Category Archives: culture

Extremist Left on the Prowl, Again

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The Freedom from Religion Foundation is attacking a Viet Nam War memorial, and it’s attacking Coos Bay, OR, for having it.

The atrocity this time is a small memorial erected by the local Jaycees in 1972—as that war was winding down—and that has a Latin cross atop it*:CoosBayVietNamMemorial

FFRF attorney Rebecca Markert, in a letter to City Manager Rodger Craddock, wrote—and she was actually serious

We have no objection to the veterans’ memorials.  Our objection is to the message of endorsement of Christianity over other religions and non-religions.  The Christian-only memorial sends a message that the government only cares about the deaths of Christian soldiers, not Jewish, other non-Christian, and non-religious soldiers[.]

She might want to consult with some of those Jewish, other non-Christian, and non-religious soldiers.  They certainly have been supportive of the Latin cross at the Mojave Desert and Mt Soledad War Memorials.  Maybe it’s because Latin Crosses aren’t Christian symbols, per se, on war memorials; they’re symbols, instead of our fallen and of our respect for their sacrifice and the sacrifice of their surviving families.  That’s a degree of respect the FFRF might want to start showing.

Craddock has the right of it:

With all the issues facing our city, we probably have more important things to do[.]

Indeed.

 

*The photo is by KCBY.

Bias, Redux

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I wrote about a case here, a case involving a Florida Atlantic University student being taken out of class a and facing expulsion because he objected to a class assignment that had him write Jesus’ name on a piece of paper, put the paper on the floor, and then stomp on it.  I closed that post with a note that FAU had “apologized” for their attack on the student.

Now more information has come to light on that case and on FAU’s “apologies.”  The latter are even more cynical than at first appeared.

Before I get to them, though, it’s important to note that the victim in the university’s charade has accepted its apology, so that case is closed.  This post, then, is on what’s masqueraded as an apology in 21st century America; I’ll be using FAU’s versions as illustrations, not to continue berating FAU.

This is more of the first apology in question:

First and foremost, we are deeply sorry for any hurt regarding this incident, any insensitivity that may have been seen by the community and the greater community at large.  We are deeply sorry.  …  We are truly sorry that this incident occurred.

And FAU’s second apology:

We are deeply sorry for any hurt this incident might have caused our students, people in the community, and beyond.  …  [The lesson involved] was insensitive and hurtful and we are truly sorry.  Please note we have not taken any disciplinary action against any student regarding this matter.  ….

Sorry for what, again?  These “apologies” carry not a whit of regret for the actual wrongful behavior—in this case the withdrawal of the student from the class and the university’s subsequent threats of suspension or expulsion.  The second version actually acknowledges those threats by asserting a final lack of disciplinary action, but it then disingenuously segues to other matters—there is no apology for that withdrawal, no apology for the threats of more punishment.

These…statements…don’t even carry any serious expression of regret for the outcomes of that behavior; they have only expressions of caveated sorrow for possible outcomes: “any hurt,” not “the hurt;” “any insensitivity,” not “our insensitivity;” and “may have been seen;” “might have caused.”  These last two are especially egregious.  There was no “may have been” to it, nor was there any “might have.”  The community and the greater community at large were quite vociferous in their expressions of outrage.  The university’s “insensitivity” was plainly seen and objected to; the hurt was palpably real and widespread.  There were no maybes involved; thus, “that was experienced by,” and “that was caused.”

How about a simple, straightforward statement of regret, promptly delivered, and devoid of weasel words and caveats?  A statement along these lines (by the Dean of Students and the Senior Vice President for Student Affairs in this example), issued publicly (as the above versions were), personally, and again in writing (as the first version seems to have been) seems suitable:

On my behalf, on behalf of Professor Deandre Poole, and on behalf of Florida Atlantic University, I apologize to [student] for our treatment of him regarding the Stomp on Jesus’ Name incident.  Our interpretation of the lesson, to actually require those actions, was erroneous.  Worse, our withdrawal of [student] from that class and our threats to suspend and/or expel him simply were wrong, and we should have known better.  I, and we, are sorry for our actions in handling this incident.

Now, back to the university.  FAU Dean of Students Corey King has said he cannot comment on employment matters when asked about Poole’s status at the university following this incident.  This is nonsense.  The comment restrictions are purely a matter of policy internal to FAU; Florida law carries no such restriction (Florida lawyers are free to correct me on this).  As such, that policy can be waived in particular cases; this one seems egregious enough that sanctions taken against Poole, if any, should be public knowledge.  Especially if FAU has chosen to take no action concerning Poole.

A Thought on Cypress and the Euro

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After having offered his church’s assets to a solidarity fund proposed by Cyprus’ government pursuant to Cyprus’ efforts to find a way out of their current economic debacle, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus (the Greek Orthodox Church in Cyprus), has one.  The Guardian quotes him:

The euro cannot last.  I’m not saying that it will crumble tomorrow, but with the brains that they have in Brussels, it is certain that it will not last in the long term, and the best is to think about how to escape it.  It’s not easy, but we should devote as much time to this as was spent on entering the eurozone.

The Orthodox church is the island’s biggest landowner, and it has serious investments in a broad range of endeavors—from hotels and construction to a brewery, to a majority stake in Cyprus’ third largest bank, Hellenic Bank (right behind Laiki Bank (Popular Bank) and the Bank of Cyprus, the former of which would be seized by the government and reorganized under a version of Plan B, and the latter of which is just as insolvent and needs reorganization).  Chrysostomos’ opinions are worth listening to far beyond his position as Cyprus’ moral leader.

I agree with the Archbishop.  It’s a bad fit, Cyprus and the European Union, Cyprus and the euro zone, as has been written elsewhere.

The badness of fit has now been demonstrated, by a midnight deal between the eurozone Finance Ministers and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades.  The deal, according to Spiegel Online International:

…focused on the island’s two insolvent major banks.  It will wind down the largely state-owned Popular Bank of Cyprus, also known as Laiki, and shift deposits below €100,000 [$130,000] to the Bank of Cyprus.

Deposits above €100,000 euros in both banks, which are not guaranteed under EU law, will be frozen and used to resolve Laiki’s debts and to recapitalise Bank of Cyprus through a deposit/equity conversion.

[Euro Group (the finance ministers of the eurozone acting together) President Jeroen] Dijsselbloem says that

[t]he raid [that’s exactly the right word] on uninsured Laiki depositors is expected to raise €4.2 billion [$5.5 billion].

There’s more extortion and theft to come.  The takings inflicted on large depositors—those holding deposits greater than €100,000—will be determined at a later date by the Cypriot government and the troika.  Those €4.2 billion represent the target for recapitalization and bank debt resolution; the “tax” on those deposits required to achieve the target has yet to be determined.

And, because this setup is being handled as a bank restructuring and Cyprus’ Parliament had already passed a bank restructuring law that allows it during a panicky weekend session prior to this…arrangement, the Parliament cannot now block it, as it did the original raid.

It’ll be interesting to see where the Russians put their money in the aftermath of this.  It’ll be interesting to see where any large depositor, or any other depositor with the capacity (which includes most middle class folks and small/medium businesses) puts his money, now that Cyprus has been banished from the international financial center business.  The little man—those with the small deposits—have no choice.

It’ll also be interesting to see who in the rest of the eurozone or the broader EU profits from this.

SOI suggests that in the end, Anastasiades had no option but to accept to these terms.  This, though, is to misunderstand what has happened and to misunderstand the immorality of it.  This is just government theft of private money from folks—depositors—who had nothing to do with the decisions of the bankers and government functionaries that put Cyprus in this box in the first place.

Anastasiades indeed had a choice.  He could have accepted bankruptcy and the (painful) recovery of a Cyprus then free of EU and eurozone restrictions on Cypriot sovereignty.  And free of exposure of his country’s banking system to international distrust from fear that the next time it becomes convenient to government, the next batch of deposits will be similarly confiscated.  The banks in the rest of the eurozone, if not of the EU at large, must face this distrust today, especially since the original demand by the Euro Group was to confiscate significant portions of the little man’s deposits, also.

Cyprus needs to listen to the Archbishop.

Bias

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The lesson in a Florida Atlantic University class involved the professor instructing his students to write Jesus’ name on a piece of paper, put the paper on the floor, and then stomp on it.  A student refused to do the stomping,

I said to the professor, ‘With all due respect to your authority as a professor, I do not believe what you told us to do was appropriate.  ‘I believe it was unprofessional and I was deeply offended by what you told me to do.’

The student also went to the professor’s boss, who then suspended the student for refusing to comply with the professor’s instruction.

The lesson itself reasonable; here’s the lesson syllabus:

Have the students write the name JESUS in big letters on a piece of paper.  Ask the students to stand up and put the paper on the floor in front of them with the name facing up.  Ask the students to think about it for a moment.  After a brief period of silence instruct them to step on the paper.  Most will hesitate.  Ask why they can’t step on the paper.  Discuss the importance of symbols in culture.

The instructions in the syllabus are intended to build a feeling about the action in the student so the student can reflect on it—at no point did the syllabus expect the student actually to carry out any step of the lesson.

It’s clear from the description of the incident (and for this post, I’ll assume the description to be accurate) that FAU reacted wrongly in a number of ways: it overreacted to the student’s protest, and the reaction it had was in the wrong direction.  Suspension was both too much (no opprobrium of any sort was appropriate), and if the school were to react in any way, it needed to act on the professor’s handling of the lesson.

The other error that FAU made was that its reaction violated the clear intent of the syllabus—to make the students think about an action, not to force the student to do that act.

Paul Kengor, Executive Director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College in Grove City PA:

Gee, I wonder if the instructor would dare do this with the name of Mohammed[.]

Indeed.  And so there’s a third error by FAU: Mohammed, Buddha, Brahma, and so on, should have been subjects of this lesson, also.  The broad range of reactions to a suggestion to desecrate these deities would have added immensely to the lesson’s outcome.

In the end, FAU “apologized” for the lesson.  The university also said the lesson will never again be used.

We sincerely apologize for any offense this has caused.  Florida Atlantic University respects all religions and welcomes people of all faiths, backgrounds and beliefs.

Not “our offense.”  A cynically amorphous “any” offense.  And apparently not a word of apology to the student for the university’s treatment of him for his objection.

Freedom and Morality

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Senator Jeff Sessions (R, AL) had a few words to say on this [emphasis added].

The Department of Agriculture proudly declares: “Each $5 in new [food stamp] benefits generates almost twice that amount in economic activity for the community.”  Our government is running food stamp promotions at foreign embassies.  One worker was given an award for overcoming “mountain pride” and getting more people to sign up.  Where I grew up in Alabama, all honest work, even the hardest, was honored.  And pride, self-respect, and a desire to be independent was valued, not a thing to be overcome.

And

People are being hurt every day by the Washington establishment the Democrats are determined to shield from accountability.  Government has never been bigger or more out of control.  They say there is no problem with waste, fraud, and abuse; they say the problem is you; they say you are not sending them enough money; they say they have wisely spent every penny.  So, you must just send them more.  And, if you don’t?  Well, they won’t stop spending, they’ll just borrow more.

Here is Sessions’ suggestion for an economically effective and morally sound budget outline:

Instead, we must act to create more jobs and better pay.  And we can do it without adding to the debt.  Here’s how:

  • Make welfare temporary and the welfare office an employment and job training office.

  • Unlock America’s vast energy resources to create millions of good-paying jobs.

  • Defend American workers from unfair foreign trade practices.

  • Reform the tax code to make America globally competitive, creating more jobs here.

  • Make government leaner, less wasteful so it produces greater results for the money you earned and sent here.

  • Enforce an immigration policy that protects legal US workers from unlawful competition.

  • Eliminate every burdensome federal rule or regulation that isn’t needed and that destroys jobs.

  • And, finally, we must balance the federal budget.

These are steps that reduce government, they allow Americans to regain responsibility for our own actions, regain our ability to work toward our own goals, and these steps leave more of our hard-earned money in our hands.  All of this enhances our—and our country’s—freedom and morality.

We saw with Wednesday’s Senate budget proposal the Democrats’…freedom and morality.