This Is Liberty?

While many others have already commented on the bigotry that is alive and well at the dead Jerry Falwell's Liberty University most recently evidenced by the university's decision to ban the college Democrat club from the list of allowed student organizations, I decided to throw in my two cents nonetheless. Why? Because the lunacy at Liberty University and other Christianists confabs in Virginia (e.g., Regent University, The Arlington Group, The Family Foundation) is a blight on the Commonwealth and represents the forces that keep Virginia from reaching its full potential as they struggle to keep the state in firmly the 19th century. True, there are some rational people at such universities, but increasingly they are the America equivalent of the Islamic madrases in the Middle East where religious extremism and the hatred of other citizens is instilled. They are the antithesis of the enlightenment of Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers from Virginia. Here are some highlights from a Washington Post editorial:

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YOU CAN be a Democrat at Liberty University as long as you don't support Barack Obama. Or Virginia Rep. Tom Perriello. Or any other candidate who so much as hints at supporting abortion rights or same-sex marriage. That, at least, seems to be the message Liberty University sent when it withdrew its recognition of the campus Democratic group as an official club. The students' offense was not that they spoke out in favor of abortion or gay marriage but that they supported candidates who do.

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Mathew D. Staver, dean of the university's school of law, [said] "they did not live up to their statements." Mr. Staver acknowledged to us that club members never vocalized support for abortion or gay rights. Rather, he said, they were "advocating positions for individual candidates that clearly promoted abortion." Mr. Staver emphasized that campus Democrats won't face sanctions and will still be able to meet on campus; they just won't be able to use the university's name or receive school funds.

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Student Brian Diaz, president of the campus Democrats, counters that the club's constitution, which he says was approved by the university, gave members the latitude to endorse candidates. (The campus Republicans also make endorsements.) . . . . Why recognize a club for campus Democrats but not allow it to actually support Democrats, including the president of the United States? Universities should facilitate healthy exchanges of ideas, not fear them.