Letter to the Chancellor
In case you haven't heard, a professor at the University of Minnesota has promised to desecrate the Most Blessed Sacrament
Dear Chancellor,
I would like to add my voice to the chorus in dismay and even outrage over your university's response to the recent actions of Zachary Myers.
Not only has he advocated and incited others to break the laws of the land (encouraging them to steal, to vandalize), and broken the laws of common courtesy and respect of our fellow human being, he has violated your own institution's principles and code of conduct.
The regret that you expressed in your statement to the UM community is little consolation:
"I deeply regret that the postings have been so upsetting to so many people and that this has, in turn, caused some individuals to question the values of civility, respect, academic inquiry and critical thought that are the hallmark of this institution."
Your regret is misplaced. You regret the reaction of those of us who are offended when you should be regretting that a member of your faculty would do something so disrespectful, so offensive, so hateful. You regret that we would question the values of your institution, but you should regret that a member of your faculty could do something that so demands the questioning of those values.
Mr. Myers is certainly welcome to his opinion. He has every right to believe that the beliefs of my co-religionists and myself are unreasonable and ridiculous, he even has every right to proclaim such vehemently and vocally. (Unfortunately, your institution's standards have not even kept his words civil and reasonable.) We could then engage his ideas and words with words of our own or we could then dismiss him as the uninformed bigot that he has repeatedly demonstrated himself to be. But he has gone beyond speech, beyond opinion. He has promoted acts of religious violence against a whole faith.
I sincerely hope that the University of Minnesota will redeem itself in this situation. It is certainly not my place to tell you to take some punitive action against Mr. Myers (although personally I hope that there is at least something). However, without some public disavowal of the actions of Mr. Myers (not necessarily his opinions, but at least his actions), I can only conclude that the University of Minnesota at least tolerates or perhaps even promotes such acts of hatred and lawlessness, and that the stated values of the University are little more than false advertising.
badsede
ps Also, let me express my own profound regret and sincere apologies for the actions of many of those who share my dismay and have allowed their outrage to lead them to respond to Mr. Myers in kind or to actually even bodily threaten Mr. Myers. I, for one, fully disavow such actions.
Dear Chancellor,
I would like to add my voice to the chorus in dismay and even outrage over your university's response to the recent actions of Zachary Myers.
Not only has he advocated and incited others to break the laws of the land (encouraging them to steal, to vandalize), and broken the laws of common courtesy and respect of our fellow human being, he has violated your own institution's principles and code of conduct.
The regret that you expressed in your statement to the UM community is little consolation:
"I deeply regret that the postings have been so upsetting to so many people and that this has, in turn, caused some individuals to question the values of civility, respect, academic inquiry and critical thought that are the hallmark of this institution."
Your regret is misplaced. You regret the reaction of those of us who are offended when you should be regretting that a member of your faculty would do something so disrespectful, so offensive, so hateful. You regret that we would question the values of your institution, but you should regret that a member of your faculty could do something that so demands the questioning of those values.
Mr. Myers is certainly welcome to his opinion. He has every right to believe that the beliefs of my co-religionists and myself are unreasonable and ridiculous, he even has every right to proclaim such vehemently and vocally. (Unfortunately, your institution's standards have not even kept his words civil and reasonable.) We could then engage his ideas and words with words of our own or we could then dismiss him as the uninformed bigot that he has repeatedly demonstrated himself to be. But he has gone beyond speech, beyond opinion. He has promoted acts of religious violence against a whole faith.
I sincerely hope that the University of Minnesota will redeem itself in this situation. It is certainly not my place to tell you to take some punitive action against Mr. Myers (although personally I hope that there is at least something). However, without some public disavowal of the actions of Mr. Myers (not necessarily his opinions, but at least his actions), I can only conclude that the University of Minnesota at least tolerates or perhaps even promotes such acts of hatred and lawlessness, and that the stated values of the University are little more than false advertising.
badsede
ps Also, let me express my own profound regret and sincere apologies for the actions of many of those who share my dismay and have allowed their outrage to lead them to respond to Mr. Myers in kind or to actually even bodily threaten Mr. Myers. I, for one, fully disavow such actions.