Christians have been persecuted for their faith.
Sadly, Christians have also persecuted others.
It is sad when anybody attacks people, instead of of dealing with their ideas.
The Texas Education Agency may have forced Chris Comer, the director of science curriculum, to resign for holding anti-intelligent design views or for promoting an event with philosopher Barbara Forrest.
If true, Christians should protest Comer’s dismissal.
It is hard to verify the details of this story as is often the case in such a politically and ideologically charged environment.
However, if it is the case that Comer was released for her views or for sending out an email promoting a scholarly lecture, then this is wrong.
Period.
There is no justification for a state agency engaging in view point discrimination of this sort.
The hard won lesson of Church history is that the Faith is not served by closing off discussion. The truth will triumph in an open marketplace and does not need coercion or a closed system to flourish.
Religious communities, of course, can and should act as places of thoughtful reflection where broad agreement allows for the development of minority ideas.
A state agency is not such a place.
It is particularly harmful to terminate an employee for holding a view that is the majority opinion of those in the discipline. This smacks of a populism that is fearful and uses a popular majority (in a place like Texas) to win when it fears it does not have the ideas to win the appropriate intellectual battles.
I would be eager to dialog with a scholar like Forrest. There is nothing for a traditional theist to fear in her work. We should encourage interactions with her ideas, not discourage them.
I am always eager for students to read Forrest, since the outcome (in my experience) has been very positive for intelligent design ideas or for creationism.
I am happy to support Comer’s right to her views. I only wish Forrest would, herself, adopt a more Socratic tone with her opponents!
I know Forrest has irritated many academics (Christian and non-Christian) with her polemical tone. It does not matter.
The religion of the Golden Rule should know that!
In this context Forrest’s philosophical temperament is beside the point: it is Comer who has lost her position and nothing outrageous or ill tempered Forrest has or will say can justify that outcome.
An action such as firing a person for promoting a philosophical talk manages to be morally repugnant and pragmatically stupid simultaneously.
Let’s support the spirit of Socrates and Jesus Christ and push for an open market place of ideas in our states!