Finding a Morally Upright College

Parents Forum
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<p>Agreed, “Lifestyle choices” is sort of offensive terminology.</p>

<p>And yes, you go to college to learn to be a teacher or accountant but I would think teachers in particular should be compassionate, accepting, and not prejudiced in any way. If they enter college without those characteristics, they should attempt to acquire them by the time they graduate.</p>

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<p>Was there a typo in the original title to this thread? Was it supposed to be, “Finding a Morally Uptight College”?</p>

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<p>Momzie–maybe I can help you see what others are seeing in a post like yours.</p>

<p>Apparently it’s important for the slave owning student to have an experience in the “real world” where he will realize that (a.) the vast majority of college students think he’s a naive, boorish, uneducated idiot and (b.) that he has no “right” to hold the views that he holds. On many campuses, his views will be ridiculed by other students and his professors. Campus groups that might support this student will be denied funding, denied meeting space on campus, and administrators and faculty who might agree with the student will likely be encouraged to seek employment elsewhere. Any physical reminders of his beliefs (like a cross burning or KKK posters) will quickly be whisked out of sight lest they offend anyone, and he will be required to attend lots of seminars on tolerance where he will be exposed to black people and information that makes him uncomfortable. He will be told that this is excellent preparation for the real world, since everyone in the real world is apparently a black-friendly liberal. (Obviously, they’ve never been to my small Southern town.)</p>

<p>I hope the example above helps you “see” how backwards your thinking on this subject is. I believe many racists used to quote the bible as a defense and they certainly saw themselves as morally upright citizens (and they held their heads up high in church). People with your viewpoint might be feeling they are always on the defense in a college setting because college students are taught to question things that are illogical and to stand up for those that are discriminated against.</p>

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<p>

Sylvan, PDA = Public Displays of Affection. Common acronym at my school (an Academy).</p>

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<p>Erin’s Dad,
I will bet dollars to doughnuts that Sylvan knew the intended acronym/meaning of PDA. Sylvan’s suggested meaning was quite funny, especially in light of the topic at hand (pun intended).</p>

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<p>LOL!!! 10 char</p>

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<p>

I’m not much for trying to define a “morality”, since that seems pretty arbitrary. That said, I don’t see being gay as a choice, per se, but how one chooses to live as a manifestation of that IS a lifestyle choice. </p>

<p>It seems to me that at this time in our culture, the pendulum has swung from one extreme (“stay in the closet”) to the other (“do anything, if someone doesn’t approve they are homophobic, ergo bad”). With time, hopefully it will settle somewhere in between the extremes with a loosely defined set of mores and people of all stripes will be more comfortable with that.</p>

<p>ETA: Yes, sylvan knew what the acronym stood for, although alternative seemed somehow appropo :)</p>

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<p>Momsie, I appreciate your concern for the LBGT student. But I suspect they, along with other disenfranchised groups, learned their lesson of intolerance well before college and are well aware of the intolerance in the “outside” world. College should be a time of existential questioning for everyone and an environment of tolerance towards people of all faiths and sexual orientation is necessary for this. If such questioning is not wanted by the student, there are homogenous schools to select from. But, at my son’s public flagship, the Christian groups and the LGBQT groups are strong, as it should be. </p>

<p>Why are we assuming Christianity and LGBQT lifestyle is mutually exclusive?</p>

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<p>My niece grew up in a small town. Went to a very conservative Christian college. Got married three weeks after graduation to a boy she met there. She now teaches 5th grade at a private conservative Christian school, where the parents will probably send their kids to the kind of college she attended. She has a life with which she is at least currently content. Probably not a lot of exposure to new ideas. Lots of people live in little cocoons where everyone in their world agrees with them. Not the way I want to live and not the way I want to raise my kids, but there are people who desire this kind of life.</p>

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<p>Thomas Aquinas College?</p>

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<p>

Here, I would say that it is *controversial *terminology. If you really believe that this fundamentalist Christian should come to the secular college to have his viewpoint broadened, it seems to me that you must at least be willing to listen to what he has to say. If he thinks homosexuality is a lifestyle choice (and a sinful one), you can disagree with him and argue about it, but if you begin by simply labeling his viewpoint “offensive,” you just ruined your own argument.</p>

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<p>You know, we here in Madison are a tolerant bunch; can deal with almost anything. BUT, there are one or two things even we can abide as the sign on Broome Street notes:</p>

<p><a href=“http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.■■■■■■■■■■/tumblr_lacv8ki1QG1qam970o1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1289511704&Signature=EzYU6%2FhCE%2BXNLHni1xLxuWfhecs%3D[/url]”>http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.■■■■■■■■■■/tumblr_lacv8ki1QG1qam970o1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1289511704&Signature=EzYU6%2FhCE%2BXNLHni1xLxuWfhecs%3D&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>tsk, tsk, tsdad. How discriminatory. With over 51,000 zombies registered on the facebook group [Zombies</a> | Facebook](<a href=“Redirecting...”>Redirecting...) we’d best accept their presence and show some tolerance. They might lurk amongst us here.</p>

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<p>What I found was that if a high school student was incrementally given more freedom as they showed they could handle it, they were able to adjust well to the freedom of college. However, if a student was kept sheltered and under constant oversupervision during high school, they went crazy when they suddenly had some freedom away from their parents.</p>

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<p>mommusic-
According to momzie’s previous posts, she didn’t feel supported or nurtured in her seven sisters college, nor in grad school.

<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/4508237-post48.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/4508237-post48.html&lt;/a&gt; I went to a seven sisters school and learned to think, to question, to challenge, etc. I feel it was a wonderfully supportive environment that helped give me the tools to succeed in grad school and in the working world. I have learned to defend myself well. The world is full of people with biases. I’ve felt gender bias, religious bias, even regional bias. I don’t think attending a seven sisters school in any way kept me from experiencing the “real world” nor do I feel I was ill prepared to deal with it. Its quite possible momzie’s undergrad experience did not have much to do with the shaping of her life skills.</p>

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<p>My D is a HS senior. Her friends who drink are using that same argument to try to persuade her to drink: If you wait until you’re 21, you’ll go crazy.</p>

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<p>I believe I read some years ago that there were differences between the brains of homosexual and heterosexual lab animals, and the study went on to suggest that there might be similar differences in humans. Does anyone know if there have been other studies published on the matter, or am I simply misremembering?</p>

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<p>Yes, there were studies that found , IIRC, differences in the size of the temporal lobes and the length of the central sulcus (this is purely from memory) but I have not read any recent literature on that topic</p>

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<p>mtnmomma, I don’t want to get into an argument with you. I support gay rights strongly, hope that gay marriage will be recognized in all states, have urged my church to ordain openly gay ministers, and have a small number of gay friends (and have warm affection for all of them).</p>

<p>However, I take exception to your characterization of Momzie’s post. You have replaced “Christian” with “slave owning” in an attempt to show Momzie what others see as wrong with her post. This is a false replacement. Owning slaves is morally wrong. There are many varieties of Christian belief. A few of them are mistaken in their opposition toward gays (in my opinion). However, that mistaken position on homosexuality is hardly the essence of the Christian message. There is nothing morally wrong with intelligent Christianity. Far from it!</p>

<p>I think Momzie made a point that is valid in part. Where I disagree: If Momzie thinks that the environment that a gay student will experience at his college is homogeneous, that would be an error. The administration (or most of it, anyway) may be welcoming toward gays, and the more liberal students will almost certainly be supportive of gay rights, but that won’t make the entire environment supportive. Again, far from it! In this context, I think of the poem by Countee Cullen, with the line “I saw the whole of Baltimore.”</p>

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<p>tsdad, darn, and I knew some zombies who were considering UW for grad school… :)</p>