Since joining academia, have you become more or less liberal than you were before?

[Indy Coug]

This poll is for those that currently teach at a college or university, or for those that have a doctorate in something or other.

[wuapinmon]

Forgive the harangue; from my blog:

I grew up without religion. When I turned 17, I had a spiritual awakening and began to modify my behavior accordingly. I quit drinking alcohol completely. I gave up iced tea and coffee, which in the Southeastern United States is akin to giving up water. I decided to be chaste (not that I had any experience otherwise). I also began to see the world in very black and white ways. Suddenly, I felt that anyone that didn’t want to live the same standards as myself was wrong. I judged people. When I was 19, I was called to serve in Costa Rica for two years (1993-1995). During this time, as a lay volunteer, all I did, all day every day, was go around and talk to people about my beliefs. This experience had the effect of allowing me to see the world in something besides black and white, or shades of gray. I saw the world in color, and realized that there was more than one way of doing something--that many people, most people in fact, were able to be moral and ethical without identifying with a certain religion, or any religion for that matter--what Kant might have called an autonomous morality.

This awakened me to the realization, that in trying to live my life according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, I was doing the exact opposite, and essentially ignoring his warning in John, Chapter 8, that the first stone be cast by one who was spotless. I was judging unrighteously, blissfully ignoring my own sins. And also, while a missionary, I realized that I might be wrong, that my spiritual awakening might be a farce, that this is all there is to our existence. I do not believe that it is, but I have no way of proving that it isn’t. I believe in God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and modern-day revelation by prophets. I cannot prove that they are right, but it is what I believe; it is my hope and faith. All I could do, as a missionary, was share what I believed, bare and bear my testimony of what I believed, and then invite others to do the same. If they felt the same as I did, great. If not, then they have every right to not live according to the same precepts that I hold dear.

I am in a small minority however. I’m not claiming to be enlightened, but I do realize that tolerance of others culture, practices, and habits come from peeling back the layers of ignorance that we allow to crust over our eyes when we cling to a belief that we have not fully examined. I still believe in my religion; I most likely always will, and I also believe that each and every person has the right to live their life according to the dictates of his/her conscience. I feel that most people who claim to follow Christ, do not feel this way, especially in the United States. This causes problems.

And, I get the feeling (to overuse that word), with the increase in Protestant private secondary schools, homeschooling, and the like, many people are trying to shield their children from the world. I find this most disturbing. Children need to be taught correct principles, and then be allowed to govern themselves, provided there are consequences for poor behavior. Part of this is allowing them to experience the diversity of the world. And a huge part of this is the experience of a rigorous liberal arts education.

How boring would it be to grow up and never have any of your beliefs and ideals questioned? You would be woefully unprepared for the 21st Century. So, when I hear politicians and pundits rail against the liberal, nay leftist, and by association in the United States, “godless pinko Communists,” in higher education, I think to myself, “How scared do you have to be in your own influence over your child, that some professor might make them abandon all they’ve ever known?” I’d hope that conservative parents would want their children to have their beliefs questioned, that much like the Amish allowing their children to go out into the “lone and dreary world” that they would see the value in questioning their own values to make them stronger and more refined. How do you know if you really believe in something until after the trial of your faith?

There is no liberal bias in higher education. What does bias even mean in that context anyway? Higher education is a process by which we turn children into adults, capable of thinking for themselves, and not just parroting back what their parents have told them. To use conservative religious terminology, Adam and Eve had to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil so that they might know the bad from the good (with “bad” and “good” left up to interpretation).

The most important thing to remember in all of this, is that as much as another’s beliefs might annoy us, maturity and civility demand that we respect them and recognize their right to hold them as dearly as we hold our own. I hate politics in the US right now. It’s all “if you’re not with us, you’re against” rhetoric engendered by egg-headed politicians stumping for votes, and pundits desperate for ratings.

I mean someone actually published a book called Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder. Seriously, how does that help? The right needs to just calm their asses down. To all right-wing Christians, what Jesus said in Mark 12:31-33 wasn’t a suggestion; it was a commandment. The left needs to stop calling all religious people "fundamentalists" and assume a mental defect because of belief in what they deem "superstition."

I am not a conservative. I am not a liberal. I am rational moderate that wishes we could all just get along.

[JohnnyLingo]

There is no liberal bias in higher education.

F-.

I think to myself, “How scared do you have to be in your own influence over your child, that some professor might make them abandon all they’ve ever known?” I’d hope that conservative parents would want their children to have their beliefs questioned, that much like the Amish allowing their children to go out into the “lone and dreary world” that they would see the value in questioning their own values to make them stronger and more refined. How do you know if you really believe in something until after the trial of your faith?

Yet kids that go to a university with liberal beliefs don't have those called into question. There is a bias.

I am not a conservative. I am not a liberal. I am rational moderate that wishes we could all just get along.

The trendy thing to do today is call one's self a moderate. There are so many negative labels associated with "liberal" and "conservative" that many people claim to run to the middle, when in reality they are just as far to the left or right as they ever were.

I find it pathetic.

[wuapinmon]

F-.

You don't have sufficient graduate hours to assign grades.

Yet kids that go to a university with liberal beliefs don't have those called into question. There is a bias.

Good grief, man. I call all of my students' beliefs into question. Any professor worth their salt does this; to not do so would be dereliction of duty. A liberal arts education clearly and definitely calls all beliefs into question. You have no idea what you're talking about.

The trendy thing to do today is call one's self a moderate. There are so many negative labels associated with "liberal" and "conservative" that many people claim to run to the middle, when in reality they are just as far to the left or right as they ever were.

I find it pathetic.

How is it pathetic? 'Pathetic' implies sympathy, which I don't think you mean at all. I'm a moderate and I've been calling myself that for years. I am pro-death penalty, pro gun ownership (though I'm not a fan of handguns), pro strong defense, and I'm also opposed to many practices of entitlement politics. I don't want universal healthcare, I just want the government to found an insurance company to which I'll pay premiums to use bulk buying core busienss concepts to drive down the prices that medical establishments will charge. I don't think we pay enough in taxes, however. Does that make me a liberal? How am I not a moderate?

You use words, but I really think that you are very ignorant of their meaning, hopefully not willfully so. I've tried to reach out to you on occasion; don't deny it, but lately you're so boorish that I find myself reacting to you with antagonism because you seem to crave it. If you keep it up, like yesterday, I don't think July 29, 2009 is going to be a very good day for you on CUF.

[JohnnyLingo]

I think it's more productive if we each make our respective points and be done with it. Your condescending attitude, which you fully acknowledge yet apparently have no desire to change, annoys me endlessly, and my ignorance does the same to you.

So maybe it's best if we just part ways.

[Hallelujah]

Forgive the harangue; from my blog:

I grew up without religion. When I turned 17, I had a spiritual awakening and began to modify my behavior accordingly. I quit drinking alcohol completely. I gave up iced tea and coffee, which in the Southeastern United States is akin to giving up water. I decided to be chaste (not that I had any experience otherwise). I also began to see the world in very black and white ways. Suddenly, I felt that anyone that didn’t want to live the same standards as myself was wrong. I judged people. When I was 19, I was called to serve in Costa Rica for two years (1993-1995). During this time, as a lay volunteer, all I did, all day every day, was go around and talk to people about my beliefs. This experience had the effect of allowing me to see the world in something besides black and white, or shades of gray. I saw the world in color, and realized that there was more than one way of doing something--that many people, most people in fact, were able to be moral and ethical without identifying with a certain religion, or any religion for that matter--what Kant might have called an autonomous morality.

This awakened me to the realization, that in trying to live my life according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, I was doing the exact opposite, and essentially ignoring his warning in John, Chapter 8, that the first stone be cast by one who was spotless. I was judging unrighteously, blissfully ignoring my own sins. And also, while a missionary, I realized that I might be wrong, that my spiritual awakening might be a farce, that this is all there is to our existence. I do not believe that it is, but I have no way of proving that it isn’t. I believe in God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and modern-day revelation by prophets. I cannot prove that they are right, but it is what I believe; it is my hope and faith. All I could do, as a missionary, was share what I believed, bare and bear my testimony of what I believed, and then invite others to do the same. If they felt the same as I did, great. If not, then they have every right to not live according to the same precepts that I hold dear.

I am in a small minority however. I’m not claiming to be enlightened, but I do realize that tolerance of others culture, practices, and habits come from peeling back the layers of ignorance that we allow to crust over our eyes when we cling to a belief that we have not fully examined. I still believe in my religion; I most likely always will, and I also believe that each and every person has the right to live their life according to the dictates of his/her conscience. I feel that most people who claim to follow Christ, do not feel this way, especially in the United States. This causes problems.

And, I get the feeling (to overuse that word), with the increase in Protestant private secondary schools, homeschooling, and the like, many people are trying to shield their children from the world. I find this most disturbing. Children need to be taught correct principles, and then be allowed to govern themselves, provided there are consequences for poor behavior. Part of this is allowing them to experience the diversity of the world. And a huge part of this is the experience of a rigorous liberal arts education.

How boring would it be to grow up and never have any of your beliefs and ideals questioned? You would be woefully unprepared for the 21st Century. So, when I hear politicians and pundits rail against the liberal, nay leftist, and by association in the United States, “godless pinko Communists,” in higher education, I think to myself, “How scared do you have to be in your own influence over your child, that some professor might make them abandon all they’ve ever known?” I’d hope that conservative parents would want their children to have their beliefs questioned, that much like the Amish allowing their children to go out into the “lone and dreary world” that they would see the value in questioning their own values to make them stronger and more refined. How do you know if you really believe in something until after the trial of your faith?

There is no liberal bias in higher education. What does bias even mean in that context anyway? Higher education is a process by which we turn children into adults, capable of thinking for themselves, and not just parroting back what their parents have told them. To use conservative religious terminology, Adam and Eve had to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil so that they might know the bad from the good (with “bad” and “good” left up to interpretation).

The most important thing to remember in all of this, is that as much as another’s beliefs might annoy us, maturity and civility demand that we respect them and recognize their right to hold them as dearly as we hold our own. I hate politics in the US right now. It’s all “if you’re not with us, you’re against” rhetoric engendered by egg-headed politicians stumping for votes, and pundits desperate for ratings.

I mean someone actually published a book called Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder. Seriously, how does that help? The right needs to just calm their asses down. To all right-wing Christians, what Jesus said in Mark 12:31-33 wasn’t a suggestion; it was a commandment. The left needs to stop calling all religious people "fundamentalists" and assume a mental defect because of belief in what they deem "superstition."

I am not a conservative. I am not a liberal. I am rational moderate that wishes we could all just get along.

Splains it all. Your a pinkie communist who lives in an academic world....where everything is a theory. Ok. Now you make sense.

[Hallelujah]

I think it's more productive if we each make our respective points and be done with it. Your condescending attitude, which you fully acknowledge yet apparently have no desire to change, annoys me endlessly, and my ignorance does the same to you.

So maybe it's best if we just part ways.

An academician with a condescending attitude? Hey they know everything! They sit in their offices and read books all day long and give out grades.

[beefytee]

You don't have sufficient graduate hours to assign grades.



Good grief, man. I call all of my students' beliefs into question. Any professor worth their salt does this; to not do so would be dereliction of duty. A liberal arts education clearly and definitely calls all beliefs into question. You have no idea what you're talking about.



How is it pathetic? 'Pathetic' implies sympathy, which I don't think you mean at all. I'm a moderate and I've been calling myself that for years. I am pro-death penalty, pro gun ownership (though I'm not a fan of handguns), pro strong defense, and I'm also opposed to many practices of entitlement politics. I don't want universal healthcare, I just want the government to found an insurance company to which I'll pay premiums to use bulk buying core busienss concepts to drive down the prices that medical establishments will charge. I don't think we pay enough in taxes, however. Does that make me a liberal? How am I not a moderate?

You use words, but I really think that you are very ignorant of their meaning, hopefully not willfully so. I've tried to reach out to you on occasion; don't deny it, but lately you're so boorish that I find myself reacting to you with antagonism because you seem to crave it. If you keep it up, like yesterday, I don't think July 29, 2009 is going to be a very good day for you on CUF.

I think it's more productive if we each make our respective points and be done with it. Your condescending attitude, which you fully acknowledge yet apparently have no desire to change, annoys me endlessly, and my ignorance does the same to you.

So maybe it's best if we just part ways.

wuap, if you're looking for someone to reach out to on your rebound, you can look my way. I certainly need the help.

Sorry about the breakup, you two.

[Jeff Lebowski]

This thread just keeps getting better. Great idea, Indy.

[wuapinmon]

This thread just keeps getting better. Great idea, Indy.

Do we warrant an "Oh, brother" yet?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Do we warrant an "Oh, brother" yet?

Don't mind me. Let's keep this going.

[Indy Coug]

This thread just keeps getting better. Great idea, Indy.

While I don't know who actually voted and if they fit the requested demographics, but the vote is currently 5-0 more liberal.

[Indy Coug]

Do we warrant an "Oh, brother" yet?

What's wrong with seeking a little political introspection from the academics on the board? Your blog excerpt was a good insight into your views.

[wuapinmon]

I think it's more productive if we each make our respective points and be done with it. Your condescending attitude, which you fully acknowledge yet apparently have no desire to change, annoys me endlessly, and my ignorance does the same to you.

So maybe it's best if we just part ways.

I've tried to like you. Remember? I've PMed you. I've dropped subtle and not-so-subtle hints about how to fit in better here. For awhile in the late Spring, you seemed better, but lately it's been a reversal. I'm totally condescending, admittedly so, but I'm also right, and in the face of your apparently willful ignorance and stubbornness, I have little choice because you never back up your 'arguments' with anything other than your opinion, which is often delivered in a deadpanned and insolent, bordering on, but not quite achieving, Hallelujah-like contemptuous way. In a forum such as CUF, those kinds of things will get the full-bore reaction of your peers, who are not willfully ignorant and stubborn (besides LA Ute and that idiot falafel) and who will challenge you to support what you say because they do.

I could quote Dizzy Dean right now, but I won't, so I'll just say that if you want to part ways, I'm not leaving CUF.

[wuapinmon]

What's wrong with seeking a little political introspection from the academics on the board? Your blog excerpt was a good insight into your views.

Nothing at all. I'm not criticizing your idea. I think it's a good one, though I think that some people will stuff the ballot box.