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Professors & ResponsibilityReader comment on item: From the Halls of Academia Submitted by RM Paine (Australia), Dec 28, 2002 at 00:34 Dear Friends,Professors are among our most intelligent citizens; they possess a vulnerable audience; and academia is nothing like the real world where the rest of us reside. Admittedly, I had mixed feelings about jumping into this debate simply because it involves "Professors," a group that is usually very well versed in argument itself, thus a daunting feat for a mere mortal. However, it became crystal clear that if I felt this way there would be many others who would also be inclined to shy away from a rebuttal to these foes. If none of us were to counter them, the cancerous spewing would continue to eat away at our foundations, our strengths, and thus would make us incapable of wining anything, much less a war, and certainly unable to impede the damage. Just because professors are intelligent doesn't mean that they are always right. A mathematics or physics professor who teaches his/her discipline is one thing, but here we are talking about History professors (and the like) making statements about foreign policy issues, colliding cultures, and against the very country they live in, United States, while excusing the violence that our enemies desire to level against us, and have already leveled against the human race. So, we really need to look at how the enemy views our professor's statements. Even the wild animals of the forest detect ones power or weakness to know when to attack and when to run/hide. How do you think these apologists' statements affect the psychology of our enemy? I would suggest that it makes the enemy gain confidence and become more willing to fight; this is a recipe for disaster, for those who do chose to fight will be completely decimated by the greatest military power the World has every known. This is the discouraging thought that our enemies need to ponder, for if war does come to pass it will surely provide that evidence for all to see, and once the war is over peace will again have fertile ground on which to grow. These professors' high IQ certainly doesn't mean they should have a free reign to negatively--treasonously--influence the young minds that have been entrusted to them. By continuing this behavior they encourage our enemies to push a little harder, to continue the march and to continue with terrorism since it is now justified. Although I have great respect for institutions of higher learning and those who pass-on wisdom & knowledge, it is a well known fact that full-time professors, like anyone else who inhabits institutional life, are themselves influenced by the world they live in-- Institutionalized. Their career path involves getting good grades throughout school then in University and then Graduate School, yet many times they have little to do in the real world (generally speaking). But they should never forget that they have a huge Responsibility to the Nation that gives them this trust and opportunity. There is a balance to be found, which is possessed by many superlative professors such as Dr. Daniel Pipes who has also been working in the real world, our world. He is the kind of professor that delivers the Reality Check that we deserve from all of our intellectuals. Also, we should look at the process of how these professors came to be in control? We have spent the last 30 years crucifying our hawks, making examples of anyone who might say a harsh word or a constructive word about any other culture, so it stands to reason that, almost entirely, the only voices that still exist are those of appeasement. This, in itself is unbalanced and seen as a weakness by those who would like to destroy us. The shame is that people are too afraid to speak out or they have already been discredited. Now, we need these strong men and women; we need them in this fight. Simply, do you shoot your dog so that no one else gets bitten if your dog bites the robber that breaks into your home?? The pendulum has indeed swung too far to the left in some institutions. I suggest that the paradigm of the pendulum should now be that if it swings too far to the left that ultimately it will continue to swing completely around and over the top to the far right, which would be to just give in to the tyrants of the real world who are far right like in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, N. Korea & Uganda among others. Perhaps these professors should be required to spend their Sabbatical in one of these countries before making infantile statements. Then they would truely know what tyranical dictatorships are all about. Kind regards, RM Paine Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". << Previous Comment Next Comment >> Reader comments (124) on this item
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