It’s inhabitants might disagree with you. Or are they of no consequence as well? How’s the air up there?
And that left what, three students left? I mean really, all the Christians? Could we narrow that brush just a little bit?
Nope, it left about 95% of the class. The teacher asked around on day one and even explained that this was a history class, not philosophy. I don’t know what it is, maybe the places I’ve lived or the circles I’ve traveled in, but agnostics and atheists just seem to be the norm (as for this class, it’s been my experience that atheists are more interested than Christians in the history of religion and the Bible). Though there were a few quasi-Buddhists, a lapsed Sikh and plenty of cultural Jews in that class, IIRC.
ETA: to clarify, on Day One the teacher asked us wha religion we were (but said it was fine not to answer, or to answer ‘undecided’). Keep in mind this was college, where everyone seems to do a bit of soul searching, so maybe there are less committed religious folk there, I don’t know.
It’s another thread, but if all populations were genetically equal (if their genes were of equal distribution to any other population), there would be no populations. As it is, I notice Pygmies and Tutsis seem like fairly distinct populations…
Reread my sentence and practice including the qualifiers.
Post again if you are still confused.
I am guessing the truth is a little from column A and a little from column B. Both are portraying themselves, I don’t believe Bitterman is as innocent as he believes (or at least wants us to believe) and I think the administration is acting pretty much the same way. Bitterman’s problem is not tha he is some ittlelctual paragon trying to stimulate debate, it is that in this Battle of the Assholes he is outranked.
I am guessing the truth is a little from column A and a little from column B. Both are portraying themselves, I don’t believe Bitterman is as innocent as he believes (or at least wants us to believe) and I think the administration is acting pretty much the same way. Bitterman’s problem is not the he is some intelectual paragon trying to stimulate debate, it is that in this Battle of the Assholes he is outranked.
Ahhhhh. Sorry for thinking the worst. :smack:
“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” – Indiana Jones
Personally if I had to teach in a classroom with a significant number of students who get twisted over the assertion that snakes don’t talk and that stories containing talking snakes should not be taken literally, I’d be pleased to get out of “adjunct hell.” Then again, this is one of the prevailing reasons (along with climate, lack of mountains, and limited access to good beer) that I’ll never live in the American South or substantial parts of the Mid-West.
Stranger
I’m TIRED of all these G-D---- snakes on this G-D---- plane!
Weaselly but true. It appears that Bitterman may have been fired for something he said but that doesn’t make it a First Amendment violation.
Just for fun, here is the course description:
http://www.swcciowa.edu/courses/Cdescriptions2005-2007catalog.pdf (I assume everyone sees the .pdf there on the link…)
I assume it is the first course he is teaching. This is your basic survey course that should include readings on the evolution of Christianity, the power of the Pope, Islam and the Dark Ages (i.e. it wasn’t dark for the Islamic world), etc. Discussing how the Christian Church impacted (positive and negative) Western Civilization - good topic for class discussion. Telling students that their belief system is a fairy tale (or whatever he actually did), perhaps not the best use of classroom time for a community college Western Civ survey course.
Then again, I teach business (when I stumble into a classroom). Nice, generic business. I don’t go into whether or not capitalism is good or bad, or whether certain industries should be under government control, etc. I enjoy discussing those, and my students know that I can found at certain coffee shops or pubs on certain days, in addition to my office hours. I don’t even teach a particular set of ethics - I simply set up a classroom debate on what is the ethical choice in certain circumstances.
This guy sounds like he has a side agenda aside from teaching Western Civ, and he let that take over his classroom one day. Given the nature of his employment, that cost him his job.
I’m a long-term adjunct prof who tells her students every semester that quoting Bible verses or other such texts as “proof” or “evidence” in a Composition class essay is absolutely not allowed, and I explain why. So far (fingers crossed), no complaints. I don’t think they’d be taken seriously here anyway. Thank goodness.
Ahem.
“I have HAD it with these mother-fucking snakes on this mother-fucking plane!”
I’d imagine an instructor is more likely to hit some land mines in a course about Western culture then in one about Business.
Judging from Tom’s link, I’m guessing this might be more a case of customer dissatisfaction than a deep philosophical divide. I think it’s safe to say Southwestern Community College of Red Oak, Iowa is not ranked among the top universities of this nation. It probably is not turning away a lot of students who failed to meet its stringent application window. I’m guessing it’s more like Doonesbury’s Walden College where professors are told to give every students A’s in order to keep them happy. If some students complained that Mr Bitterman was being mean to them, the administration may have decided to fire him to keep the students happy.
I don’t think I’ve ever met a Christian who thought the Bible was written by one person. Kiddies learn really early in Bible School and Sunday School about the Psalms of David and the Four Gospels (even though they don’t have an exact count on how many people it took to write one or more of those gospels.) That’s just five examples. They know that the Bible is made up of many books. The idea that this is new info to them or that it would make all Christians drop out is laughable.
Also, I’m skeptical about the college professor asking the students to reveal their religious affiliations. For what purpose? Very unprofessional to place students under that kind of personal scrutiny and pressure.
Next he’ll be spouting off that Adam and Eve didn’t speak English like they do in my Bible.
I don’t think anyone believes one person wrote all of the Bible. But there are a lot of people who believe Moses personally wrote the five books of the Pentateuch/Torah. Which is pretty impressive considered his own death and burial is described in these books.
Prophecy.
You’d be guessing wrong, then. The place is accredited. Accredited Community Colleges are perfectly good places to earn legitimate academic credit.