Blog For Arizona

Ward Churchill Resigns from Administrative post at Colorado University

Ward Churchill Resigned his administrative post at University of Colorado at Boulder but he remains a professor at the institution. His resignation comes amid furor surrounding a essay he wrote in which he questioned the innocence of the victims of 9/11, called "Some People Push Back". Churchill pointed out how U.S. foriegn policy in the Middle East, especially Israel and the occupied territories, contributed to motivations of the terrorists.

Many are upset by Churchill's ideas, so much so that they denounce him as a terrorist sympathizer. Gov. George Pataki of New York, who came to the controversy because of a speaking engagement of Churchill's in New York state university, said of Churchill, "There's a difference between freedom of speech and inviting a bigoted terrorist supporter.'' Isn't it interesting how self-characterization always creeps into one's own worst accusations? A 'bigot' is one who is unreasonably intolerant of opinions and viewpoints different that their own. Intolerance does not consist of simply publishing your viewpoint. It does consist in trying to supress and demonize and silence views other than your own. In this, Pataki and the Right Wing work-horses such as O'Reilly, truly satisfy the definition of bigotry.

I don't agree with everything Churchill says, but his view is a useful and relevant one that the American public would do well to wrestle with rather than just suppress and punish.

posted by Michael Bryan @ 2/01/2005 08:07:00 PM