Earlier today, sitting in said library, I published a post on this blog about gay marriage in Massachusetts. As I prepared to write the piece, I ran a Google search to find the source story whose headline I saw earlier that morning at Starbucks. My first query did not return a link to the story I was looking for. But it did return a link to the following website: http://gaylife.about.com. I clicked on the link, as the two-line excerpt provided by Google looked interesting. To my surprise, I was not taken to to the website. Rather I was redirected to a page that said this:
Access Denied
Why has this site been blocked?
The content of this site may not meet UMHB's Christian principles and beliefs or it may violate University policy. Because of this, President's Council has determined that this site should be blocked in order to uphold these fundamentals.
. . .
Reason: The Websense category "Gay or Lesbian or Bisexual Interest" is filtered.
So much for academic freedom and critical inquiry.
I understand that the university doesn't want students surfing porn, but COME ON! This was a just a gay and lesbian website. I guess the Christians at this institution of higher learning don't want any opinions on gay marriage or homosexuality to be formed by sources other than the Bible.
8 comments:
Interesting. Harrogate has frequently read of these internet blocks at places of business and at secondary schools, but this is the first case he has seen of them in a university setting.
Hmmmm. Wonder what would happen if ye ran, and explored, a Google search of "Pete's Couch" +"The Rhetorical Situation."
Given that you're using wireless internet provided by a Baptist university, I'm not at all surprised.
Agreed, M. But I'm a bit of an educational idealist. I somehow expected them to place free inquiry above dogma.
As you know, my B.A. and M.A. are from catholic universities, and no such internet filters exist. Nor will they ever! Sure, both were Jesuit institutions, which have a long tradition of liberalism, but that's what college is about: freeing your mind, challenging traditions, questioning moral and ethical values, reflecting on your spiritual life, etc. All in all, education should strive to develop well-rounded individuals who are prepared to engage the challenges of the world and improve the human condition.
That UMHB would block such content (or any content for that matter) makes me wonder how restricted their students' educations might actually be. Are professors discouraged from presenting knowledge that runs contrary to traditional Christian teachings? Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is that any assault on open inquiry within the academy threatens to develop not well-rounded individuals but narrow-minded adherents who are not capable of thinking.
Dangerous, me thinks.
Eloquently put Oxymoron.
I just wrote a response to this and blogger ate it. let me sum up.
I went to a school very much like mary hardin and in my experience, faculty can present alternate viewpoints but they must do so very, very carefully. That's as much because the students will be hostile as it is because of the administration. Then again, the people who teach there are often required to sign up to a set of precepts as a condition of their employment, so it's fairly self-selecting.
I do have to take issue with this:
"All I know is that any assault on open inquiry within the academy threatens to develop not well-rounded individuals but narrow-minded adherents who are not capable of thinking."
That seems like too much. I would agree that they are inured to a single framework, which is a limiting factor but to suggest that they incapable of thinking? I think that goes too far. I say this because I know many folks who graduate from my alma mater who were narrow in the ways you suggest and as many would probably surprise you with their breadth.
K, now that I've said that, I am amused that their trying to ban the very idea of gay people. Hello? Reality calling....
I left some words out in there. Grrr. Sorry, I was trying to duplicate what I just wrote and I was distracted by screaming screaming.
Yes, I tend to overstate at times. But I like big dramatic endings.
When Sweet Toddler J arrived, the Catholic hospital in which she was born blocked websites, though I can only remember it found the Blogora at RSA blocked. (Damn you Aquinas and comment about the Chair of Lies and Deceit!!!)
This semester will be interesting as I will be teaching my class on social movements and I am not sure how it will be received by University types at a private, Catholic college. I do remember seeing my Catholic clause in my contract though I would guess that if certain subjects get mentioned or taught, the Catholic position needs to be address.
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