Article: Free speech, inquiry not 'dangerous'

There is something especially ironic and amusing about the above quote. Maybe it's the play on words "force" and "pacifist" in the same line. If it had been attributed to Yogi Berra, or was first spoken in a Woody Allen movie, most of us could share a chuckle.

But David Horowitz, conservative author and commentator and one-time left-wing radical, wants to be taken seriously.

And that is why people like 66-year-old Caroline Higgins, a Richmond grandmother and director of Earlham College's peace studies, is troubled. It is why George Wolfe, peace studies professor at Ball State University, is a bit angered and scared.

Both are listed by Horowitz in his new book, "The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America."

Both feel, understandably, rather violated, misunderstood and, most troublesome, threatened by the listing.

Horowitz's response would be: Imagine what it must feel like to be a student in one of their classes, especially a student offering a dissenting view. "My concern is that students at Earlham who take this course do not get a variety of viewpoints," Horowitz told Palladium-Item reporter Bill Engle.

But assuming that is even true, the more pertinent fact would seem to be that no one is requiring a student to take these peace studies courses or purse that academic avenue or, for that matter, attend Earlham or Ball State. Or buy, much less even read, Horowitz new book.

And, frankly, if professors like Higgins and Wolfe, or authors like Horowitz, are not encouraging, even challenging, students and readers to challenge them and to seek out other viewpoints, then they are not championing critical, independent thinking. And, if they are not championing critical, independent thinking, then we could not recommend their classes or their books.

Sadly, it is a measure of this nation's coarsening political discourse that fewer people in public life seem willing or able to repeat this simple yet time-honored phrase: "I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it."