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This Speakout has not been edited.

By Sarah C. Scott

In my four years of experience at Colorado State University, there is one thing that has proven to be rather problematic. It is a dangerous, frustrating, and rather condescending approach to education. The assumption is that in order to be truly enlightened and intellectual, one must not only hold to a liberal political philosophy, but must also hold no absolute beliefs at all, especially about religion.

If a student is a conservative, a Christian, or heaven forbid, both, they are simply ascribing to an outdated way of thinking that has no place in the realms of higher education. I, of course, represent the horribly ignorant and primitive conservative/religious combo platter.

In a philosophy class, we were asked on the first day if any of us read the Bible. A few of us raised our hands, only to have the professor say, “Well, we won’t be using that book in this class, because it has nothing to do with philosophy. It is purely mythological”.

I have no problem with those who believe that. However, the professor’s statement served absolutely no logical or productive purpose. I had no expectation of using the Bible in the class, and I doubt it had crossed the minds of any others. No, what this professor was doing was making it abundantly clear that there would be no room for viewpoints which would come from people ascribing to a Christian worldview. He was clearly holding to the false but common assumption that faith and reason cannot coexist inside a classroom, much less in the same brain.

Professors exist who, much to the dismay of those in support of the Academic Bill of Rights, use their classrooms as a liberal bully pulpit. One professor of this type was spawned out of the sociology department of the University of Colorado, and brought his condescending, pontificating self to CSU to teach a freshman sociology class. He had on any given day a captive audience of around 300, and while there were inevitably some sleepers, many were without a doubt knocked one rung closer to being hopelessly indoctrinated into the nonreligious left because of his outlandish and brutish attacks, which were wholly unrelated to sociology or any other academic area.

These attacks were mostly on conservatives, but the semester was seasoned with intermittent (and always unfair) insults hurled at those he identified as Christians. At first, he pretended to entertain disagreeing comments only to cut them off before they were fully expressed. After a few weeks he had learned who the consistent dissenters were and ignored their angrily waving hands.

As a general rule of thumb, any and all viewpoints are acceptable in the public university system with the exception of those held by conservatives and especially Christians. I know of one conservative Christian professor who, rather nobly, feels obligated to give a letter to his seniors the last day of class detailing his beliefs, because he is not allowed to speak of them during class. Why are people like this professor silenced from their opinion but anything else on the opposite side of the spectrum is deemed OK?

Do not assume that those who are not atheistic or agnostic liberals are stupid. Faith and intellect are not mutually exclusive. Political conservatism and Christian worldviews can and do exist at the highest echelons of learning. A tax-supported state university should be no place for eradication of conservative or Christian thought and belief. If this worldview is never allowed legitimate expression, I fear the marketplace of ideas will become merely a place for indoctrination rather than honest critical exchange.

Sarah C. Scott is a senior at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. She is majoring in human development.

READER COMMENTS

University are supposed to challenge all beliefs not reinforce any of them.

It is hard to be a Christian in the classroom, because that very belief has killed millions of people, ruined a good portion of the world, and is responsible for the materialism that plagues the U.S. and most "Christian" countries.

I am sorry our view is so problematic in its application. Maybe if Christianity had adopted a more compassionate worldview, it would not be criticized so much.

See: Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis: Redefining the Christian World View

University are supposed to challenge all beliefs not reinforce any of them.

It is hard to be a Christian in the classroom, because that very belief has killed millions of people, ruined a good portion of the world, and is responsible for the materialism that plagues the U.S. and most "Christian" countries.

I am sorry our view is so problematic in its application. Maybe if Christianity had adopted a more compassionate worldview, it would not be criticized so much.

See: Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis: Redefining the Christian World View

College is for learning. If you think you know everything there is to know about life because "it's in the Bible," why bother with college?

Follow this link to one of the original sources of this racist garbage.

Written by Sharon Martinas

It is beyond sickening.

http://www.prisonactivist.org/cws/cws-culture.html

Get used to it, the libs are taking over. Soon Christians will have to go underground. South Korea's Christian population is growing faster than the U.S.'s. I soon expect to see asian missionaries coming over to save our heathen souls, (someone needs to Americans have grown too soft and week.)

Check out this link:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/thefirecache/8555.html

The University of Delaware just got busted doing FORCED indoctrination!

This PC stuff is WAY out of hand. The leftists are using the "Get the children first!" approach and it is working. These kids are being freaking brainwashed!

Sarah, CSU is fundamentally flawed. It is steeped in racism and federal funds fraud. CSU Penley (draft dodger), in violation of both federal and state appropriations (CFR-29/41, FAR, and USDOL-OFCCP), Penley (economic noose) excludes black disabled military veterans, from all CSU 6-figure jobs and contracts. This is called federal funds fraud, waste, abuse, and RICO violations. Penley is aided and abetted in this fraud by Ritter, Groff, Romanoff (illegal Mexican bleeding-heart), Skaggs, and Fitz-Gerald. They all should be serving time in SuperMax.

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