Kudos to the Globe & Mail for publishing it (although I note, no comments allowed) and kudos to Deborah Soh. In this political climate, it takes a considerable amount of bravery to write and publish such a piece.
The whole piece is excellent. It will likely be completely ignored by those who need it the most.
She says:
"Academia is a place where ideas should be free to roam. Good ideas will stand the test of debate and scrutiny, and those that don’t are better off forgotten."
"Of course, speech should never advocate inciting harm against others, but we are reaching a point where controversial ideas are being thrown out or shut down merely because they make people feel “unsafe.” Words are not inherently harmful, yet on campuses they are considered tantamount to physical violence, and therefore, deserving of the same."
"The most concerning thing I’ve found in discussions with those in favour of censoring “dangerous” ideas is that they frequently don’t know what they are arguing against – they’ve either refused to read the speaker’s work or are opposed to it based on misinformation."
Furthermore:
"Despite this, censorship continues to impose constraints on academics in serious ways, because there has been increasing pressure for scientific research to toe the party line. Emotional grievances are being prioritized over logic and facts. For example, in my field of sexology, even if academic researchers have tenure, they will avoid particular areas of study completely (such as the topics of gender dysphoria in children or biological sex differences in the brain) because they know their professional – and personal – reputations will be at stake if their findings aren’t socially palatable."
"Many of my colleagues have been bullied into silence, terrified of becoming the newest casualty in this unpredictable war. I can’t count the number of people who have told me that they walk on eggshells, keeping a low profile, avoiding social media and interview requests, out of fear of inadvertently inciting the mob. It has become a form of mind control."
"Despite this, censorship continues to impose constraints on academics in serious ways, because there has been increasing pressure for scientific research to toe the party line. Emotional grievances are being prioritized over logic and facts. For example, in my field of sexology, even if academic researchers have tenure, they will avoid particular areas of study completely (such as the topics of gender dysphoria in children or biological sex differences in the brain) because they know their professional – and personal – reputations will be at stake if their findings aren’t socially palatable."
"Many of my colleagues have been bullied into silence, terrified of becoming the newest casualty in this unpredictable war. I can’t count the number of people who have told me that they walk on eggshells, keeping a low profile, avoiding social media and interview requests, out of fear of inadvertently inciting the mob. It has become a form of mind control."
That is a terrible way to live, and it is disgraceful for any free born citizen in a democracy to feel as though they must live in cowardice and fear.
We all need to push back. Keeping your head down will not work. It only buys you time.
Stop paying protection money to these disgusting bullies.
Push back twice and thrice as hard.
