Your Brain: The Final Frontier

Discovering the obvious and beating it like a dead horse.

The University of Nebraska Storms Heaven

In a letter to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, a group of students, factulty, staff and others, demand heaven. Actually, that appears to be a typo, which can frustrate even the best of us (including me). The letter writers wanted a safe haven, but they got all mixed up and demanded a safe heaven instead. As I chuckled about it, I had to admit that to many Americans today, heaven and “safe havens” are really interchangeable concepts. We all yearn for heaven on earth, but to some people, heaven is just a place where they can do and think and feel anything they want without any possibility of being challenged. But that isn’t heaven. It is actually hell. Let’s look at the letter.

The letter begins:

Following the unprecedented presidential election, we faculty, staff, students and alumni of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln ask that the University administration begin the process of a formal safe haven for undocumented and minority university members.

Actually, the election was not unprecedented. We’ve had dozens  of presidential elections since our founding fathers won independence from the British crown. So this election was really just another election. What is unprecedented is the wailing and gnashing of teeth we are seeing from the people who apparently voted for the losing candidate. I’m told there were protests after Abraham Lincoln’s election, but I don’t think the behavior was anything like we have witnessed for the past 10 days. Today’s protesters are so emotional that they need to create pockets of alternative reality all around the country. This group is trying to create their “world of wishes”, a.k.a “safe haven” right here in Nebraska.

So what is a safe haven after all? It has traditionally meant that it was a place a person could go in order to escape a dangerous situation or to get help after being victimized in some way. But that isn’t what this letter requests. This letter requests that UNL become a place where law enforcement (and reason) has no jurisdiction.

1. Guarantee student privacy by refusing to release information regarding the immigration status of our students, faculty and staff. Refuse to comply with immigration authorities regarding deportations or raids. Continue in-state tuition for DACA students previously awarded.

In other words, defy federal law. I’ve got news for the people behind this letter: That never ends well for people and institutions who depend on federal financial aid. College students are probably the recipients of more federal finanical aid than anyone. And what does this demand actually expect? Are undocumented immigrants supposed to take up residence at UNL? Is this in student housing or are they going to set up shelters or tents? Is this for any and all undocumented immigrants or is it just for those who are taking classes at UNL? How is all this supposed to impact the rest of the students at UNL as they attempt to finish their education and begin a career?

2. Assure classrooms remain free of aggressive, discriminatory behavior through the monitoring of the campus-wide anonymous reporting mechanism and training all staff and faculty in de-escalation intervention techniques.

This is something the University probably already offers in a very selective manner. Maybe they will start offering Christian students the same protections. That would be nice.

3. Maintain healthcare benefits offered to university employees and students (StudentBlue), including comprehensive preventive services and the provision of birth control for women free of cost.

Free birth control. Because why should anyone have to pay for something that 90 – 99% of people can control themselves?

4. Extend Title IX protections to include gender identity and sexual orientation under sex discrimination, and provide education on these protections.

This would be additional rights and privileges that even the overwhelmingly pro-LGBT Obama Administration (The Rainbow House) has not yet found the time to decree.

5. Allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity and increase placement of gender-neutral bathrooms across campus.

I’d opt to segregate males and females to bathrooms based on their biological sex and designate other bathrooms that anyone can use. I’m guessing the cleanest and least frequented bathrooms will be the ones that are open to everyone. Guys will go anywhere, so just like contraception and abortion, it will be another big win for men.

The letter also alleges that there have been incidents of harassment on UNL’s campus since the election. I wonder if these are hoaxes. It is no secret that there are a lot of activists who have staged incidents to make themselves look like the victim. From faked assaults, faked insults written on restaurant receipts, faked allegations of discrimination… Certainly there are real incidents of racism and discrimination in the U.S. today, but the proponents of progressivism are not satisfied with these, so they manufacture claims they see has helpful to their cause. Of course, it does not take much to offend some people these days. The way I look at it, your fragile emotional condition is unfortunate, but I have no obligation to remain silent.

Does this mean that we round up all illegal immigrants and expel them from the country? No. Does this mean that we make all Muslims register with the federal government? No. Does this mean that we generally discriminate against the LGBT community or other segments of our society? No.

The answers to all of our national problems can only be found if we retain the freedom to express our views on all these things. And in these discussions, people should speak openly about what they believe, but the bottom line must always be reality. The discussions must be anchored in truth. This requires an open mind, humility and the willingness to consider the possibility that the other person has some truth behind their views. Essential to this is also the fact that we cannot live in an echo chamber in which we only hear what we want to hear or we only hear from people who already agree with us. But that is what a “safe haven” really is. It is an echo chamber which promotes ignorance, closed minds, unreasonable bias and an extremely fragile emotional condition.

People who are demanding heaven on earth or a safe haven should not be coddled. They should continue to be exposed to reality. If UNL pays homage to this, I will be very disappointed in them.

Related Posts

The Irrational Age
Mind Polluters

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *