PUBLIC MARKS from srebrnik

by Henry Srebrnik

Ethnic and religious conflict remains the primary cause of war in the world These days, few people would deny the impact of religion in world politics. Yet this is something that many academics would have been reluctant to acknowledge a few decades ago. Most 20th century social scientists embraced secularism, believing religion to be a diminishing force, something that, in the words of Philip Costopoulos, co-editor of the anthology World Religions and Democracy, "belongs to the childhood of the human race." from the FFWDWeekly.com - March 23, 2006

opinion pieces by Henry Srebrnik

How is one to account for the fact that when the administration at UPEI sent in the police to confiscate the copies of a recent edition of the student newspaper — even though no law had been broken — concern flooded in from across the country, filling up several pages of the Cadre; yet, not a single faculty member from UPEI, spoke out to question (or to defend) the action. What explanation can there be for this strange and unsavory silence? Whether or not they agree with the publishing of the cartoons, one might have expected that at least some of the professors would have cared sufficiently about the tradition of free speech to voice concern over the extremity of the administration’s response. Yet nothing. Not a peep. With a debate over censorship swirling above their heads, the only sound to be heard from the campus was faint rustling in the academic weeds. I recognize that as someone who no longer works for the university it is less threatening for me to speak about these matters than for some of my former colleagues. That, however, raises the question of whether the delicate balance of authority between professors and the administration has tipped in a manner that is not friendly to freedom of expression, or the practice of the liberal arts.

Excerpt: If the West cowers before the radical evangelical fundamentalist movement within Islam, then fanaticism has won. Islamic evangelical fundamentalism is identical to Christian evangelical fundamentalism and all other ontological, theological evangelical fundamentalism: the sole goal and purpose of which is to control thought, stiflle debate, and limit human rights.

Excerpt: Meanwhile at the University of P.E.I., editors at the student newspaper reprinted the cartoons. But before the press run could be distributed, university security guards invaded their offices and seized all available copies. It was a shameful act of censorship that would have done the censors of Tehran and Damascus proud.

bullying, academia, workplace mobbing