A highly regarded Professor at Vanderbilt University wrote an editorial in the Tennessean in which she discusses the dangers of Islam. In her editorial she speaks about the differences between the ‘free world’ compared to those who come from countries where things like Freedom of Speech are not the law of the land.
Interesting that she speaks of this and then the Muslim Student Association proves her right by demanding she not be allowed to say such things. I doubt these students see the intolerance or irony in their statement or the fact they proved the Professor right in her assessment.
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From The Daily Caller:
Swain, who opposes burqas and advocates stronger efforts at assimilation for American Muslims, argued that Islam “poses an absolute danger to us and our children unless it is monitored better than it has been under the Obama administration.”
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In response, Muslim students, led by Vanderbilt undergraduate Farishtay Yamin, took great offense.
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told The Vanderbilt Hustler, the campus newspaper, that she “could not believe her eyes” when she read Swain’s column. The student also quickly labeled Swain’s opinion as “hate speech.”
She then used Facebook to set up a “Campus-Wide Protest Against Hate Speech Published in the Tennessean” on Saturday afternoon.
Attendance at the fairly brief event was in the low hundreds, The College Fix reports. Students who showed up brought signs emblazoned with slogans such as “Better a brat than a bigot.”
Yamin, who is the publicity chair for Vanderbilt’s Muslim Student Association, told audience in no uncertain terms that a black female professor’s speech must be restricted if she says “these kinds of things” in the future.
“What I’m really trying to show her is that she can’t continue to say these kinds of things on a campus that’s so liberal and diverse and tolerant,” Yamin declared.
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The editorial from the Tennessean (it can be read in full at this link):
What would it take to make us admit we were wrong about Islam? What horrendous attack would finally convince us that Islam is not like other religions in the United States, that it poses an absolute danger to us and our children unless it is monitored better than it has been under the Obama administration?
Over the past few years, we have had a man in Middle Tennessee who, like the founders of our nation, has risked his life, fortune and reputation to sound an alarm. After many years of his fighting alone in the wilderness, Andrew Miller Jr. and his Tennessee Freedom Coalition continue to be vindicated by current world events.
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Dismissed by some as a kook, a hater and a bitter man, Miller, in my eye, has revealed himself to be a deeply committed man who sounded an alarm about Islam long before comedian Bill Maher and others were finally willing to admit that Islam is positively dangerous to our society.
More and more members of the PC crowd now acknowledge that Islam has absolutely nothing in common with Christianity, nor is it a worthy part of the brotherhood of man I long felt was characteristic of the Abrahamic religions. A younger, more naive version of myself once believed in a world where the people of the Book could and would get along because they all claimed Abraham as their father. No more!I met Miller a few years ago and heard his story of how he worked on Wall Street and survived the deaths of more than 200 friends in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Those attacks transformed him into a crusader who has risked his life and reputation to warn us about the dangers of radical Islam. He and the coalition have paid a price by being labeled as haters for engaging in activities designed to educate and awaken a sleeping public.
Not only do these students prove their intolerance but they prove they do not understand the 1st Amendment. They prove they are intolerant of the Freedom of Speech that we hold so dear in this country. This shows that what Professor Swain is saying is exactly right. The Bill of Rights guarantees Americans the freedom of speech. It doesn’t mean you have to like the speech that someone makes but they have the freedom to say it.
Rather than have an honest and open discussion, these Muslim students do what many on the left often do and simply try to shut down what they don’t want to hear. Part of the assimilation of Muslims into countries where speech is indeed free should be explaining to them that if they don’t like it, it’s really too bad. That’s how we roll with freedom in the United States – put up, shut up or get out.
