Beginning with an editorial intro from USA Today this week:<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Claremont McKenna College in California, protesters blocked the doors to a lecture hall preventing\u00a0conservative author\u00a0Heather Mac Donald\u00a0from speaking. At Middlebury College in Vermont, a professor accompanying libertarian author Charles Murray\u00a0was injured by an angry mob. At the University of California-Berkeley\u00a0and its surrounding community, protests against scheduled speakers have turned ugly.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Last week bitingly-sarcastic (and in my semi-humble opinion, sometimes both incredibly witty and incredibly rude)<\/em> conservative commentator, Ann Coulter, was scheduled to speak at UC Berkeley. Coulter was invited by a nonpartisan, student organization. People protested. Violence was threatened. Berkeley attempted to postpone the event. Coulter eventually cancelled because of the rising intensity of security threats.<\/p>\n What has since ensued is a debate over free speech and the First Amendment on college campuses.<\/p>\n Again, from the USA Today editorial board:<\/p>\n \u201cIn just the place where the clash of ideas is most valuable, students are shutting themselves off to points of view they don\u2019t agree with. At the moment when young minds are supposed to\u00a0assess the strengths and weaknesses of arguments, they are answering challenges to their beliefs with anger and violence instead of facts and reason.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n USA Today does a good job in my opinion, moving this debate past the more simply-defined concept of the validity of free speech. This isn\u2019t about free speech; it isn\u2019t about what a person is not allowed to say.<\/p>\n It\u2019s too avoidant to characterize the current college campus debate as questioning the right to individual verbal expression.<\/p>\n This dialogue is about an unwillingness to entertain opposing opinion.<\/p>\n I admit: entertaining opposing opinion is not the easiest to do. And so many who long ago left the college campus still struggle with said willingness.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s happening on the college campus \u2014 which I assume includes some very smart people \u2014 seems an exaggerated manifestation of what we\u2019re seeing on other societal avenues.<\/p>\n For some reason, a perceived growing number of people see the existence of opposing opinion as a threat. We can\u2019t entertain it\u2026 we can\u2019t listen to it\u2026 we can\u2019t wrestle with any validity. We must resist any willingness to allow the opinion to exist. Here then, we see a stark contrast between intellect and wisdom\u2026 as a lot of bright people aren\u2019t acting very wise.<\/p>\n I appreciate what Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in response. \u201cLet her speak\u2026 If you don’t like it, don’t show up.\u201d Note that Warren is no fan of Coulter\u2019s, but knows the wisdom in allowing opposing opinion to exist.<\/p>\n In fact, perhaps what I appreciate most about this debate is the common ground crossing all societal, political lines. Warren, Bernie Sanders\u2026 Coulter\u2026 all seemingly hailing from a bit of the radical, political fringe\u2026 from the left and the right\u2026<\/p>\n Agreed.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The polar-opposite, ideological, political fringe agreed.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Said Sanders, \u201cI don\u2019t like this. I don\u2019t like it. Obviously Ann Coulter\u2019s outrageous \u2015 to my mind, off the wall. But you know, people have a right to give their two cents-worth, give a speech, without fear of violence and intimidation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Exactly. This isn\u2019t about free speech. This is about silencing those with whom one disagrees.<\/p>\n When we advocate for silencing, we simultaneously sacrifice wisdom.<\/p>\n We sacrifice wisdom when we are no longer willing to wrestle with the validity of opposing opinion.<\/p>\n Respectfully\u2026 Beginning with an editorial intro from USA Today this week: \u201cAt Claremont McKenna College in California, protesters blocked the doors to a lecture hall preventing\u00a0conservative author\u00a0Heather Mac Donald\u00a0from speaking. At Middlebury College in Vermont, a professor accompanying libertarian author Charles Murray\u00a0was injured by an angry mob. At the University of California-Berkeley\u00a0and its surrounding community, protests … <\/p>\n
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"