Posted by
Augsal on Thursday, February 12, 2009 8:01:19 PM
Just today at Boston College there was an uproar from faculty (not from students) over the decision by the College President, Rev. William Leahy, S.J. to hang a Crucifix in every classroom. For those who don't know, the "S.J." stands for Society of Jesus- the Jesuits, a very large religious order within the Roman Catholic Church. I explain this to you because you see, Boston College happens to be a CATHOLIC institution of higher learning and the Crucifix is an integral part of the Catholic identity. The professors who were most upset about this action were non-catholic but even their non-affiliation is not the real problem here. The real problem is the idea that any show of religiousity is somehow being insensitive and even more alarming, that it is intellectually insulting. A few comments for you to digest:
Biology professor Dan Kirschner, faculty adviser for BC's chapter of the Jewish student group Hillel, said the school is being "insensitive" to people of other faiths.
Maxim Shrayer, chairman of the Slavic and Eastern languages and literature department, calls the religious symbols "contrary to the letter and spirit of open intellectual discourse."
“A classroom is a place where I am supposed, as a teacher, to teach without any bias, to teach the truth. And when you put an icon or an emblem or a flag, it confuses the matter,” said Amir Hoveyda, the chemistry department chair *
First, I would like to ask, does the American Flag cause a problem for Professor Hoveyda? Do the laws of chemistry somehow become confusing to students because a religious symbol is hanging in the "back" of the classroom? The Roman Catholic Church invented and promoted "the scientific method" in the middle ages when it invented the system of higher education called the "University" so I find it hard to believe that this "religious icon" as prof. Hoveyda calls it, would hinder or hamper him in anyway in teaching CHEMISTRY!!!
The larger and more disturbing notion here is that to be religious means that you have in some way become irrational, illogical, and incapable of understanding anything scientific. And, if you espouse any religious beliefs then you are disqualifying yourself from any type of intellectual discourse. This is Anti-religious bias at its worst and shockingly this is the state of 90% of Academia today. I would even go so far as to say that it's almost at that level in our High Schools as well.
Let's be serious here, we are talking about a Catholic College displaying the symbol of its Faith on its own property. Am I missing something here? Did any of these professors not know that BC was a Catholic institution? How low we have sunk when simple questions like these need to be debated and explained!!!
I am yours my friends, IN CHRIST!!
AugSal