If you were a Jewish prof, and I recommended "Mein Kampf" as required reading, would you be upset?

Now, regardless of the merit of reading such a book to gain insight into the mind of one of history's greatest villains, many people would take great issue with such a book being placed on the reading list. So why when a book is hateful against the GLBT community, is it OK?

Now, personally, i think any book should be able to be placed on a university reading list as long as there is good reason for it (such as providing a contrasting view with another book, etc...).

(Again, I'm not saying the lawsuit is right, just that i find a bit of hypocrisy with what people find offensive... I want to...

If you were a Jewish prof, and I recommended "Mein Kampf" as required reading, would you be upset?

Now, regardless of the merit of reading such a book to gain insight into the mind of one of history's greatest villains, many people would take great issue with such a book being placed on the reading list. So why when a book is hateful against the GLBT community, is it OK?

Now, personally, i think any book should be able to be placed on a university reading list as long as there is good reason for it (such as providing a contrasting view with another book, etc...).

(Again, I'm not saying the lawsuit is right, just that i find a bit of hypocrisy with what people find offensive... I want to know where you and others stand on this, do you feel ALL books should be OK as long as they have a basis for being there, or are some books not, if so, why?)

TCW says:.

i think any book should be able to be placed on a university reading
list as long as there is good reason for it (such as providing a
contrasting view with another book, etc...).

From the article (emphasis mine):

Mr.
Savage suggested via e-mail to the Committee that perhaps the
conventional wisdom of the university should be challenged and proposed
four current conservative books: "The Marketing of Evil" by David
Kupelian, "The Professors" by David Horowitz, "Eurabia: The Euro-Arab
Axis" by Bat Ye’or, and "It Takes a Family" by Senator Rick Santorum.

TCW says:

many people would take great issue with such a...

read more»

TCW says:.

i think any book should be able to be placed on a university reading
list as long as there is good reason for it (such as providing a
contrasting view with another book, etc...).

From the article (emphasis mine):

Mr.
Savage suggested via e-mail to the Committee that perhaps the
conventional wisdom of the university should be challenged and proposed
four current conservative books: "The Marketing of Evil" by David
Kupelian, "The Professors" by David Horowitz, "Eurabia: The Euro-Arab
Axis" by Bat Ye’or, and "It Takes a Family" by Senator Rick Santorum.

TCW says:

many people would take great issue with such a book being placed on the reading list.

What I find unbelievable isn't that the book was not included on the list but that by merely suggesting its placement, this man was slapped with a sexual harassment charge. I am not suggesting that the professor had no basis for disliking the book, or for being offended by the book's existence. However, does the librarian's mere mention of the book really constitute sexual harassment or the defense of "hate literature?" (see source).

As far as censorship goes, I'm opposed. Even for filth. The OSU-Mansfield campus banned the book. As far as Mein Kampf goes, should it be banned? Hell NO. Should it be required reading? I guess that depends on the class. Should you be sued for suggesting it? No.

Oh, I pretty much agree with you. Especially since reading these books usually gives great insight into the thinking of these people who wrote them. Without understand at least on a small scale how a person thinks or sees a particular issue, how can one try and prevent or argue against them?

The only think I care about in regards to this story is that there is a defensible reason for putting the book on the list . And that isn't just for books that may be offensive, but for ALL books on the list.

If the intent was as a religious political move, then I have issue with the intent, not the book. If it was an educational move to show a perspective, then let it be. They should have discuss...

Oh, I pretty much agree with you. Especially since reading these books usually gives great insight into the thinking of these people who wrote them. Without understand at least on a small scale how a person thinks or sees a particular issue, how can one try and prevent or argue against them?

The only think I care about in regards to this story is that there is a defensible reason for putting the book on the list . And that isn't just for books that may be offensive, but for ALL books on the list.

If the intent was as a religious political move, then I have issue with the intent, not the book. If it was an educational move to show a perspective, then let it be. They should have discussed the reasons openly (it IS a university, and the point is to educate and discuss) and then let the faculty/dept. heads decide if there was not a consensus.