I just saw this little gem in, of all places, the
campus newspaper:
Republicans on the House Choice and Innovations Committee voted along party lines Tuesday to pass a bill that aims to stamp out "leftist totalitarianism" by "dictator professors" in the classrooms of Florida's universities.
The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, passed 8-to-2 despite strenuous objections from the only two Democrats on the committee.
More below the fold...
For any of you legal eagles that want to take a look at the bill itself, it can be viewed
here.
The most galling thing to me about this is that fact that it's meant as an outright attack on liberals. The concept of a CONSERVATIVE totalitarian professor doesn't seem to bother the good Mr. Baxley enough to warrant a mention. Not only can a student sue if they feel punished for disagreeing with what their professors teach, but the professors themselves will apparently be required to teach curriculum that they disagree with, so long as someone else considers it a "serious academic theory".
"Some professors say, 'Evolution is a fact. I don't want to hear about Intelligent Design (a creationist theory) and if you don't like it, there's the door.'" Baxley said, citing one example when he thought a student should sue.
Creationist theories fall into the realm of Theology!! Theology is not a legitimate branch of the sciences!! It has no place being discussed in a science class, especially against the will of the teacher!! Argh!!!
"Similar suits could be filed by students who don't believe astronauts landed on the moon, who believe teaching birth control is a sin or even by Shands (a teaching hospital) medical students who refuse to perform blood transfusions and believe prayer is the only way to heal the body, (Rep. Dan) Gelber added."
The bill has to pass two more committees before it gets looked at by the entire House of Representatives. The State apparently thinks it has a right to interfere in academic matters because it gives the Universities money. There is little chance of Baxley backing off of this bill...
In an interview before the meeting, Baxley said "arrogant, elitist academics are swarming" to oppose the bill, and media reports misrepresented his intentions. "I expect to be out there pretty far," he said. "I don't expect to be part of a team."
In the end, I like to think that this bill has little chance of passing. Parts of the state are quite red, but I think we're too purple overall for them to get away with this. Is this just posturing to tie into the likes of the Terri Schiavo posturing being done on a federal level? Why is the right seemingly pushing so hard to fire up their fundie base? I worry that actions like this do not bode well for the future, and I worry more about the Right's master plan.