Re: [HAPS-L] Missouri Bill passes house

["Trevor Day" <taday@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

In instances within an academic institution where the academic freedom of
the faculty member are at odds with the religious freedom of the student,
which should prevail? Can, or should, a compromise be made between the two
within an academic environment? I personally think not, and that academic
freedom should trump (given the function of the academic institution that
the student and staff are interacting within) but I would be interested in
the opinions of others on this matter. What about academic institutions
that are religious in nature? Should these differ from secular
institutions on such matters.
Trevor

On Wed, May 16, 2007 11:51 am, James S. Miller said:
> My reading of the law below would be that it in no way would affect the
> teaching of evolution or other common undergraduate science topics.
> What it would do is make it illegal to give a student a lower grade if
> they didn't believe in evolution.
>
> David Evans wrote:
>>
>> The Missouri House of Representatives has passed the Emily Brooker
>> Intellectual Diversity Act (H.B. 213). It seems that last year at one
>> of MO's institutions of higher learning Ms. Brooker had a divergence
>> in religious views with her social work professor especially in
>> regards to an assignment. She was unhappy that her views were not
>> attended to and this is the fruit of that event.
>>
>>
>>
>> The bill has 13 provisions in it but the one that is most likely to
>> impinge on human anatomy and physiology instruction prohibits
>> discrimination against discrimination founded on personal views
>> including:  "...intellectual diversity concerns in the institution's
>> guidelines on teaching and program development and such concerns shall
>> include but not be limited to the protection of religious freedom
>> including the viewpoint that the Bible is inerrant...."
>>
>>
>>
>> The Missouri Senate Education Committee recommended passage to the
>> whole senate and the bill is awaiting placement on that body's
>> calendar.
>>
>>
>>
>> The Theory of Evolution is the first thing that everyone thinks about
>> here but there are other areas that give pause to a professor or
>> teacher:
>>
>> 1.       Psychopharaceutical use and the Church of Scientology;
>>
>> 2.       The use of human blood and certain religious groups;
>>
>> 3.       Geologists and physicists very frequently provide information
>> at odds with the literal Bible;
>>
>> 4.       Psychology professors should realize that their very practice
>> is at odds with the views of many Moslems;
>>
>> 5.       And the old issue was that the Roman Catholic Church at one
>> time found that there was an issue with the use of human
>> cadavers---will this be "resurrected?"
>>
>>
>>
>> David Evans
>>
>>
>>
>> HAPS-PRO
>>
>
> --
>
> ************************************************************************
> James S. Miller, Ph.D.                        Phone: 574-535-7308
> Chair & Professor of Biology
> Goshen College                                 E-mail: JamesSM@xxxxxxxxxx
> Goshen IN 46526-4795 USA                    Web: http://www.goshen.edu
> <http://www.goshen.edu/>************************************************************************
>
>


-- 
Trevor Day
PhD Candidate
Physiology and Biophysics
Faculty of Medicine
University of Calgary
taday@xxxxxxxxxxx
(403)220-4528

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