Quote:
Originally Posted by rubicon
.... Essentially universities have had such a tight lid on free speech for so long political correctness is a way of life....
Too often people say they are seeking understanding but they simply want agreement and again why all the aforementioned topics and a few more can never be freely and fully discussed.
|
I cannot, of course, speak for rubicon's university experience, but mine was exactly the opposite! The "tight lid on free speech" was a reality, right through high school. There was no opportunity for free speech; we didn't even know of the concept, and any discussion of the First Amendment in social studies and civics classes in terms of free speech was theoretical and historical, not contemporary. (Does anyone remember civics classes? Sadly they don't exist today.)
It wasn't until I got to college that I discovered the world of free speech, of freedom of open discussion, of diversity of opinion, and more important of acceptance of diversity of opinion. My college years were eye-opening; it was the first time in my life that I experienced the opportunity, with encouragement, from contemporaries AND from teachers, to go out and learn. I look back on those years as among the best in my life!
However, I could not agree more with rubicon's second statement above. By and large we live by the standard of "Don't confuse me with the facts; my mind is already made up." Yes, there are countless topics that are best left untouched. There is, of course, much "preaching to the choir," but IMHO this represents more the insecurities of the "preachers" and the "preachees" than anything else, that is, those who accept the beliefs of others as their own from the point of view of strength in numbers.
You know the old joke about childbearing being hereditary: If your grandparents had no children, then chances are your parents won't, and neither will you.... So often we internalize the values of our parents, if our parents have successfully served as our role models. A significant example of this may be seen in #8 of the "Top Ten Anti-Semitic/Anti-Israel Slurs" recently released by the Simon Wiesenthal Center concerning a school district in New York State. Note in particular this comment: 'When informed about the anti-Semitic behavior, one school official responded, “Your expectations for changing inbred prejudice may be a bit unrealistic.”' Something to think about (should we choose to)....
http://www.wiesenthal.com/atf/cf/%7B...P-TEN-2013.PDF