Ward Churchill: free speech

[Sunnydaydreams]

whats your opinion? hes the most (in)famous college professor today. although i havent read his entire essay, i agree w/ the themes of his book. i dont agree w/ the people who are attacking him. its like freedom of speech only applies to the views that they agree w/ its not right. that scares me about our country as well. heres a couple licks to some related articles. any thoughts?

peace & love

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0214-20.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0213-08.htm

[Sunnydaydreams]

the 2nd link has a link to the essay "Some People Push Back On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" so i finally read all of it. i dont agree w/ everything he says in it, but the themes are so true. i hate it when ignorant people say the US should just "nuke em" well, thats just insane! whatever happened to "do unto others as you would want done onto you?" these people claim to be christians, but i thought christians were about loving your enemy!

i believe a lot of people are ignorant of the crimes the US has commited against humanity & so they are living in a fantasy world that we are right & everyone who opposes the US are wrong. i hate all that god bless america shit! god bless ALL people; everyone is his child, if you believe in god. i really would equate it to the way germany had hidden its evil deeds from its citizens. people would rather turn the other cheek & overlook evil until it comes for them!

free speech! that applies for people who do not agree with you! i read a quote from somewhere that you should fight for your enemies right to free speech b/c once he loses his right, whats stopping your rights from being stripped?

peace & love

[toman]

Nobody's ignorant of the crimes the United States is commiting. They simply choose to be small minded and animalistic. The religion aspect of it is a joke; Jesus Christ has become a scapegoat for every barbaric, heartless moron who wants to kick in skulls for no legitimate reason. They claim he died for their sins, well, there have been a lot of sins commited and there are going to be a lot more before people actually start practicing this religion they like to parade around and shove up everyone else's ass. Religion was supposed to be a way to control the weak, to keep them from doing disgusting things.For millenia now it's been corrupted and mutated into a reason to do those things instead. I think it's time people take a good solid look at religion and say to themselves: What good is this? Do I need this in my life? Why do I need these other people telling me how to live my life and what to belive?

[Sunnydaydreams]

what you underestimate toman, is the essential idea held by most people is that they are "right" and "justified" in what they do. individuals dont want to believe they are evil or are wrong or even doing evil & wrong acts. if something offends them, they find ways to justify what they want. Hitler used the idea of "race" superiority to justify the murders of millions of people. thats the problem. the people in this country believe that b/c they have so many nice things, some superior force (aka god) must favor them over others. believing this god is watching over you has a tremendious placebo effect. thats what the nazis thought until they lost the war.

i disagree w/ you that everyone knows about the crimes against humanity, i do think that they're weak minded, kind of like sheep that blindly follow their leader. or better yet, the shrews that follow the leader off the cliff. i think theyre shrews. i dont know animals ;) but i digress

about christianity, i do not agree w/ that religion whatsoever. if you read bertrand russells book why im not a christian its full of interesting tidbits about the violence & corruption the church has gone through(read about the popes in hell in dantes Inferno). i was merely pointing out that although bush sure likes to quote from the good book, many passages are contradicting & he (& others) like to pick & choose what they obey. which brings an interesting point out, its hard to use the bible to justify their points when im sure if its read well, their points could be countered from their own source! ha ha.

peace & love

[mamasharones]

I think it would be absolutely ridiculous if they fired that professor. He's an accredited professor and obviously (being in the position he is in) is not out to hurt people. Sometimes people can't handle the truth or other people's opinions. When you start censoring people and taking away rights, it makes way for government control.


"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.
- Abraham Lincoln: Speech in the Illinois House of Representatives, Dec 18, 1840

[RockyJay]

Reminds me of something I read about America being the Roman Empire of this time.

It would be great to be one of his students. At least his lectures won't be sleep inducing and would promote better brain function.

[tooter_mcgee]

since this thread is about free speech, here are my thoughts on it:

freedom of speech applies to anyone, no matter what you have to say. if you dont like something that is out there, you can choose to ignore it, but you shouldn't censor it from everyone else. if you do approve, however, you can choose to advocate it, but at the same time not becoming a fanatic and forcing others to. yes, there is an appropriate time and place to say certain things and because some people abuse this very sadly people are often offended by speech, but we live in an imperfect society as human beings themselves arent perfect. freedom of speech is better than no freedom at all.

sorry to bust in on the topic being discussed.

:hippie:

Diana

[treehugger]

sorry to threadjack..but tooter, isn't ward going to be up in your area...oh, right around now or very soon?

:)

I'd love to go see him but it's a little too far of a trek.

Kath

[tooter_mcgee]

yeah, hes going to be in whitewater on march 1st, but thats about 3 1/2 hours away from me. i live in eau claire. :)

:hippie:

Diana

[treehugger]

I thought he was going to be up lacrosse way...My bad.

Interesting, interesting guy.

Sorry for the threadjack...back to Ward Churchill.....

Kath

[PEACE FROG]

The right to freedom of speech is not intended for nor does it apply to those who just say or parrot what everyone else does. ;) :)Oh... I just heard an interview with him on Democracy Now, when I took my son to school. He's a very straight forward and reasonable man! Try and catch it if you can, I believe the Democracy now web site streams. Later, Ed

[tooter_mcgee]

The right to freedom of speech is not intended for nor does it apply to those who just say or parrot what everyone else does. ;) :)Oh... I just heard an interview with him on Democracy Now, when I took my son to school. He's a very straight forward and reasonable man! Try and catch it if you can, I believe the Democracy now web site streams. Later, Ed

honesty is one of the most admirable qualities a person can i have, in my opinion... so many are dishonest these days, real honesty is refreshing.

as for the free speech thing, i am inclined to agree with you, but unfortunately i think free speech applies to morons, and these 'parots' you speak of... lots of love!! :)



:hippie:

Diana