Both sides agree that Dr. Gaskell, 57, was invited to the university, in Lexington, for a job interview. In his lawsuit, he says that at the end of the interview, Michael Cavagnero, the chairman of the physics and astronomy department, asked about his religious beliefs.
“Cavagnero stated that he had personally researched Gaskell’s religious beliefs,” the lawsuit says. According to Dr. Gaskell, the chairman said Dr. Gaskell’s religious beliefs and his “expression of them would be a matter of concern” to the dean.
Good grief. In the land of the not so brave and no longer free!!
And they just banned Santa in Minnesota.
http://patdollard.com/2010/12/hostile-invader-muslims-get-santa-claus-banned-in-minnesota/
He should have told them he’s a GLBT Wikken turned Warlock.
He’s be in like Flint.
I did a quick internet check of this gentleman as well. His research and credentials are impressive. I could not detect any evidence that his religious beliefs would dilute or distort his science. I skimmed one article where he discusses religion and science. He pointed out that many scientists do not have a problem with believing in a god and also in their field of work. Einstein, while not supporting any particular religion, supposed some sort of master designer–probably not a being but a set of rules so masterfully developed that the mind of a human could not encompass it. (That’s my drive-by interpretation likely far too hasty and shallow.) I was prepared to learn that Mr. Gaskell was some sort of religious nut who would be unsuitable in the position he applied for. I found the opposite. I hope he wins.
There are many other fields where I am concerned about how religion impacts on the ability of a person to carry out his/her duties. The recent article about the Muslim woman who was hired to work in the prison system, but needed all sorts of accommodation to prevent her from contact with males, was just one example. A backwards example was (I believe in Quebec) where female police officers were advised not to deal with male Muslim offenders–that they would not be accorded respect due to their job. Instead of being supported in their work, they were being advised to bow down to so-called religious and cultural beliefs.
All this to say that I think the fact that a scientist is willing to write about and discuss the role of religion and faith in scientific work is not something to fear, but something to examine and consider–just as one would read any published work by a scientist. It can be discussed, considered, argued, rejected, etc. Unless it impacts on his work and the man starts teaching astrology as if it is fact, it should have no bearing on whether he’s hired or not.
Interesting…. I just watched Ben Stein’s film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed on Netflix. It discusses this exact problem. It is endemic to today’s academia…and any who don’t embrace the liberal dogma are ostracized.
“whether certain religious beliefs may legally render people unfit for certain jobs”
I WAS going to mention the Muslim female prison guard,but rita beat me to it.
So,again, we pander to loud bullying minorities while cheating one of our own, by which I mean one of the founding faiths of this Country and the U.S.
I’m sure this has more to do with him being Christian than anything else. Could you imagine this happening if her were Jewish, Muslim, or any other?
And the ACLU will get involved, for sure, in 3..2..1..
“And the ACLU will get involved, for sure, in 3..2..1..
Posted by: Karthanon at December 20, 2010 12:14 PM”
You can bet they would if he were a Muslim, or an athiest…for a Christian or a Jew, I’m not so sure.
Ha, Santa shot down in flames over Minnesota?
Must have been one of those stray qassam rockets…
Cancel Christmas, instead we’ll have a Requiem Mass. Oh you can’t discuss Easter either as that might upset the rabbit brains.
Cue up, Donner und Blitzen (Thunder & Lightning)as that might improve the thinking in said Physics department.
Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Secular heresy! Denounce the anti-apostates!
Freedom of religion you say, what pray tell it that?
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Send your children to Hillsdale College.
If it were not so sad it would be funny. After all consider the fact that majority of university professors impose their religious beliefs on their students. Which religious beliefs, you ask. I refer to the leftist, brainless ideology, which has all the necessary tenets of a religion.
Ah..the word believe should give a clue. Science is the best conclusion that agrees with the facts. The other is belief. To me there are distinct differences. One on fact the other not. Kind of like the beliefs of the left aren’t based on facts. Hope he wins the case.
I hope he takes them to the cleaners, the Progressive Humanists are zealots and bigots how’s that for sterio-typing leftards?
If only he had said Gaia instead of God. He should win his discrimination lawsuit but in our crazy world I wouldn’t want to bet on it.
For example, I was reading an article at Pajamas Media about Columbia University and its state-approved abuse of eminent domain laws.
http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/111402/
The real kicker is that the university is using the government to seize land from an Indian immigrants. Yet another fine example of the caring left protecting minorities and the disadvantaged.
“The family said that one Columbia official in particular, Philip Silverman, the university’s vice president for real estate, had been “disrespectful” toward them. They said Mr. Silverman told them the state would simply take their property if they refused to sell”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/nyregion/21gas.html
The universities of today have nothing on the Inquisition except outright murder.
They ban pro-life DR’s or nurses.
To be in collage today one must be ideologically pure socialist. That or your blacklisted.
As for Religion these folks actually believe anyone who believes in a God is mad or an imbecile.
So much for freedom of thought.
Little Dhimmis all in a row , bleating teachers fantasies like brained goats.
University is now where the stupid go to become tomorrows bullies & bigots.
JMO
the link within the link:
http://creationmuseum.org/
kids romping with dinosaurs? these people are kookoo.
when religionists finger point at other religionists and claim with a frenzy, ‘they’re all wrong we are the only right ones’, the part they ALL get right is the thing about how all the *rest* of them are wrong.
I betcha there’s sumptin in the bible about all this.
did I mention I got a scripture ref. tattooed on my right thigh? look it up; Mt 5:9
For this kind of hard sciences job, it really does matter that you can “think properly”; one must be able exercise the scientific method honestly and accept given conclusions where thoroughly evident, even if the conclusions are ideologically undesirable. You don’t do that, you don’t get truth — simple. You don’t get planes, trains, automobiles, space shuttles and all the rest. What I’m saying is, if the methodology underpinning some of this man’s work is the product of religious dogma instead of the scientific method, then the university might have a case in finding him unfit for the position.
If, however, he is an intellectually honest scientist who just happens to profess a Christian faith (and there are a good number of those), he should win the suit handily. I do agree with the aforementioned: Christians are the #1 target of this kind of academic abuse where it occurs, and the eco-femi-leftist dogma permeating the humanities, social science, and “environmental science” is never, ever, identified by the selfsame inquisitors.
Corollary: will the closet conservative academics ever address this disgusting situation? You know, the people who managed to slip through the Marxist vetting process and are in tenured hiding throughout academia; I swear they really do exist, if only in private conversation. We needed you guys to start speaking up and taking leadership positions 30 years ago. Now, thanks to your cowardice, young arts guys like me can’t get into grad school without offering up their self-extracted scrota as proof of perpetual white male penitence.
beagle, did you even bother to skim the article?
Cross post by me, from Reader Tips today:
__________________________
At:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/
“Barak Obama’s Department of Selective Justice
“We are a few days late, but it is worth noting this editorial by Investors Business Daily on the Obama Justice Department’s selective enforcement of the laws:
“‘On Monday, Justice sued an Illinois school district for rejecting a Muslim teacher’s request to take a three-week leave of absence to travel to Mecca. The suit claims that the Berkeley School District discriminated against middle-school instructor Safoorah Khan, whose religion “required” her to perform the hajj, and is seeking damages for this so-called victim . . .'”
Fox News is covering this travesty.
____________________________________
As for me, at work, I generally keep my head down and my mouth closed re my Christian beliefs: rather than assess the high standard of my professional contributions, board equity (sic: only certain groups are protected) policies—encoded about a dozen years ago—c/would be used to marginalize/demonize me and send me packing.
Of course, one of the protected groups is the Muslims. Can one imagine Holder’s Justice (sic) Department—or any public board in Canada—supporting a Catholic Christian teacher’s three week absence from the class, in order to attend, let’s say, the beatification of John Henry, Cardinal Newman this past September in England? Only in one’s dreams.
(rita: “Unless it [his evangelical Christian belief] impacts on his work and the man starts teaching astrology as if it is fact, it should have no bearing on whether he’s hired or not.” Yes, I altogether agree. However, a clarification here: observant Christians consider astrology to be occult, so the fear of this professor teaching such a thing goes from remote to not going to happen. However, all kinds of lefty professors teach the occult—e.g., Gaia worship—all the time. Fred here’s got it: “He [Gaskell]should have told them he’s a GLBT Wikken turned Warlock”!)
The double standard sickens me. God bless Dr. Gaskell and I hope he wins his case.
lookout–re: astrology. I couldn’t come up with a decent example so I chose the astrology/astronomy comparison. You’re absolutely right that many dubious beliefs are being taught as “facts” and few people think to challenge them if they’re in the guise of “caring for the earth” etc.
There are many things that are promoted to re-engineer society which are dubious. I’m not too happy with what is being done to our boys in school. There was a time when kids who used their left hand to write with were “corrected”. This actually caused some damage to their learning abilities. Now that we know better, we accept both left and right hand dominance. I wonder if a generation or two from now, we will similarly mourn what we have done to correct our boys to make them more acceptable to the “fem” view of the world.
The previous is perhaps a little off topic, but in a way, I see these as being connected. There are all sorts of busybodies out there trying to impose a particular “right” way of thinking even when it contradicts reality and common sense. To skewer this professor, whose professional credentials seemed impeccable, because he also wrote and thought about faith and religion, seems part of this. The man also composes classical music. I suppose that would disqualify him too.
And the ACLU will get involved, for sure, in 3..2..1..
I’m not holding my breath!
The religion of hate and intolerance of Christianity seems to be the sole religion allowed on University campus’s these days.
This is a common occurence and was covered a few years ago in the movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” with Ben Stein.
rita, I’m with you on all you’ve said here: reality and common sense are under severe attack. To say that this is unsettling would be an understatement.
With every best wish of this holy season.
Of course, if he were a Fundamentalist Muslim, you’d be cheering for the university.
If you’re stupid enough to believe that Adam and Eve had a pet velociraptor, you have no business teaching at a university, in any scientific field. Unfortunately, in this case, the university seems to have overreacted. The guy doesn’t dismiss evolutionary theory – he just tries to retroactively make scientific discoveries fit his big book of multiple choice. While such pursuits are rather eccentric, he’s far from the worst offender in academia.
That said, there certainly is a case to be made that certain beliefs are unacceptable in people whom we entrust with the responsibility of educating future generations. Even Bringham Young University had the common sense to get rid of Steven Jones after he started coming out with his insane 9/11 theories – there’s absolutely no reason why similarly crazy beliefs should be tolerated just because they happen to fall into the “religion” category.
Alex said: “…there certainly is a case to be made that certain beliefs are unacceptable in people whom we entrust with the responsibility of educating future generations.”
Sure. Communism, for example. 100 million dead and counting…
“Of course, if he were a Fundamentalist Muslim, you’d be cheering for the university.”
Nope. Freedom of religion doesn’t come in flavors. You are either free, or you’re not. Currently Christians are not, and this is just more proof.
Now, if the university fired a Muslim fundy for demanding female students wear burkhas in his class or refusing to teach women at all, -then- I’d be cheering the uni. Women are either free or they’re not.
Why is this hard for you to understand Alex? You’ve been told time and again, but it never seems to penetrate into your tiny tiny brain case.
Go find some actual racists why don’t you? I hear Rabble is a great spot to troll for anti-Semites. And the swearing is much filthier too.
“Sure. Communism, for example. 100 million dead and counting…”
Sure. We could go on for days listing all the types of insanity that should make someone ineligible to hold such a position.
“Nope. Freedom of religion doesn’t come in flavors.”
Well I’m happy that you feel that way, but my comment obviously wasn’t directed at you. Given the response around here to things like the “ground zero mosque”, I’d say you’re in the minority.
“Why is this hard for you to understand Alex? You’ve been told time and again, but it never seems to penetrate into your tiny tiny brain case.”
I have no idea WTF you’re talking about, but if slinging insults makes you feel like a man, fill your boots!
Alex – the truth is that evolution still remains a theory. Adaptation is not evolution it is adaptation. Evolution means a change from one species to another completely different species. Fish to birds and that sort of thing, and to date, there is no proof whatsoever of this having occurred.
Beagle – all religions can not be right as they have irreconcilable and diametrically opposing theologies and viewpoints.
Since it appears that you are undecided, it would make sense to choose Christianity simply because if, as some believe, all paths lead to heaven, God, the Creator, Eternal Life then as a Christian your in; however, if Christianity is the only way to the Father as Jesus Christ repeatedly indicated then you’re also in. Christianity is the only win win choice out there.
“the truth is that evolution still remains a theory”
I can always count on the SDA crew to cheer me up 😀 Thanks!
Love your modification of Pascal’s Wager, too; I didn’t think it was possible to get any more convoluted and the ridiculous than the original, but you did it!
Activist atheism festers on. Why am I not surprised to find militant atheism at a university.
Diversity in everything but speech and ideas.
One could suppose that Pascal’s wager could be stated: when you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by choosing to live according to a particular belief set, then go for it.
Right. And when you start off with multiple flawed premises, your conclusion will be laughably wrong regardless of how logical your reasoning may seem.