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Liberty University Bans Democrat Club

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The Gaggle : Liberty University Bans Democrat Club

Editorial said:
Liberty University's Democrat students club received notice last week that it would no longer be able to associate the University's name with any of its activities. According to a Lynchburg VA paper, the club's leadership was told "we are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by" the school. “The Democratic Party platform is contrary to the mission of Liberty University and to Christian doctrine (supports abortion, federal funding of abortion, advocates repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, promotes the “LGBT” agenda, hate crimes, which include sexual orientation and gender identity, socialism, etc.)

I know it's an editorial but it stems from a real event. If someone can find a better article I'd appreciate it.

I realize this is a private institution so they can do what they want, but I still believe a broader issue is going on here: the politicization of educational institutions. How can you just outright ban a Democrat club on these social fringe issues? It would be like banning the GOP club because you don't support war. As if the GOP never does anything "unchristian".
 
The Gaggle : Liberty University Bans Democrat Club



I know it's an editorial but it stems from a real event. If someone can find a better article I'd appreciate it.

I realize this is a private institution so they can do what they want, but I still believe a broader issue is going on here: the politicization of educational institutions. How can you just outright ban a Democrat club on these social fringe issues? It would be like banning the GOP club because you don't support war. As if the GOP never does anything "unchristian".

Going to war would be "unchristian". Going to war is not "turning the other cheek".
 
Liberty University is the largest and fastest growing Christian Evangelical university in the world. Founded in 1971 by my father, the late Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr., Liberty started with his vision to train young Champions for Christ. We’re now the largest private university in Virginia,

Sounds like they are entirely within their rights. It was founded by Falwell, it is private, they have every right to do this, and based on who they are, almost a responsibility. I will never give people crap for standing up for their beliefs, as long as they are decent about it.
 
The Gaggle : Liberty University Bans Democrat Club



I know it's an editorial but it stems from a real event. If someone can find a better article I'd appreciate it.

I realize this is a private institution so they can do what they want, but I still believe a broader issue is going on here: the politicization of educational institutions. How can you just outright ban a Democrat club on these social fringe issues? It would be like banning the GOP club because you don't support war. As if the GOP never does anything "unchristian".
Your error is in categorizing abortion as a fringe issue.

But as you said this is a private organization and may do as they please.

I would ban the Democrat Club for their acceptance of theft in the form of punitive taxation.
 
Going to war would be "unchristian". Going to war is not "turning the other cheek".
Actually, decisions of war would come under the shading of accepting that the people in authority are due obedience, which is also part of Christian doctrine.
 
FIRE - Free Speech

It already happens, and at real universities to boot.

Given that, then maybe the topic should be expanded to universities as a whole. In Canada our universities all receive public funding, so this kind of thing wouldn't happen, but in the U.S. they're all private, right?

So what is to be said for the politicization of educational institutions? How is this giving people a balanced approach to life?
 
Given that, then maybe the topic should be expanded to universities as a whole. In Canada our universities all receive public funding, so this kind of thing wouldn't happen, but in the U.S. they're all private, right?

So what is to be said for the politicization of educational institutions? How is this giving people a balanced approach to life?

Some are private and some are public.

The public Uni's are generally run by each state.
 
Actually, decisions of war would come under the shading of accepting that the people in authority are due obedience, which is also part of Christian doctrine.

There is nothing "Christian" about humans assuming authority over others. The only "Christian" authority is God. Human authority is a product of the church.
 
Given that, then maybe the topic should be expanded to universities as a whole. In Canada our universities all receive public funding, so this kind of thing wouldn't happen, but in the U.S. they're all private, right?

So what is to be said for the politicization of educational institutions? How is this giving people a balanced approach to life?

From my perspective, there are really three types of universities:

Public
Traditional Private
Pervasively Sectarian Private

All state schools are in the public category, while the vast majority of private schools are in the traditional private category. There is also a small number of pervasively sectarian private schools, such as Liberty and other strict Christian or Jewish schools. Few people consider the schools in this last category as really being "universities" in the traditional sense.

Personally, I don't care what sort of prejudiced idiocy the third category of schools gets up to. They're nuts, so more power to them.

As to the second category, they're entitled to do what they want, but many of them shy away from these things because of their reputations.

As to the first category, they're subject to specific restrictions on what they can and cannot do.

In practice, many schools in the first two categories often go farrrrrr overboard in their politicization and indoctrination. The FIRE is great about really fighting against that stuff regardless of the form it comes in.
 
Your error is in categorizing abortion as a fringe issue.

I'll elaborate. There are many reasons to be Democrat or Republican and they don't all stem from these social issues. In voting for either party, you are going to end up voting for some policies you dislike. It's a two party system and neither is perfect.

I've met Christians who have accused the GOP of being "unchristian" and have voted against them for that reason, or not voted at all. I don't see why one group deserves to be banned from campus while the other is supported. It shows politico-religious bias to a sick degree.

I don't see how banning any kind of political discourse about one's nation is a good thing, especially in universities that are supposed to be about learning facts about many different areas. Liberty University is essentially grooming the campus to vote Republican and to me that amounts to political interference, something that the church is not supposed to be doing.

Should we now have "Republican Universities" and "Democratic Universities"? Forget which school has the best program, let's just enroll based on which party they like.
 
Liberty University isn't a real university anyway, so I don't really care what they do. It's basically a bunch of ignorant ****heads who watch The 700 Club and fight the good fight against evolution, who want to pretend that they're smart enough to go to college.
 
There is nothing "Christian" about humans assuming authority over others. The only "Christian" authority is God. Human authority is a product of the church.
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves:
for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account,
that they may do it with joy, and not with grief:
for that is unprofitable for you.


Hebrews 13:17,
King James Version


Please let me know when next I may instruct you in extremely basic things.
 
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Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves:
for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account,
that they may do it with joy, and not with grief:
for that is unprofitable for you.

Hebrews 13:17
King James Version


Please let me know when next I may instruct you in extremely basic things.

I guess I should have said "Christ-like" instead of "Christian", so you would have actually understood the difference between what Christ said and did and what people attributed to him 100 years after his departure.
 
Liberty University isn't a real university anyway, so I don't really care what they do. It's basically a bunch of ignorant ****heads who watch The 700 Club and fight the good fight against evolution, who want to pretend that they're smart enough to go to college.
I'm so glad we have you here to sort people into proper categories. The art of doing so has been in something of a decline since 1945.

Would you recommend "resettlement camps" for those that do not rise to your level of philosophical purity and fervor?
 
You have made an excellent elaboration.

However, any reasoning of this sort must be tested by carrying it to its more extreme conclusions.

You mention for example, "I don't see how banning any kind of political discourse about one's nation is a good thing, especially in universities that are supposed to be about learning facts about many different areas." This certainly sounds noble and inclusive on the surface.

On the other hand, there are many organizations and political movements in operation today that embrace such things as virtual and slavery for all women, genocide, execution for apostasy, annexation of one country or other's territory and world domination through direct application of force. Would you be so eager to see these entities with officially recognized campus clubs?

What about the American Nazi Party, or some flavor of the Ku Klux Klan?

As I see it, this University has made a completely legitimate choice. While it may be different from one I'd have made in their position, I am happily free of that particular burden.

You mention also the possibility, that the University is grooming students to vote for Republican candidates and seem to warn that this practice could lead to Republican and Democrat Universities. I posit that even if this is not the overt case, is has been the de facto case for many years, with the preponderance of universities in this country strongly, almost fanatically supporting the Democrat/Socialist/Statist cause.
 
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When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy...first rule of the fanatic....:2razz:
Every action like this just gets people thinking, and that usually works for the better, in the long run.
 
From my perspective, there are really three types of universities:

Public
Traditional Private
Pervasively Sectarian Private

All state schools are in the public category, while the vast majority of private schools are in the traditional private category. There is also a small number of pervasively sectarian private schools, such as Liberty and other strict Christian or Jewish schools. Few people consider the schools in this last category as really being "universities" in the traditional sense.

Personally, I don't care what sort of prejudiced idiocy the third category of schools gets up to. They're nuts, so more power to them.

As to the second category, they're entitled to do what they want, but many of them shy away from these things because of their reputations.

As to the first category, they're subject to specific restrictions on what they can and cannot do.

In practice, many schools in the first two categories often go farrrrrr overboard in their politicization and indoctrination. The FIRE is great about really fighting against that stuff regardless of the form it comes in.

I think an interesting case would be Brigham Young U. BYU is a "real" university in that it has pretty decent standing and offers some very genuine programs, but it's still run by lunatics.

That's what I've always found so pathetic about evangelicals, is how they measure up to other religious nuts. The Catholics and even the Mormons provide quality education on many levels whereas the Evangelicals have Liberty U.
 
I'm so glad we have you here to sort people into proper categories. The art of doing so has been in something of a decline since 1945.

Would you recommend "resettlement camps" for those that do not rise to your level of philosophical purity and fervor?

Yeah! He's a Nazi for thinking Liberty University is bull**** (which is confirmed by any academic ranking index).

That's exactly what Hitler did!
 
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When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy...first rule of the fanatic....:2razz:
Every action like this just gets people thinking, and that usually works for the better, in the long run.
So then we can assume that you favor the establishment of a Klan chaper house on the grounds of the Tuskegee Institute for example?

Your reasoning in this is as a broad sea, one molecule deep.
 
I think an interesting case would be Brigham Young U. BYU is a "real" university in that it has pretty decent standing and offers some very genuine programs, but it's still run by lunatics.

That's what I've always found so pathetic about evangelicals, is how they measure up to other religious nuts. The Catholics and even the Mormons provide quality education on many levels whereas the Evangelicals have Liberty U.

They also have Bob Jones U.
 
So then we can assume that you favor the establishment of a Klan chaper house on the grounds of the Tuskegee Institute for example?

Your reasoning in this is as a broad sea, one molecule deep.

I think that might go over better at Bob Jones University.
 
The Gaggle : Liberty University Bans Democrat Club



I know it's an editorial but it stems from a real event. If someone can find a better article I'd appreciate it.

I realize this is a private institution so they can do what they want, but I still believe a broader issue is going on here: the politicization of educational institutions. How can you just outright ban a Democrat club on these social fringe issues? It would be like banning the GOP club because you don't support war. As if the GOP never does anything "unchristian".

Just another reason why the evangelistic are not taken seriously and why the GOP should boot them from their ranks.
 
They also have Bob Jones U.

Which bans interracial dating (or at least did fairly recently). Another charmer.

I'm really not anti-religion. I think the Catholic Church has been on of the founding pillars of Western Civilization, and despite all the evil **** it's done the net value is positive. The inquisition, the crusades, pedophiles, etc...but I think the fact that they were basically the only stewards of knowledge during the Dark Ages weighs greater then those admittedly heinous crimes. I strongly believe that if it weren't for the Catholic Church Europe would be ignorant and the West wouldn't have conquered the world.

And furthermore, the Catholic Church was the major patron of the arts in Western society until about the last century and a half. A great deal of the West's culture output was due to the Church.

And the church had its fair share of genuine intellectuals and authors.

But Evagenglism is just socially valueless.

Their schools are ****.

Their art (the little they make) is ****.

Their thinkers (such as they are) are ****.

THeir authors are ****.

They are ****.

The Catholic Church gave us the Sistine Chapel, Thomas Aquinas, Ave Maria and The Chronicles of Narnia (not to mention basically keeping Western literacy in all forms alive for 300 years) and the Evangelicals have given us Wal-Mart churches, Jerry Falwell, Contemporary Christian Music and The Left Behind series. Pathetic.
 
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