certain questions off limits?

The event organizers, the Harvard Undergraduate Legal Committee have an official statement.

"Mr. Gilchrist’s participation in the conference on the behalf of the Minutemen Project was not compatible with providing an environment for civil, educational, and productive discourse on immigration, and we cannot host him at this time."

Have we gone PC Mad? We have important issues in our country that need to be discussed. And there is a view, right or wrong, that shouldn't be part of a debate to train lawyers? That's objective education? And aren't these the same Ivy League types that invited Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia for cultural purposes were he lied about his country and their treatment of their citizens?

As an American, doesn't this "fear of opposing views" bother you? It is the same type of prejudice that has been visited on Christians here in the USA since the 1960's -- when prayer was removed from school. We can clearly see the unfortunate ugliness of the decision which has culminated in the present darkness.

What I find even more amazing is that Harvard University has a searchable database online and the term "god" appears 87,283 times in their founding documents and narrative history. It is filled with phrases like "God and King" and "fear of God." What the hell happened?

I have written about the Christian responsibility to write our representatives. I believe that they need to know, now is the time to represent us-- not some small percentage of the population that has no regard for other points of view-- not just Christian views - but any opposing view.

A few weeks ago I wrote my state representatives about a bill to protect the free speech of Christian school children to express their religion. Did you know some schools will allow kids to wear shirts with the "F" word on them, but not the "J' word? I received a handful of responses for my efforts. One said, "thanks for writing, David, I support this bill. Another said, "This is an important issue to protect the rights of all to express their religion in school." And finally, one said this, " David, Thank you for writing me about his bill, after researching it, I have decided to support free speech for school age citizens. Take care."

Church, we have a ministry to those that do not have faith. We are to pursue righteousness and be an example to our children and those around us. Regardless of how things turn out in the government, we are to keep the faith and continue to support the truth. Daniel did! Without seeing the worldview of others, how can we be a compassionate witness for the Lord in a way that is personal? How can we be loving without fitting into the world's mold of tolerance?

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

1 comment:

photogr said...

David:

If you think about it Harvard is probably one of the most pro Humanist ( marxist manifesto) movment schools I can think of as with many of the liberal philosophy schools.

I wrote my Democratic representative in Washington on some issues and all I got was double talk on how Obama was the saviour for our nation and I should appreciate what he is doing for us.

I can't wait for the 2010 elections when he runs for office again. I wonder if the American citizens will be allowed to vote then if they have an opposing view.

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