Jeffrey Nielsen, a philosophy instructor at Brigham Young University, published
this opinion piece supporting gay marriage in the Salt Lake Tribune earlier this month. As a result, he was
fired from the university.
Details below the fold.
Nielsen's op-ed piece is quite good and worth a read. He's a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, but he also seems to be a true religious man, as opposed to those who follow religion's teaching only to the point of intersection with one's prejudices. He writes,
Currently the preponderance of scientific research strongly suggests that same-sex attraction is biologically based. Therefore, it is as natural as a heterosexual orientation, even if rare.
...
Truly, God would be unjust if He were the creator of a biological process that produced such uncommon, yet perfectly natural results, and then condemned the innocent person to a life of guilt, while denying him or her the ordinary privileges and fulfillment of the deep longing in all of us for family and a committed, loving relationship.
Even if the scientific evidence does not yet establish this beyond reasonable doubt, it seems that virtuous moderation and loving kindness require us to exercise caution before making constitutionally binding discrimination against a whole class of people based only on fear and superstition. In fact, when we examine the statements opposing gay marriage, we find few reasonable arguments. It is not enough to claim that we should oppose gay marriage because historically it has never been recognized. This is the fallacy of appealing to tradition, which was also used to fight against civil rights and equal treatment of women.
He even calls his church on a bit of hypocracy which I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere:
As for the statement by church leaders that God has ordained marriage to be a union between a man and a woman, I find it quite troubling. It sidesteps the role of polygamy in past and future church teachings. It seems to me that if church leaders at one point in time, not very long ago, told members that the union of one man with several women was important for eternal salvation, but now leads them to believe that God only recognizes the union of one man to one woman, then some explanation is required.
(He does state that he does not endorse polygamy.)
For this, however, his department chair decided to fire him. As Utah's Daily Herald reports,
Jeffrey Nielsen, a philosophy instructor, said in an op-ed piece for the June 4 edition of The Salt Lake Tribune, "I believe opposing gay marriage and seeking a constitutional amendment against it is immoral."
Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have spent millions of dollars campaigning against gay marriage and on May 28 called on members to support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Nielsen, a Mormon, said he learned of the school's decision regarding him in a June 8 letter from Daniel Graham, chairman of the Department of Philosophy.
"In accordance with the order of the church, we do not consider it our responsibility to correct, contradict or dismiss official pronouncements of the church," the letter said.
"Since you have chosen to contradict and oppose the church in an area of great concern to church leaders, and to do so in a public forum, we will not rehire you after the current term is over," the letter said.
Nielsen states that he plans on remaining in the church, and I can only admire his bravery. As an Inside Higher Ed article states:
He figured the piece would cause a stir, but he maintains he was making a political statement, not attacking church theology. "I thought they'd talk to me about the issues," Nielsen said in an interview Wednesday. "I didn't think they would let me go. They have every right to do that, but I think it was the wrong decision. It will breed a culture of fear and uncertainty. Academic institutions shouldn't restrict honest opinion and the pursuit of truth."
It was clearly Nielsen's department chair to did the firing, but you can be sure that the upper administration brought the op-ed column to the chair's attention and likely asked that action be taken. Is such a dismissal within BYU's rights? It seems so. They are under no obligation to rehire non-tenured faculty, and I doubt that Utah has anti-discrimination laws that are liberal enough to protect Nielsen from the reason stated in the letter for his firing. And BYU's statement on academic freedom seems to only guarantee such privelige for "those who have embraced the gospel" as their church leaders define it.
But speaking as an academic myself, this makes BYU look really bad. Allowing faculty to be fired because of controversial views means that you're not really a university, that debate, discussion, and open scholarship are not really part of your mission. It's a pretty big deal.
Please join me in commending Jeffery Nielsen for standing up to his beliefs, as a caring human being as well as a religious man, against the tyranny of ignorance. (His email address is currently still on the BYU Philosophy Department's home page, under "Part Time Faculty".)