Religious Right pushes for "Academic Freedom" in teaching as well as Professional Society

[Ron at]

----- Original Message -----
From: christian thompson
Professional Society


"...maintain a posture of organizational neutrality with respect to the
substantive disagreements that divide researchers on questions within, or
outside, their fields
of inquiry ..."
***********

Now this is something all should take seriously.  Government is "blind" when
it comes to non-profit orgs and anything else tied to Fed. regulations.  We
see this blindness as good when it benefits our interest group - but these
"freedoms" or "restrictions", due to their base principle (its a two way
street), can be used against as well as for.

As a fundamentalist preacher myself, I am sure the most controversial thing
I ever did was get involved in a public discussion where I was in favor of
stopping a local municipality from shutting down a strip (nude) club.  (This
particular club was on a main comercial street - not in a "neighborhood" nor
even near a school. Some people just didn't want it - anywhere.)  My reasons
to leave them alone was very simple.  1) They had borken no laws.  2) If we
give the government the power to "shut down" anything just because somebody
doesn't like the "morality" of it, then the Government can shut down
anything somebody doesn't like.   Such as shut down my church because some
other religious zealots want us out of their town.  Morality issues should
be left to religious groups and their adherents and out of government -
period.  Yet, every big city has its "vice squads" and little towns their
blue laws and zoning ordinances.

This two way door exists at the Federal level too.  Yup, if we get
non-profit status or accept Fed grants and funding - from the highway dept
to the University - the Fed has every _legal right_ to tell us who we can
accept/reject, how we can/can't do our business, and yes, even how we do our
science.   "Discrimination", you know, can't be allowed - everybody has to
have equal time.   Shrewd move on the part of the religious right actually,
they found a wide open back door - intellectual discrimination -
organizational neutrality.  Don't be surprised if, unfortunately, it becomes
"law" governing our organization's policy.


Ron Gatrelle