I spend a lot of time and column inches ridiculing those religious Social Conservatives so convinced of their own righteousness that they can only fairly be described as Shiite Christians. These intolerant, judgemental maroons are so convinced of their own moral and spiritual superiority that they are perfectly willing to force their fear-based moralistic agenda on the rest of us.
Well, guess what? That sort of ignorance and intolerance is hardly limited to those who happen to believe in the primacy of their chosen Supreme Being.
This is still, of course, a free country. One is free to believe and speak as one wishes. So, yes, Shortell is within his rights to spew his hatred and ignorance for all to see, read, and hear. Here is a man whose job is the advancement of intellectual exploration and the collection of knowledge. This is not the second coming of Ward Churchill, whose primary “crime” was stupidity and political incorrectness of the first order. No, if Shortell were Muslim and living in the Middle East, we would be ridiculing him as just another radical Islamofascist.
I certainly would not deny Shortell his beliefs, and I would fight to the death for his right to hold them. This does NOT mean that I have to condone those beliefs- and I most certainly do not.
A CUNY professor who called religious believers “moral retards” has gone on another Internet rant - calling himself a defiant “superman” and comparing religion to oppressive regimes.
A firestorm erupted at Brooklyn College after the views of Timothy Shortell - elected to head the sociology department this month - were revealed in a Daily News story on Monday.
“Christians claim that theirs is faith based on love, but they’ll just as soon kill you,” Shortell wrote in an online journal that is linked to his Web site….
Certainly, there are those Christians who would fit this description, but they know nothing of how to lead a Christ-like life, and understand even less of his teachings. This has less to do with their “Christianity” than it does their own pathological inability to grasp that those who believe differently are under no obligation to accept and follow their beliefs- even if under pain of death.
Prof. Shortell’s idiotic generalizations only serve to expose his own intolerance and perceived moral and intellectual superiority. In this sense, he is every bit the intolerant, self-righteous bigot he accuses Christians of being.
But Shortell remained defiant in his latest post.
“I have been attacked recently in the New York newspapers,” he wrote. “We laugh at our critics. We will behold with joy their silly tantrums.”
He also called himself and others who share his beliefs “‹bermenschen,” a reference to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s idea of the perfect person, or “superman.”
Right, and those who followed a simialr set of beliefs killed six million Jews during WWII. It’s difficult to believe that there are those who refuse to learn from history what can tranpsire when a group is allowed to inflict their belief system upon those whose only crime is simply not believing as they do. For a self-styled intellectual giant such as Shortell, this is a stunning display of ignorance and intolerance.
Shortell is within his First Amendment rights to disrespect Christianity and those who adhere to it. He has committed no crime- unless insensitivity and stupidity now rise to the level of criminal behavior. His ignorance and intolerance merely expose him as every bit as misguided as those Christians he feels free to gratuitously insult.
Yes, kids, here is a true DUMB@$$….
Whatever happened to “live and let live”??
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