Find an anti-Semite;
During the past 24 hours, a controversy has erupted over the comments of York University Assistant Professor Cameron Johnston who stated in his class that “Jews need to be sterilized.” York University has evolved into a campus that tolerates anti semitism. It is within this climate that a Professor was able to utter such vile hate.
Update – Prof responds;
Johnston was giving his introductory lecture to Social Sciences 1140: “Self, Culture and Society,” when he explained to the nearly 500 students that the course was going to focus on texts, not opinions, and despite what they may have heard elsewhere, everyone is not entitled to their opinion.
“All Jews should be sterilized” would be an example of an unacceptable and dangerous opinion, Johnston told the students.
He didn’t notice Sarah Grunfeld storm out. Grunfeld, a 22-year-old in her final year at York, understood Johnston’s example to be his personal opinion.
That’s not really what happened, though.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1053247–jewish-prof-forced-to-defend-himself-against-anti-semitism-claims?bn=1
Yes, this appears to be a case of overreaction to a professor — who is himself Jewish — using a deliberately provocative example in order to make a point.
Ironically, if he wanted to say some opinions should not be tolerated, he got the exact (censorious) response he was angling for. Wonder if he feels any different now? Maybe that Free Speech thing IS a good idea…
Indeed that description of “a campus that tolerates anti semitism” is incorrect.
It should read “a campus and faculty that actively PROMOTES the anti-semitic form of racism”.
Regardless; York University please stop sending me information as a screen for requesting a donation.
I have no idea how I came to be on your scour list unless it was by purchasing a charitable donation list. Thank you;
For once it would be nice to see action that didn’t involve censorship. I’m sick of profs running every word through the PC filter. If you want a situation where profs are free to say that Islam is militant or homosexuality is behavioral, then deal with the fact that sometimes profs will say that Jews are bad. Profs routinely say all kinds of ridiculous offensive things, this is no different. Somehow I doubt pogroms will sweep across Canada unless this prof’s speech is curtailed.
So even though she wasn’t paying attention in class the Prof ends up paying a high price for her ignorance. I wonder if she or her parents consider her tuition money well spent. Personally I’d consider it flushed.
an app for all. or some.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20110914/jewish-iphone-ap-110914/
But I’m sure he would still claim that ‘conservatives are the nazis/fascists.’
From what I understand of the story, the professor was attempting to give an example of an opinion that was not worthy of being an opinion. From my understanding of the story the statement was taken entirely out of context.
York is a cesspool when it comes to anti-semitism, but this I do not believe was an example.
response from the prof, “I pointed out that everyone is not entitled to their opinion by giving the example of someone having an anti-semitic opinion which is clearly not acceptable. This was an example of the fact that opinions can be dangerous and that none of us really do believe that all opinions are acceptable.”
Regardless of what exactly this professor said, the truth is that most universities are filled with Jew haters, family haters, conservative haters, oil sands haters, etc. etc.
Whereas universities once used to be bastions of *free* thought, their thoughts and ideas are now entirely *predictable*.
@northbaytrapper
Well I guess he proved his point..
Why would a professor of some 30 years find it necessary to announce to his class that the belief that all Jews should be sterilized is “not acceptable”; that it’s an opinion his students are not entitled to, or at least not entitled to express in his class?
Rather revealing, no?
Lifted from Blazing Cat Fur:
Statement from Professor Cameron Johnston
September 13, 2011
“In lecture, I discussed that the course focuses on the texts and not “opinions”. In fact, I stated that for this course opinions are not relevant and I questioned the common idea that everyone is entitled to their opinion.
I pointed out that everyone is not entitled to their opinion by giving the example of someone having an anti-semitic opinion which is clearly not acceptable. This was an example of the fact that opinions can be dangerous and that none of us really do believe that all opinions are acceptable.
For the record, I am also Jewish which undoubtedly influenced my choice of this example of a reprehensible opinion.
Regards,
Cameron Johnston
It sounds to me as if he was simply trying to provoke his students into questioning their p.c. assumptions that everyone’s ideas are compatible. Unless he’s lying, ms. Grunfeld simply didn’t understand what has going on, and now she’s too embarrassed to admit it.
“Grunfeld said Tuesday she may have misunderstood the context and intent of Johnston’s remarks, but that fact is insignificant.
“The words, ‘Jews should be sterilized’ still came out of his mouth, so regardless of the context I still think that’s pretty serious.”
Ridiculous. The student should have the grace to admit she wasn’t paying attention,and was simply wrong.
So, in Ms.Grunfeld’s opinion,if I testify that a certain person said something obnoxious,and I quote that person verbatim,I’m as guilty as the person who said it?
Remind me not to drink beer with David Ahenakew.
Fearless Professor teaching his charges history that some racism is normal and should make you feel good.
Da Jooos have been a source of hatred in the Middle East ever since their Exodus from those fun loving and thought provocation concentration camps.
Just think of all the misery 6 million deaths caused the German people.
Think of all the burdens and mental stress passed on to the next generations.
Now we are being taught that Da Jooos instigated the World Trade Center attacks so Bush would help them fight poor, disfranchised, home loving, suicide bombers in desperate need of their own state.
Good Luck Professor,
PS:
never forget that history has also proved the American Indians got what they deserved…
So he voices his opinion that “everyone is not entitled to their opinion” and is pilloried. I’m reminded of a Chinese proverb…
What his comment was, in actual text, is irrelevent. What the real issue of his class is (and he might not get this), his opinion that people should not be entitled to have the opinion “that jews should be sterilized”. He is, in effect, saying that opinions should be regulated, which would then mean it would be appropriate to say that he is not entitled to have the opinion that people should not have the opinion he thinks is not a “correct” opinion. The karma of freedom is a b*tch.
Can you imagine if he has used a different example . .
All muslims should be sterilized.
All progressives should be sterilized.
All union members should be sterilized.
All LPC members should be sterilized.
All Global Warming Hysterics should be sterilized.
Take your pick and imagine the howling from CBC et al.
You’ve got to wonder what kind of mark Ms. Grunfeld can expect come finals.
A mess no matter which way you cut it.
I took him him as saying he was focussing on facts not opinions and certainly not opinions that have no connection facts or reality.
Student is wrong and shuld apologize.
But York is still a fetid swamp of anti semitism and far left thought. So I understand why the student might have been prepared for what she thought she understood.
I believe that not all cultures are equal. I’m quite prepared to say that western civilizations are more enlightened than those in Iraq, Libya and Somalia. The professor was saying that some opinions do not deserve to be given the same respect as other opinions. Opinions are not neutral. Some of them are just plain wrong. He got into trouble because one student with the attention span of gnat didn’t take the trouble to understand what was being said and is unable to admit it. His fault was to overestimate the capacity of his audience to listen and understand.
Sikp @12:46 – “He is, in effect, saying that opinions should be regulated…”
Is he? Maybe. Maybe he’s saying that the attitude: “Whatever. I respect everyone’s opinion ’cause all opinions are equal” is lazy. At any rate, he doesn’t seem to have been saying that Jews actually ought to be sterilized.
@Fred – nice point.
@Fearless Leader – you know, I never thought about the beauty of the concentration camps’ ability to nurture the Jewish intellect! All that time, precious sweet free time to do nothing except ponder the great questions of humanity…in between digging mass graves to bury your family in…we ought to thank the Nazis for the creation of these wellsprings of creativity and achievement! 😉
Now, if the Joooos would just get off their high horse about their attempted extermination, which happened during my parents’ lifetime…
The Professor is wrong. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. They may be horrendous opinions but they are entitled to them. The freedom to express such opinions is sacred if one values liberty. Skip is correct, this professor undoubtedly supports HRCs and their intrusive thought control attempts. If a horrendous opinion is banned from the scrutiny of debate and ridicule, there is no venue for free inquiry. Such an atmosphere is more conducive to grazing cattle than human thought.
Skip: When one says “Opinion X should not be tolerated”, one is not automatically saying “The State should punish people who hold X”.
(One can mean that, and various people have, but in what the Professor has actually said here, I see no evidence of that position.)
One is quite capable of meaning, by that utterance, only that “individuals should not tolerate those who hold opinion X, and should express their disgust with them”.
I see no reason, indeed, why individuals should need to tolerate opinions like that, at all.
Skip said: “What the real issue of his class is (and he might not get this), his opinion that people should not be entitled to have the opinion “that jews should be sterilized”.”
Well, no not really. To wit: ““All Jews should be sterilized” would be an example of an unacceptable and dangerous opinion.”
Unacceptable and dangerous is not the same as “illegal”. Its entirely within the proper bounds of free discourse to browbeat people who have unacceptable and/or idiotic opinions and beliefs. We do it here all the time. In fact its pretty much -all- we do, and a fine time is had by everybody.
“All cultures are equally valid” is another example of an unacceptable and dangerous idea we love to scream at people over. “Opinions should be regulated” is another, etc.
northbaytrapper at 10:52 AM: “response from the prof, ‘I pointed out that everyone is not entitled to their opinion by giving the example of someone having an anti-semitic opinion which is clearly not acceptable. This was an example of the fact that opinions can be dangerous and that none of us really do believe that all opinions are acceptable.’”
The professor, IMO, has it exactly wrong. (He does work at York!)
Re free speech, YES, “everyone IS . . . entitled to their opinion”, EVEN IF it’s not acceptable. E.g., How would homosexual activists have ever got their agenda fully approved and state-paid-for if their previously unacceptable ideas were never allowed to be spoken? (Now, they’re never allowed to be criticized!)
As Ezra, Mark Steyn, and folks like us believe, one fights bad ideas with good ones. As we know, the good ideas are now often considered “bad”. That’s why all opinions need to be able to see the light of day. A good dose of sunlight goes a long way to exposing the dark rot of so much politically correct garbage.
Re the inattentive and entitled—too usual—young person who reached the wrong conclusion. God help us.
What a non-story! What a waste of newsprint and cyber-space! The student, who is LEARNING, should learn to pay attention, learn from her mistake, aplologize to Prof Johnson and move on….
This student should apologize to the professor. Further, I have read on the internet that
“Grunfeld said Tuesday she may have misunderstood the context and intent of Johnston’s remarks, but that fact is insignificant.“The words, ‘Jews should be sterilized’ still came out of his mouth, so regardless of the context I still think that’s pretty serious.” Grunfeld also expressed skepticism that Johnston was in fact Jewish.”
I she really had this kind of reaction she should fail the course. It shows that her preconceptions are stronger then the reality.
Myself I think that everybody is entitled to their opinions although some opinions are not acceptable, are dangerous and all opinions are not equal.
I agree with Stephan @ 1:11pm, The prof was trying (In my opinion:-) to tell his class that the course will deal with text and fact not opinions (or internet virals).
The fact that the student even doubts the prof when he says he is Jewish speaks volumes about her. Of course being a Social Sciences senior could explain her preconceived state of mind. I’m amazed that the race card hasn’t been used yet.
What tj said @ 11:08 and stephen said @ 1:11.
Many university disciplines have become bastions of Marxist brainwashing. We have seen many examples of this in the media in recent years. One of my son-in-laws, who recently graduated with a BEd a couple of years ago, had to deal with this during his studies.
Professor Johnston stirred the pot…..big time!
He could’ve used a different, less inflammatory statement as an example. But he didn’t.
It will be interesting to see what else comes out of his mouth during the course term.
In high school I had a Jesuit priest who told us essentially the same thing on day one of class, i.e., not all opinions are created equal, and opinions based on no facts and poor reasoning will not be taken seriously. A worthy point, and I don’t understand the objections to what this prof did. I am reminded of what a really stupid student is, however, from reading this story.
+1 for tj, stephen, and Ken. That prof was a frigging fool and said something he surely knew wouldn’t be inflammatory to a great many – majority I’d bet – of his students.
It is a well known fact that York Univ tolerates anti-semitism. Do they get funding from the Govt of Canada? (us) Why? I seems to me our Govt is carrying a big stick….it is about time they used it!
Just goes to show how subjective the issue of free speech really is — which is as it should be. Bringing in “authorities” to objectively arbitrate what is or what is not offensive is impossible because everything is potentially offensive to a generation that has been acculturated into hyper-sensitivity and suffers from acute thin-skinneditis.
As far as the Prof goes, I think he had the right to say “shut up, I’m not interested in your opinion — stick to the texts”. When I was in U the Profs used to say the same thing to us, “shut up, I get paid the big bucks not you” or “you’re just a number as an undergrad — your opinion doesn’t count and you have have no academic authority”, etc.
I thought it was excellent, even as a mature student (albeit sometimes older and with more experience than my Profs). It was like intellectual “boot camp” and good discipline, something the current generation doesn’t recognize. The brat who walked out of his class should not be re-admitted even if she sues, goes to an HRC, or has a typical temper tantrum.
Bring back the strap I say, and introduce the strap for the first time to University for the emotional eight-year-olds inhabiting adult bodies who currently attend York University!
SPANK THE ANTI-SEMITE CRYBABIES AT DORK UNIVERSITY, NOW
good example for why the bar for university enterance should be raised, this stupid student should not be there, not because she misunderstood the prof, but because of her subsequent statement
So we have a student from the Warren Kinsella School of Quotation attempting to emulate the master. It’s many things, but it’s not anti-semitism. You’ll have to wait a bit longer for that bus to pull in – although York is definitely on the route.
Let me try to paraphrase the professor:
“There are some opinions that are so wacked, that it just isn’t worth arguing with the idiot. Just smile and back away, slowly.”
Examples:
Fred Phelps and anything he says
9/11 Truthers
Flat Earthers
Fake Moon Landing people
The example the professor used
There is a sub-catagory of “Opinions that are so wacked that nobody in their right mind should believe them, BUT it may be possible to talk some sense into the people who think this way”
Examples:
Ron Paulians
Global Warming Believers
Twilight Fans
Harry Potter Fans
Jerry Springer Fans
These are all Opinions, and its perfectly normal and legal to have them (so far), no matter how stupid they are. There is a *third* class of opinions however that many of us confuse with the first two
Opinions That Should Put You In Jail:
Traffic signals and laws are for other people
Shooting somebody for wearing the wrong colors is fine
I have the right to take your stuff
Pants should sag down to your knees
(optional)
Has Sarah Grunfeld changed the good Professors opinion of HRC’s or a bill 51?
Free speech is just that. There are no unacceptable questions, just actions.
Without free speech, how are we to finger the monsters?
This is a lesson for the Teacher.
I’m quite prepared to admit that, even at York, a few of the Profs have heads on their shoulders.
and…
more than a few of the students take offense at anything.
Actually … what he was doing was talking about norms… as I see it.
So his statement about the opinion given as an example is that it is out of the norm and therefore unacceptable.
The proof of his thesis is borne out in the negative reactions to it.
He did no wrong.
It’s pretty clear the student misinterpreted what the professor said and the professor is not an anti-Semite. The real freedom of expression issue here is what the professor meant by the use of the word “acceptable”.
There are plenty of opinions out there that are not “acceptable” to upholders of freedom and justice because they would invoke violence on one or more persons. But that doesn’t mean they should be “unacceptable” to the point of requiring state intervention to punish or suppress them.
To me, the really interesting thing about this piece is not the existence of a thinly-veiled anti-semitic prof., within the social sciences faculty of York University; but the fact that nearly 500 students could be so stunned as to take a course called “Self, Culture and Society.”
Remember, ‘The children are our future.’
As my economics mentor, Captain Capitalism says: “Enjoy the Decline.”
Scratch York university and find students with hyper-tribal paranoia issues expecting a personal holocaust at every turn. Maybe this moron student is a hairs breadth away from this now: http://www.gwhatchet.com/2007/11/05/freshman-who-reported-swastikas-drew-them-as-well/
Anti-goyimism is rampant from people who want to hear anti-semitism in any academic lecture is on the rise. Even using the word ‘Jew’ or ‘Jewish’ is the new anti-semitism and people who use those words in any context must be made a public spectacle of.