I just got back from seeing the Michael Moore movie “This Divided State” at Real Art Ways. It is about his being invited to talk at Utah Valley State College and how it divided the college, town and state. I liked it very much, but of course I am a Liberal, so some might say I am biased. What stuck me most was the fallout after the speech; a lawsuit was filed by the town mayor for use of student funds to have Moore talk, the Student Body Vice President resigned and the college lost $200,000 in donations that year.
The whole movie reminded me of the Ann Coulter's Speech at Uconn, only that time it was the liberals that behaved badly. Her speech divided the Uconn campus and her speech was disrupted by protesters outside and by hecklers inside.
For me the idea of a college education is to exposes the students to all ideologies, to allow a free intercourse of ideas to take place so that the students can develop their own beliefs. Maybe I am old fashions, but I feel that a college or university should be a place where liberals, conservatives, Christians, Jews, Muslims and Atheists can come an express their views openly. Am I a radical now for thinking that or is that just an old outdated notion?
You're not a radical or old fashioned! It is so important that we are continually exposed to different view points and ideas- that is what helps us to grow! I feel this is a life-long concept, not just as children and young adults.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the film yet, I'm not certain if it's arrived here in Indy yet- we are slow to get things sometimes.