Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

This isn’t the way, Amarillo

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Further to Sal’s “Bullies R-Us: University ID class cancelled because of hecklers. Did the NCSE have a role?” (more at ENV):

Some years ago, I provided an adult ed non-credit course in the ID controversy at the University of Toronto (St. Michael’s). Some attendees were probably atheists, but they were polite, interesting, and respectful of the people who had taken time to come and speak on areas of expertise (origin of the universe, of life, information theory, etc.). Sandwalk’s Larry Moran dropped in when Kirk Durston spoke on biophysics.

I hope that if a self-identified atheist-about-campus had made a big enough ass of himself that staff felt led to call the cops, they would identify him as the cause of the problem, not the students and not the instructors.

The issue isn’t ID. If you see this story as a scene cut from Expelled, you are missing the point.

What happened here is that a group of adults can’t have a class taught by a qualified person on a topic that interests them in a suitable public venue because an individual is allowed to shut it down—just by scaring people by making a scene.

The admins cave to the guy’s unreasonable demands for control over others because they collect their salaries and benefits, and go home at five anyway. And that’s just fine with everyone. Adult students? Taxpayers?

I never knew so many wusses lived in Texas. Who did?

When an Islamist does this, it’s called creeping sharia. What should we call it when an atheist does it?

More to the point, how seriously can we take Texans’ concerns about Darwin lobby propaganda in school textbooks when an adult student must learn the art of grovelling before anyone who chooses to create a disturbance? About anything, I suppose.

That guy must be feeling really empowered just now. Wonder what he’ll think of next.

Comments
A fantastic little bit of journalism there from ENV, compared with the reams of shoddy tosh I have to wade through every day.englishmaninistanbul
December 13, 2013
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George Strait - Amarillo By Morning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3CWNLhW140bornagain77
December 12, 2013
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