U. of Colo. to Weigh Prof's 9/11 Comments

[The Duke]

Saw the guy on TV, he's even more ed up than he sounds.

The job of teachers is to instruct students on how to think.  How can this man do that when he is clearlyincapable of thinking properly?

[freedomburns]

JF - "Anyone who does not think as I do is thinking improperly."

[The Duke]

If you believe that the people in the WTC on 9/11 deserve to die or that NY Fire Fighters are cogs in an imperialist machine, then no you don't think properly.

There are lots of people I disagree with.  Nym90 can think, Al can think, nclib can think, Siege can think (and others too).  They disagree with me about things though, that's for sure.  This man can't think, and anyone who agrees with cannot think properly.

Stock brokers are little Eichman's?  Yeah, right.

[opebo]

If you believe that the people in the WTC on 9/11 deserve to die or that NY Fire Fighters are cogs in an imperialist machine, then no you don't think properly.

There are lots of people I disagree with.  Nym90 can think, Al can think, nclib can think, Siege can think (and others too).  They disagree with me about things though, that's for sure.  This man can't think, and anyone who agrees with cannot think properly.

Stock brokers are little Eichman's?  Yeah, right.

Who gets to judge what thinking is 'proper'?  If we are to have free speach nothing should be disallowed. 

Besides, his thinking makes perfect sense - "the occupants of the world trade center were participating in, and benefiting from, a global capitalist/imperialist system, and therefore deserved to die".  It makes perfect sense from his point of view, or from the point of view of most Muslims.  Their position is neither more or less reasonable or 'proper' than yours, they're just part of a different interest group.  That said, when they couch their arguments in terms of morality or just deserts, they are just as silly as the Bush crowd.

I think it is a waste of breath for either side to call the other 'evil'.  Lets just say 'he's my enemy, and his preferences and interests are in conflict with mine, so it benefits me to kill him'.  Now that is an intellectually honest argument for war.

[angus]

Stock brokers are little Eichman's?  Yeah, right.

Provocative, for sure.  But sometimes we say things without thinking.  or we're thinking out loud.  I think he may have been examining an extreme line of thought, which, though offensive to many, has been examined before, but never by such a high-profile individual.  I won't defend his words, nor do I share his conclusions, but I think that the comments that he ought to resign, or be fired, are just a bit reactionary.  Do we really value orthodoxy more than we value free expression?

[The Duke]

Stock brokers are little Eichman's? Yeah, right.

Provocative, for sure. But sometimes we say things without thinking. or we're thinking out loud. I think he may have been examining an extreme line of thought, which, though offensive to many, has been examined before, but never by such a high-profile individual. I won't defend his words, nor do I share his conclusions, but I think that the comments that he ought to resign, or be fired, are just a bit reactionary. Do we really value orthodoxy more than we value free expression?

He wrote in an an essay, so he had plenty of time to think about what he was saying.

[phk]

We have our own version of Jerry Falwell.