The Savage Saga

Bookworm's got a great write-up of the Scott Savage academic freedom debacle at Ohio State/Mansfield, complete with details on two of the three "liberal minded" professors who brought charges of sexual harassment against Savage for daring to recommend a book that challenged the Liberal/homosexual agenda.

... Thus, one protester was Assistant Professor Norman Jones, who teaches a course in "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender literature" (something that might just offend a conservative's sensibilities). He's also soon to be the author of one of those books with a meaningless post-modern, gobbledygook title: "Gay & Lesbian Historical Fiction: Sexual Mystery and Post-Secular Writing." Yeah, whatever.

Another was Associate Professor J.F. Buckley, who has written, among other things, "The Social Critic: The Rise of Queer Performance Within the Demise of Transcendentalism". He also wants to bring his teachings to the younger fry, since he's working on "the pedagogy of teaching Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender literature in secondary schools." ...

These men, who apparently think nothing of disseminating their lifestyle and belief system far and wide, nor of teaching it to young America, were offended, deeply offended. So offended that they charged Savage with sexual harassment for daring even to suggest that there are ways of thinking that differ from Jones' and Buckley's.

"It's not what you said, it's what you suggested I read" -- that passes for a justification of a harassment charge at an institution that supposedly is committed to opening minds? Fortunately, not; their action against Savage was quickly tossed. But the fact remains; Savage's recommended reading for incoming Freshmen was not accepted, but the books tearing down our nation's strong values were.

Conservatives are simply too individualistic for their own good. The Left can create a cause, build puppets, chant, lobby and litigate until they win. Our efforts pale in comparison, and our loss is their gain.

But the right is much better at dry wit and irony, like the bake sales that offered cookies at different prices for women and minorities to underscore the unfairness of affirmative action. Here are some ideas to support Savage and the push for academia's acceptance of conservative teaching materials on their hopelessly leftist campuses:

• Organize panty-raids targeting the homes of gay professors -- they're for inclusiveness, right?
• Hey! Hey! Hey Ken Kesey! Gay lit profs are really sleazy!
• Formally submit for consideration a class curricula or theses topic like Straight Fiction: The Sexual Mainstream and Post-Sexual-Fixation Writing or perhaps Christian Literature: Proof that this is not a Post-Secular Era.
• Conduct a book buy-back, at which any any gay, lesbian or transgender book will be purchased back from students. The purchased books will then be used to fuel a gay (see below) bonfire.
• Hold "Gay Liberation Day," in which the word "gay" is returned to its former glory as a happy, non-sexualized adjective. Be sure the rugby team all dresses in "I'm in a gay mood today" T-shirts.

Tags: Scott Savage, Academic freedom, Gay rights, Gay literature, Lesbian, Transgender, Ohio State