Christian Chaplain Fired for Preaching Compassion and Love Over Violence of American Sniper

While the article doesn't come out and say he was 'fired' for this sermon, it does question the timing of his removal and note that his daughter challenged the University's assertion that there was no connection between the two.

When women try to speak about men's rights, feminists have shouted them down (This happened most recently at the UofT, if I recall correctly). When dissenting views are presented, there is a movement on campuses and colleges to deny them. Recently a group of Pro-Choice activists blocked a Pro-Life display to prevent anyone from seeing it.

Once, our universities were the bastion of intelligent dissent. This is, in part, what allowed most of the anti-war movement of the 1960s to be born as students protested the war in Vietnam.

Today, dissent is demolished by those who oppose dissent, who insist that we must all adhere (or at least appear to have adhered) to the current 'correct' view, whether that be political, sexual or social.

This is wrong. Dissent is not just healthy in a democracy, it is necessary to allow a democracy to flourish. A university, tasked with shaping a generation of leaders and influences, should embrace dissenting views and encourage dialogue. That institution more than any other place is where arguments are meant to be honed, discussions are meant to change minds and ideas are meant to be allowed to germinate and grow.

Sadly, if this trend continues, I can foresee a future in which public dissent is stifled and those who do dissent are marginalized at best and, at worst, become outcasts.

I think of a comment on the red carpet at the Oscars where a well known actress lamented that the media still focused not on their skills and professionalism, but on what they wore. She was asking to be taken seriously as an actor by our culture.

Are we so scared of dissent that we won't take seriously those who do so, focusing not on who they are and what they say but only on the apparent optics? Is allowing dissent so frightening to an academic institution that they must punish those who dissent in a public way to insure they are seen to allow only the right sort of viewpoint to be associated with their university?

If this trend that has affected so many speakers and dissenters continues, how will that affect us? I would despair of a future where dissent is punished and dissenters ostracized. It is too Orwellian to contemplate.

/r/nottheonion Thread Link - alternet.org