One of the Greatest Violations to Education

Jerry Falwell Jr., the Chancellor of Liberty University in Virginia, has just provided one of the greatest injustices to the idea of a scholarly education - he announced that Glenn Beck will be giving the graduation speech at the school this May.

According to News & Advance, Falwell said, "Beck is one of the few courageous voices in the national media standing up for the principles upon which this nation was founded," in his announcement.

Wow. Let that sink in for a minute.

Glenn Beck standing up for the principles the nation was founded on? No, quite the opposite. The country was founded on the principles of helping and protecting every person; in 1776 and 1787, that meant separation from government that taxed without representing its constituents, now it means using government tools to help those same people.

It's also important to note that the "founding principles" didn't include wanting rescinding all taxes because taxing is socialism, thinking Barack Obama, our mixed-race president, is a racist, and crying because Republicans don't control Congress (there weren't even Republicans in 1787 when the Constitution was written).

Also keep in mind we're talking about Glenn Beck and education in the same sentence, normally that would be a joke, and it is, but in this case it's also truth.

This is one the worst infringements to the concept of an education and is a slap in the face to the concept of a learning institute.

Glenn Beck, first of all, didn't even graduate from college, he took one class at Yale in 1996 at the age of 32 and dropped out after he finished. He enrolled through a "special circumstance," which included the help of Sen. Joe Lieberman, for "non-traditional students." He wasn't even accepted through any of his own means or by any of his own credentials.

Second, he doesn't represent one grain of the academic community because none of his claims, ideas, or arguments are based on any sort of academic research or factual evidence.

Falwell represents the far-right contingent of upper-echelon members of the Liberty University faculty that, in May of last year, revoked the school's College Democrats of official club recognition.

While the school agreed to nullify the official status of all political clubs on campus two months later, the initial reasoning to give the College Dems the axe was because, according to Mark Hine, the school's Vice President of Student Affairs, "The Democratic Party platform is contrary to the mission of Liberty University and to Christian doctrine."

That's pretty difficult to justify considering Liberty University had given the club official recognition a year earlier; why would it suddenly come to the conclusion that the Democratic platform is anti-Christian?

I am not religious, but I was raised Catholic - went to Sunday school, church, the whole nine yards - and I have come to the conclusion that Jesus himself would be a Democrat if he were alive today (think Jesus helping others no matter what and Democrats trying to extend healthcare to all people, Dems trying to enforce the Geneva Conventions in Guantanamo, and again, Jesus helping others no matter what).

Beck is someone I would consider being opposed to the Christian Doctrine given that on his shows he has said, "I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it."

Killing someone? Isn't that denounced by the Ten Commandments? Yeah, it is.

He's also said things like, "When I see a 9/11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, 'Oh shut up' I'm so sick of them because they're always complaining."

Wow. Again, I feel like helping those who have been hurt is definitely be part of the Christian Doctrine, and that telling those in need and in pain to "shut up" would be a huge violation.

Theology aside, the University has basically lent itself to the political fringe instead of attempting to be free of political bias when it comes to the education and activities of its students. You can't bring someone in to give a speech to the entire graduating class because you have the same political belief system, that's not how education works.

Plus, it's not safe to bring someone, who Jon Stewart accurately describes as "a guy who says what people who aren't thinking are thinking," into an academic setting, it could be dangerous, and that's exactly what Glenn Beck is.