QOTD: Ben Carson
by digby
No he didn’t evoke Hitler or slavery. More like Stalin:
CARSON: The way that works is you invite students at the universities to send in their complaints, and then you investigate. For instance, there was a university – I’m sure you’ve heard of the situation – where, you know, the professor told everybody, “Take out a piece of paper and write the name ‘Jesus’ on it. Put in on the floor and stomp on it.” And one student refused to do that and was disciplined severely. You know, he subsequently was able to be reinstated–
TODD: We’re not violating the First Amendment? How is what you’re advocating not a violation of the First Amendment?
CARSON: It’s not a violation of the First Amendment, because all I’m saying is taxpayer funding should not be used for propaganda. It shouldn’t be.
Reminded that Carson’s definition of “propaganda” might look like “free speech” to others, the Republican replied, in a bit of a non-sequitur, “Well, that’s why I said we’re going to have the students send in. And we will investigate.”
This is what happens when the only “news” you pay attention to is talk radio and Brietbart.
Here’s the real “stomping on Jesus” story:
In February 2013, an adjunct instructor at Florida Atlantic University did in fact ask students in his intercultural communications to write the name “Jesus” on a piece of paper and to stomp on it. When a student complained, politicians (including a future Republican presidential candidate, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio) immediately demanded to know what was going on, and many insisted that that adjunct be fired.
But as the university investigated the incident, it revealed that the exercise is from a widely used textbook, and that the point is that students hesitate to actually stand on the piece of paper, and this leads to a discussion of the power of certain words and the way that power is based on cultural values. The university also stated repeatedly that the student who complained was reprimanded for how he treated the instructor, not for objecting to the lesson.
I think what makes carson so appealing, aside from his calm reassuring doctor voice, is that he is so matter of fact about all this stuff. It’s just objective truth as far as he’s concerned, nothing controversial about it. The people who follow him think that way too and cannot understand why anyone thinks there should be an objection. of course you should use the government to investigate schools that have their students stomp on Jesus. What else is government for if not to prevent people from committing sacrilege?