Crookshanks
12-06-2005, 02:06 PM
The campus crusade for Christmas
Dec 5, 2005
by Mike S. Adams ( bio | archive | contact )
Recently, an atheist student organization at The University of Texas at San Antonio set up a “Smut for Smut” booth allowing students to exchange their religious scriptures (mostly the Holy Bible) for pornography. Unsurprisingly, they got the idea from another group at The University of Texas at Austin.
If the “Smut for Smut” exchanges begin to spread across the country, many readers will undoubtedly ask why such displays aren’t banned by campus speech codes due to possibly “offensive,” “disrespectful,” or “demeaning” content. Of course, the answer to that question is simple:
Campus speech codes were not designed to preserve our Judeo-Christian heritage through an equal application of rules. They were designed to destroy it through a selective application of rules.
And that is why we observe that a) atheist students are free to call the Word of God “smut” and “pornography” in between campus showings of hard-core porn films, while b) religious students are prevented from using offensive terms like “Christmas.”
It almost gets depressing when you look at schools like Auburn University – a school that is preparing for the lighting of a Holiday Tree, instead of the lighting of a Christmas Tree – a term deemed too offensive and “under-inclusive” in the postmodern era of higher education. And this kind of thing is happening at Auburn, not merely at schools like Brown and Harvard.
But note that in the last paragraph I said it “almost” gets depressing. Enter Laura Steele ([email protected]), a member of the Auburn Student Government Association (SGA). She and a few other members of the SGA have sent forth the following resolution – one that should serve as a model for students seeking to Roll back the Tide of diversity that has consumed other southern schools like the University of Alabama:
RESOLUTION
Whereas, a decorated tree is the traditional, historical symbol of Christmas; and
Whereas, the Christmas tree is a decorated tree celebrating and symbolizing the historical Christmas season; and
Whereas, a tree has historically been known as a Christmas Tree in the State of Alabama, the United States of America and around the world; and
Whereas, the tree has historically been known as a Christmas Tree on Auburn’s campus; and
Whereas, calling the tree a Christmas Tree preserves historical correctness and embraces religious diversity; and
Whereas, in pursuit of Auburn’s spirit of diversity and tolerance of differing ideals, the Student Government Association Student Senate maintains that traditional symbols, religious and otherwise should not be suppressed; and
Whereas, labeling a Christmas Tree as a “Holiday Tree” appears to be religiously intolerant toward those who celebrate Christmas; and
Whereas, the University Administration and the Student Government Association have promoted a spirit of diversity and religious tolerance on campus; and
Whereas, the name of the tree is not a legal issue rather an issue of preference and historicity; and
Whereas, even the display of a manger scene by a government body has been held to be constitutional to celebrate Christmas and its origins;
Therefore be it Resolved, that the Auburn University Student Government Association Student Senate recognizes the decorated tree on campus during the Christmas holiday season by its historical name of “Christmas Tree”; and
Therefore, Be it Further Resolved, that the decorated tree re-labeled a “Holiday Tree” be properly reinstated with its original, historical, traditional, intended, and common title and identified for what it actually is, a “Christmas Tree.”
With the help of the College Republicans, Laura Steele has so far gathered 650 signatures from students urging the SGA Senate to support the resolution. The reason for that is simple: In the name of true tolerance, she supports including other religions in the ceremony. And she thinks that Jewish students would appreciate having a University Menorah on display without having the campus thought police rename it a Mynorah to avoid sexist overtones.
Join me today in writing [email protected] to let these kids know that there is no better place to wage a war against narrow-minded political correctness than Auburn University. And there are no better leaders in our nation’s current cultural war than a young pack of War Eagles soaring high above the Tides of bigotry that masquerade as progressive thought.
Mike Adams is a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is a regular columnist for Townhall.com.
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I thought it interesting that this columnist is in North Carolina, yet he heard about the stupid stunt at UTSA.
If you support the actions of the SGA, please send them an e-mail!
Dec 5, 2005
by Mike S. Adams ( bio | archive | contact )
Recently, an atheist student organization at The University of Texas at San Antonio set up a “Smut for Smut” booth allowing students to exchange their religious scriptures (mostly the Holy Bible) for pornography. Unsurprisingly, they got the idea from another group at The University of Texas at Austin.
If the “Smut for Smut” exchanges begin to spread across the country, many readers will undoubtedly ask why such displays aren’t banned by campus speech codes due to possibly “offensive,” “disrespectful,” or “demeaning” content. Of course, the answer to that question is simple:
Campus speech codes were not designed to preserve our Judeo-Christian heritage through an equal application of rules. They were designed to destroy it through a selective application of rules.
And that is why we observe that a) atheist students are free to call the Word of God “smut” and “pornography” in between campus showings of hard-core porn films, while b) religious students are prevented from using offensive terms like “Christmas.”
It almost gets depressing when you look at schools like Auburn University – a school that is preparing for the lighting of a Holiday Tree, instead of the lighting of a Christmas Tree – a term deemed too offensive and “under-inclusive” in the postmodern era of higher education. And this kind of thing is happening at Auburn, not merely at schools like Brown and Harvard.
But note that in the last paragraph I said it “almost” gets depressing. Enter Laura Steele ([email protected]), a member of the Auburn Student Government Association (SGA). She and a few other members of the SGA have sent forth the following resolution – one that should serve as a model for students seeking to Roll back the Tide of diversity that has consumed other southern schools like the University of Alabama:
RESOLUTION
Whereas, a decorated tree is the traditional, historical symbol of Christmas; and
Whereas, the Christmas tree is a decorated tree celebrating and symbolizing the historical Christmas season; and
Whereas, a tree has historically been known as a Christmas Tree in the State of Alabama, the United States of America and around the world; and
Whereas, the tree has historically been known as a Christmas Tree on Auburn’s campus; and
Whereas, calling the tree a Christmas Tree preserves historical correctness and embraces religious diversity; and
Whereas, in pursuit of Auburn’s spirit of diversity and tolerance of differing ideals, the Student Government Association Student Senate maintains that traditional symbols, religious and otherwise should not be suppressed; and
Whereas, labeling a Christmas Tree as a “Holiday Tree” appears to be religiously intolerant toward those who celebrate Christmas; and
Whereas, the University Administration and the Student Government Association have promoted a spirit of diversity and religious tolerance on campus; and
Whereas, the name of the tree is not a legal issue rather an issue of preference and historicity; and
Whereas, even the display of a manger scene by a government body has been held to be constitutional to celebrate Christmas and its origins;
Therefore be it Resolved, that the Auburn University Student Government Association Student Senate recognizes the decorated tree on campus during the Christmas holiday season by its historical name of “Christmas Tree”; and
Therefore, Be it Further Resolved, that the decorated tree re-labeled a “Holiday Tree” be properly reinstated with its original, historical, traditional, intended, and common title and identified for what it actually is, a “Christmas Tree.”
With the help of the College Republicans, Laura Steele has so far gathered 650 signatures from students urging the SGA Senate to support the resolution. The reason for that is simple: In the name of true tolerance, she supports including other religions in the ceremony. And she thinks that Jewish students would appreciate having a University Menorah on display without having the campus thought police rename it a Mynorah to avoid sexist overtones.
Join me today in writing [email protected] to let these kids know that there is no better place to wage a war against narrow-minded political correctness than Auburn University. And there are no better leaders in our nation’s current cultural war than a young pack of War Eagles soaring high above the Tides of bigotry that masquerade as progressive thought.
Mike Adams is a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is a regular columnist for Townhall.com.
-------------------
I thought it interesting that this columnist is in North Carolina, yet he heard about the stupid stunt at UTSA.
If you support the actions of the SGA, please send them an e-mail!