33 Examples of Intolerant Liberalism in 2014
17. NYT Reporter Says Traditional Marriage Supporters "Unworthy of Respect," Deserve Incivility
In a Twitter debate with Ryan Anderson, New York Times reporter Josh Barro said it is OK to be uncivil toward traditional marriage supporters because such people are "unworthy of respect."
18. Houston Mayor Subpeonas Pastor's Sermons, Private Communication About Homosexuality
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After Mayor Annise Parker was sued for throwing out petition signatures and declining to place on the ballot a repeal of the city's new transgender law, her legal team issued subpoenas to five Houston pastors for all of their sermon notes and personal communication related to homosexuality and gender identity. The move, apparently an attempt to intimidate the pastors into backing off, backfired quickly. There was national outrage over the subpoenas and legal experts from across the political spectrum all agreed that the subpoenas were overly broad. Parker first changed the subpoenas to not include sermons, then dropped the subpoenas entirely. The suit will go to trial in January.
19. Wikipedia Editors Attempt to Remove Entry for the Federalist After Neil deGrasse Tyson Flap
The Federalist, a conservative news and opinion website, ran a series of articles pointing out that celebrity scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson had misquoted former President George W. Bush in his public speeches. References to that story were being removed from Tyson's Wikipedia entry. At least one Wikipedia editor took the spat a step further and tried to remove The Federalist's Wikipedia page.
20. Kickstarter Censors Fundraiser for Abortionist Gosnell Documentary
Kickstarter, a crowd funding website, would not allow a campaign for a film proposal about abortionist and convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell to accurately describe what Gosnell was convicted of doing (stabbing babies to death). While Kickstarter's CEO claimed that describing what the movie was about was inconsistent with his website's "community guidelines," columnist Kirsten Powers pointed out Kickstarter has been selective in how it has applied those guidelines.
21. Philosophy Professor Says Global Warming Skeptics Should Be Imprisoned
Lawrence Torcello, assistant professor of philosophy at Rochester Institute of Technology, wrote an op-ed arguing for criminal penalties for those who criticize scientific claims about global warming. In one of the examples he used, the penalty was imprisonment.
22. Ezra Klein Criticized for Hiring Gay Man With Different Opinions Than Most Gays
Ezra Klein, a former liberal columnist for The Washington Post who started Vox.com, was denounced by some liberals for hiring Brandon Ambrosino. Even though Ambrosino is liberal and gay, the fact that he has said some things that are slightly out of step with what liberal gay men are "supposed" to say made him a target for those close-minded liberals.
23. Marquette University Trains Employees to Report Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage as Harrassment
Marquette, a Catholic university in Wisconsin, required all its employees to undergo anti-harrassment training in which opposition to same-sex marriage is considered a form of harrasment.
24. Marquette Professor Suspended for Criticizing Teacher Who Will Not Allow Students to Voice Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage
Consistent with No. 23, a Marquette teaching assistant told her students that those who support the traditional definition of marriage should not voice their opinions in class because such views are offensive. After John McAdams, associate professor of political science at the university, wrote a blog post criticizing that pedagogy, he was suspended.
25. Radical Feminist Conference Forced to Change Venues After Transgender Opposition
The Radfem Conference, a group of self-described radical feminists, has been forced to change venues on several occasions due to intimidation tactics by certain transgender groups. These radical feminists hold views that transgender groups do not like. In particular, the radical feminists think there's an important difference between one who is female and one who is male but thinks of themselves as female. So the radical feminists should not be allowed to hold a conference, those transgender groups believe. In the August issue of New Yorker, Michelle Goldberg wrote about the transgender group's intimidation tactics, which included threats of violence.
26. Christian Groups Booted From California College Campuses
California state universities, the largest state university system in the country, will no longer recognize Intervarsity Christian Fellowship as a student group because the organization requires its leaders to hold beliefs consistent with the organization's beliefs.
27. "It's OK to Hate Republicans," University of Michigan Professor Wrote
Susan Douglas, professor of communications at the University of Michigan, penned an op-ed for In These Times titled, "It's OK to Hate Republicans." Republicans vilify others, she complained in the article, vilifying Republicans as dogmatic, rigid, intolerant of ambiguity and supportive of authoritarianism. The title was later changed to, "We Can't All Just Get Along," at the request of the author.
Also in 2014, there were many attempts, some successful, to disinvite college speakers, lest students be exposed to different points of view:
28. Brandeis University Rescinded and Honorary Degree and Disinvited Ayaan Hirsi Ali
29. Brown University Disinvited Ray Kelly
30. Berkeley Students Attempted to Get Bill Maher Banned From Delivering a Commencement Address
31. Stanford Students Tried to Ban Ryan Anderson's Appearance
32. Smith College Disinvited Christine Lagarde as Commencement Speaker
33. Azusa Pacific Disinvited Charles Murray
For some additional reading on this issue, check out these CP articles:
Liberal Professor Stunned to Learn Liberals Not More Open-Minded Than Conservatives
Christians Who Cave to the 'New Intolerance' Only Make It Worse, Mary Eberstadt Says
Political Party Analysis: Democrats Will Lose Elections if They Don't Fix Their Religion Problem
Liberals Now Deeply Divided Over Religious Freedom and Homosexuality
