Educational Slack-wits

Full disclosure - I attended the same MIAC school which my father graduated from, Hamline is also an MIAC school, and it used to have a law school.  Apparently now it has a collection of kindergarten-level halfwits at the helm.  The great and wonderful thing about most kindergarteners is that they're filled to overflowing with potential.  The leadership of Hamline, on the other hand, is also full of potential - the sort of potential which leads to disastrous futures, disappointment, and generally low achievement across the board, because they're seeking not to offend.

Yup, my friends, I've waded into yet another one of those rather large dustups that any slack-jawed halfwit could see it wasn't going to be that big of a deal until someone did a dipshit move...

So let's start with the beginning of the day.  After my alarm clock goes off and blasts me out of bed (yes, it's across the room, where I need to get up, because I learned many years ago I had become so adept at technological manipulation, I could literally turn off my alarm clock above my head without waking up - a process which required me finding one of three knobs on that alarm clock, moving it to the off position, and doing so without the little thing falling off the shelf, slipping out of my hand, or causing other issues), I make my way to the bathroom for some necessary functions, pull on a pair of pants, put on my shoes, close the window (yes, even in the cold basement I like to sleep in the cold), and then make my way to this computer, where I attempt to engage my brain.  Sometimes it works, often it don't.  

This morning, I hit this article from CNN telling me about a local professor who took an abundance of caution, alerted her students to the fact that they may encounter religious imagery which might challenge their belief system, and then she was terminated after a single student complained.  Hold up, now, because this professor isn't a theology prof, but an ART HISTORY professor.  Now, you and I may not share the same religious beliefs, but we can certainly agree that there's been a fair amount of art commissioned by and made by talented people who wished to do something to greater glorify their deity.  That is, you see all sorts of things - pictures, sculptures, architecture, and other works - which are meant to show their respect for their religious beliefs.  

Don't believe me?  Notre Dame.  Pick some of the largest, longest-lasting buildings - yes, even including the Onion Domes of the Kremlin, which were built as a church originally.  Many great buildings and great architectural innovations were driven by religion.  Pyramids, Temples, Churches, etc.  And then there's paintings, sculptures, and the rest.  Heck, most religions have a "holy book" which is often aggrandized with art.  I know, because my very own alma mater (mine and Dad's) hit the press this week as a publishing company did what Gutenburg did - that is, he printed a copy of the Bible.  What made this news was because my alma mater commissioned a fancy pants bible, because they wanted something pretty.  That's right.  All to the greater glory of God.  Art.  

And yes, some religions are reported to be a bit ... upset about certain imagery.  Clearly, not everyone of that particular faith shares the same view as some terrorists did a few years ago when they killed French journalists over a cartoon. 

But after all those links, here's the bottom line - that prof will likely have a damned solid legal case, though if she's smart, she'll catch on at a much smarter, much better run college or university that doesn't piss itself the first time someone says "I don't like that."  

Thing is, kids, that it's often in encountering things which you do not like or challenge your beliefs is how you learn and grow.  Poking a light into those corners of "deeply held beliefs" may lead you to realize that which you think you believe may not in fact be a belief.  It may be a misunderstood superstition.  Or it might just be a whacky idea.  

Stay well, folks, and remember - before you get offended and pissed off, do a little research.  Minds, like books and parachutes, work a hell of a lot better when open.