#Council on Academic Freedom

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Steven Pinker and Bertha Madras

Published: Apr 12, 2023

The new Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard is devoted to free inquiry, intellectual diversity, and civil discourse. Leaders are diverse in politics, demographics, disciplines, and opinions but united in their concern for academic freedom.

--

Confidence in American higher education is sinking faster than for any other institution, with barely half of Americans believing it has a positive effect on the country.

No small part in this disenchantment is the impression that universities are repressing differences of opinion, like the inquisitions and purges of centuries past. It has been stoked by viral videos of professors being mobbed, cursed, heckled into silence, and sometimes assaulted, and it is vindicated by some alarming numbers. According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, between 2014 and 2022 there were 877 attempts to punish scholars for expression that is, or in public contexts would be, protected by the First Amendment. Sixty percent resulted in actual sanctions, including 114 incidents of censorship and 156 firings (44 of them tenured professors) — more than during the McCarthy era. Worse, for every scholar who is punished, many more self-censor, knowing they could be next. It’s no better for the students, a majority of whom say that the campus climate prevents them from saying things they believe.

The embattled ideal of academic freedom is not just a matter of the individual rights of professors and students. It’s baked into the mission of a university, which is to seek and share the truth — veritas, as our university, Harvard, boasts on its seal.

The reason that a truth-seeking institution must sanctify free expression is straightforward. No one is infallible or omniscient. Mortal humans begin in ignorance of everything and are saddled with cognitive biases that make the search for knowledge arduous. These include overconfidence in their own rectitude, a preference for confirmatory over disconfirmatory evidence, and a drive to prove that their own alliance is smarter and nobler than their rivals. The only way that our species has managed to learn and progress is by a process of conjecture and refutation: Some people venture ideas, others probe whether they are sound, and in the long run the better ideas prevail.

Any community that disables this cycle by repressing disagreement is doomed to chain itself to error, as we are reminded by the many historical episodes in which authorities enforced dogmas that turned out to be flat wrong. An academic establishment that stifles debate betrays the privileges that the nation grants it and is bound to provide erroneous guidance on vital issues like pandemics, violence, gender, and inequality. Even when the academic consensus is almost certainly correct, as with vaccines and climate change, skeptics can understandably ask, “Why should we trust the consensus, if it comes out of a clique that brooks no dissent?”

There are many reasons to think that repression of academic freedom is systemic and must be actively resisted. To start with, the very concept of freedom of expression is anything but intuitively obvious. What is intuitively obvious is that the people who disagree with us are spreading dangerous falsehoods and must be silenced for the greater good. (Of course the other guys believe the same thing, with the sides switched.)

The counter-intuitiveness of academic freedom is easily reinforced by several campus dynamics. The intellectual commons is vulnerable to the collective action problem of concentrated benefits and diffuse costs: A cadre of activists may find meaning and purpose in their cause and be willing to stop at nothing to prosecute it, while a larger number may disagree but feel they have other things to do with their time than push back. The activists command an expanding arsenal of asymmetric warfare, including the ability to disrupt events, the power to muster physical or electronic mobs on social media, and a willingness to smear their targets with crippling accusations of racism, sexism, or transphobia in a society that rightly abhors them. An exploding bureaucracy for policing harassment and discrimination has professional interests that are not necessarily aligned with the production and transmission of knowledge. Department chairs, deans, and presidents strive to minimize bad publicity and may proffer whatever statement they hope will make the trouble go away. Meanwhile, the shrinking political diversity of faculty threatens to lock in the regime for generations to come.

One kind of resistance will surely make thing worse: attempts by politicians to counter left-wing muscle with right-wing muscle by stipulating the content of education through legislation or by installing cronies in hostile takeovers of boards of trustees. The coin of the realm in academia ought to be persuasion and debate, and the natural protagonists ought to be the faculty. They can hold universities accountable to the commitments to academic freedom that are already enshrined in faculty policies, handbooks, and in the case of public universities, the First Amendment.

In this spirit, we have joined with 50 colleagues to create a new Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard. It’s not about us. For many years we have each expressed strong and often unorthodox opinions with complete freedom and with the support, indeed warm encouragement, of our colleagues, deans, and presidents. Yet we know that not all is well for more vulnerable colleagues and students. Harvard ranks 170th out of 203 colleges in FIRE’s Free Speech Rankings, and we know of cases of disinvitation, sanctioning, harassment, public shaming, and threats of firing and boycotts for the expression of disfavored opinions. More than half of our students say they are uncomfortable expressing views on controversial issues in class.

The Council is a faculty-led organization that is devoted to free inquiry, intellectual diversity, and civil discourse. We are diverse in politics, demographics, disciplines, and opinions but united in our concern that academic freedom needs a defense team. Our touchstone is the “Free Speech Guidelines” adopted by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 1990, which declares, “Free speech is uniquely important to the University because we are a community committed to reason and rational discourse. Free interchange of ideas is vital for our primary function of discovering and disseminating ideas through research, teaching, and learning.”

Naturally, since we are professors, we plan to sponsor workshops, lectures, and courses on the topic of academic freedom. We also intend to inform new faculty about Harvard’s commitments to free speech and the resources available to them when it is threatened. We will encourage the adoption and enforcement of policies that protect academic freedom. When an individual is threatened or slandered for a scholarly opinion, which can be emotionally devastating, we will lend our personal and professional support. When activists are shouting into an administrator’s ear, we will speak calmly but vigorously into the other one, which will require them to take the reasoned rather than the easy way out. And we will support parallel efforts led by undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students.

Harvard is just one university, but it is the nation’s oldest and most famous, and for better or worse, the outside world takes note of what happens here. We hope the effects will spread outside our formerly ivy-covered walls and encourage faculty and students elsewhere to rise up. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and if we don’t defend academic freedom, we should not be surprised when politicians try to do it for us or a disgusted citizenry writes us off.

Steven Pinker is Johnstone Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard. Bertha Madras is Professor of Psychobiology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Laboratory of Addiction Neurobiology at McLean Hospital.

==

Hopefully this strategy will be adopted at other institutions before academia collapses into irrelevancy. The challenge they will have is standing up to the giant administrative bureaucracy which holds the most power in the institution.

[sciencedayforpeaceanddev]

Second Conference on Academic Freedom in the Americas.

Despite the growing recognition of the importance of academic freedom for free and democratic societies, higher education is under constant threat in the Americas. This includes the political control of higher education institutions, the use of force on campuses and in university facilities, administrative and criminal legislation aimed at silencing academics, ideological censorship of academic discourse and limitations on freedom of research and expression, and impunity with respect to sexual violence in university spaces throughout the hemisphere.

The Second Conference on Academic Freedom in the Americas will feature panels on academic freedom and contributions that highlight challenges and opportunities in protection, advocacy, litigation and best practices in academic freedom and university autonomy. It will also serve as the global launch of Scholars at Risk’s Free to Think 2023 report.Register and view programme

About the Free to Think 2023 Report

Free to Think 2023 analyzes 409 attacks on higher education communities in 66 countries and territories. These attacks occurred in the context of authoritarian entrenchment and democratic backsliding, and governments increasingly used their regulatory power to constrain higher education and limit university autonomy, academic freedom, and free expression on campus.   During the past year, Iranian authorities violently suppressed student and scholar participation in the “Women, Life, Freedom” protest movement. The Taliban took the extraordinary step of barring women from higher education and then brutally repressed the public opposition to those restrictions. Government crackdowns on dissent reinforced cultures of fear and self-censorship in Russia, China, and Turkey. Universities in Myanmar, Sudan, and Ukraine are on the frontlines of conflict as militaries and other armed groups have damaged and occupied facilities. In the United States, lawmakers have sought to restrict teaching and research related to disfavored topics and have undermined university autonomy.

These are just a few of the concerning developments in Free to Think 2023. Together, they document a global phenomenon that not only harms individuals, but also shrinks the space for discourse and sharing ideas. These attacks harm all of society and they must stop. 

Scholars at Risk calls for global action in defense of academic freedom and urges states, higher education communities, civil society, and the public to respond: to help protect scholars, students, and higher education institutions; to help protect everyone’s freedom to think, question, and share ideas.

[leneemusing]

HYPER SPECIFIC SMUT PROMPTS

note: some of these may include kinks and fetish dynamics which might be squicks for some (tw for power imbalances, dubious consent, breeding etc), proceed with caution and please feel free to cross out what you don't want to write when reblogging <3

ALTERNATE UNIVERSES

[ ARRANGED ] muses are in an arranged marriage and now have to consummate the union

[ EXES ] our muses broke up a few years ago, they run into each other at a party and end up having sex again

[ INFIDELITY ] our muses used to date but it didn't work out, they're now both in relationships but end up in an affair together. this prompt is for their first time entering the affair.

[ AFFAIR ] our muses have been having an affair and receiver tries to stop but ends up having sex again, claiming it's the last time.

[ POWER ] sender is receiver's boss and knows receiver has a crush on them. they decide to act on it late night during closing.

[ CRUSH ] receiver is sender's boss and knows sender has a crush on them. they decide to act on it late night during closing.

[ TEACH ] receiver is sexually inexperienced and approaches sender to ask them to teach them and help them get more experience after they had a bad date.

[ TAUGHT ] sender is sexually inexperienced and approaches receiver to ask them to teach them and help them get more experience after they had a bad date.

[ TUTOR ] muse A has been tutoring muse B in a subject they struggle with. after a long session which has both of them frustrated, they end up having sex on the table and ruin the books.

[ TUTORING ] continuing the above scenario, the tutor quizzes the pupil while stimulating them. every time the pupil gets a question wrong they are edged or punished in some way.

[ LEARN ] our muses are in college together, muse A is popular and socially adept but has bad experiences with keeping a romantic partner. muse B is shy and has a smaller friend group but the friendships are more emotionally deep than anything A has experienced. the two muses are in a study group together and strike up a conversation in which they come to a deal: muse B will help A become more academically cultured and emotionally sensitive enough to get the partners they want. in return muse A will help with muse B's social standing. they begin a sexual relationship under the guise of helping muse B come out of their shell but really muse A just has a crush on them all while B thinks they're being used.

[ FIGHT ] our muses are leaders on opposing sides of a war. they have known each other before the war and now their sexual tension is worsened while trying to negotiate a truce. while disagreeing on terms they have rough sex, each one trying to dominate the other.

[ BATTLE ] our muses are soldiers and on the eve of a battle they might not survive they have sex together

[ CAPTIVE ] receiver is sender's captive and has been trying to wear them down over time by connecting emotionally. they initiate sex in hopes it will buy them freedom. (up to you if it's genuine on both sides or only manipulation)

[ CAPTIVATED ] sender is receiver's captive and has been trying to wear them down over time by connecting emotionally. they initiate sex in hopes it will buy them freedom. (feel free to specific circumstances of captivity)

[ FRIENDS ] our muses have been best friends for a long time. lately one or both have had bad luck with dating and just want some comfort so they decide to have sex.

[ SPELL ] our muses must have sex for a magic ritual which requires multiple rounds from 3 am until sunrise.

[ HEIR ] muse A is the leader of the nation and has not been able to produce an heir (feel free to specify reason), muse B has been selected by their doctors and council to try and bare their children.

[jstor]

From all of us at JSTOR, happy Black History Month!

The profound impact of African American writers, artists, politicians, and academics, along with countless others, is indelibly etched into the fabric of American history–and we'll be highlighting them all month long.

Image credit: 

Fink, Larry (1941-2023). Malcolm X, Rally for Birmingham, Harlem, NY, May, 1963. 1963, printed 2019. Archival pigment print, 22 x 17 in. (55.88 x 43.18 cm). 

Levy, Mark. Mississippi Freedom Summer 1964. 1964. Queens College Special Collections and Archives.

Borg, Erik. Toni Morrison. August 26, 1977. 

Lisa Kuzia. Angela Davis. 1980-1985. Black and white photography, 4 3/4 x 3 3/4 in. Special Collections and Archives, Colby College Libraries, Waterville, Maine. 

Padow-Sederbaum, Phyllis. Junior NAACP Demonstration. 1963. Queens College Special Collections and Archives. 

Allied Printing Trades Council. Placard from Memorial March Reading “HONOR KING: END RACISM!” 1968.  National Museum of African American History and Culture; On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 1, C1 053; Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

Created by C. M. Battey, American. W.E.B. Du Bois/. 1918. Silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper. National Museum of African American History and Culture; Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

Mosley, John W. Civil Rights Demonstrators at Girard College. Philadelphia PA: Temple University Libraries, 1965-07-17. Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection.

[thehungrycity]

Vice-chancellors have rejected calls to shut down the pro-Palestine encampments at Australian universities, saying campuses don’t want to see an “escalation” of the kind that is happening in the US.

A snap meeting was held on Thursday between the Group of Eight (Go8) vice-chancellors, the Australasian Union of Jewish Students, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) and the secretary of the education department to discuss the safety of students and staff amid the protests.

Vicki Thomson, the Go8 chief executive, said it was a “very constructive” meeting that allowed universities to hear the concerns of representative bodies.

Mark Scott, the vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney, attended Thursday’s meeting. A protest on the lawns of his university is now into its 11th day, the longest of any Australian camps.

Scott took to LinkedIn on Thursday to reject calls from shadow education minister Sarah Henderson for police intervention, maintaining the exercise of free speech could be “challenging and confronting”.

“I am not convinced what is happening on US campuses demonstrates a pathway to greater safety and security for any students or staff, nor helps to build a community committed to free speech and thoughtful exchanges of divergent views,” Scott wrote.

“Protests and vigorous debates have always been part of our culture of academic freedom … even when, as individuals, we may strongly disagree with things we hear said.”

On Friday, the University of Sydney camp was met with a counter-protest by the group Together with Israel, but the situation remained relatively peaceful. There was no apparent police presence.

Monash University’s vice-chancellor, Prof Sharon Pickering, was also in attendance at Thursday’s meeting, as was the University of Adelaide’s provost, Prof John Williams. Both universities have backed the lawful expression of peaceful protest on their campuses.

The University of Melbourne’s vice-chancellor, Duncan Maskell, wrote to his university’s community last week reiterating respect for peaceful protest was “core” to the university’s values.

The Jewish Council of Australia has condemned the wave of counter-protests, labelling one at the University of Melbourne on Thursday a “motley group of rightwing zionists”.

Its executive officer, Dr Max Kaiser, said students in the Gaza solidarity camps were taking a “brave and peaceful stand against genocide and should be heard”.

[vixen-academia]

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Military Coup that occurred here in Brazil (with a little help from USA, may I remind you)

The military killed and tortured thousands of people. They killed mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, friends… they tortured children. They faked suicides. They targeted trans people, specially trans woman. They massacred indigenous.

Always good to remember the face of those who were assassinated by the dictatorship fighting for our freedom. Remember their names. Remember their faces. Don’t let their death be in vain.

Telma Regina Cordeiro Correa: a geography student from my university. Now the academic directory (it’s like the college version of a student council in Brazil) of Geography has her name.

Stuart and Zuzu Angel: Stuart was an activist fighting for the end of the dictatorship. He went missing and his mother. The stylist Zuzu Angel started to talk about the dictatorship with foreign media. She was killed by a car “accident”.

Edson Luís: a highschooler killed by the militaries during a protest against the high prices of the school’s restaurant.

Alfeu de Alcântara Monteiro: A military from the Aeronautical He was killed by their own colleagues for standing up for democracy, being considered the first victim of the dictatorship.

And there are many, MANY more. Some of them were actively fighting against the militaries (sometimes literally, with guns and etc). Others were just mistaken. Some were just “wrong place, wrong time” situations. Others helped someone who was fighting. But their lives ended unfairly. Some families couldn’t even bury their loved ones. And that’s why we need to remember.

“Ódio e nojo à Ditadura! Para que não se esqueça, para que nunca mais aconteça: DITADURA NUNCA MAIS!” (EN, loosely translated: Spite and pish towards dictatorship! So we never forget, so it never happens again: DICTATORSHIP NEVER MORE!)

[bsof-maarav]

Editor’s Note: Sanne DeWitt is a microbiologist, geneticist, researcher, and author of a memoir: “I Was Born In An Old Age Home”. She has lived in Berkeley, California since 1957, where she moved for advanced studies in microbiology and genetics, and worked there until her retirement. The views expressed here are those of the author. View more opinion on CNN.CNN — 

In 1957, I moved to Berkeley, California: a bastion of American liberalism that squarely aligns with my progressive values, and a hub of American scholarship that nurtured my academic quest and professional growth. I came here for advanced studies in microbiology and genetics. Since then, I have lived, worked as a scientist and retired in this community.

Over the 65 years that I have called this beautiful area home, I have occasionally encountered antisemitism, but these one-off incidents never succeeded in destroying my spirit. When I was four years old, Nazis burst into my bedroom and sent me and my family to Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp. We were soon released and I was smuggled out of Germany by a Christian woman. After this harrowing experience, not much in the Bay Area could scare me.

But since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the hatred towards Jews that I have seen in Berkeley terrifies me more than anything I have experienced while living here. I am still reeling from being called a liar at a Berkeley City Council meeting, where I asked for a proclamation to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day and spoke about October 7. The Jews at that meeting were circled and called “Zionist pigs” by menacing protesters.

We are approaching the holiday of Passover, which commemorates the freedom of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and our formation as a free Jewish people in our own land. But this Passover is like no other in recent history, with scores of hostages still held in Gaza and Jews worldwide fearful for our future — including Jews in the US. We are facing the worst global antisemitism since the Holocaust and while it is not state-sanctioned as Nazism was, it is a threat going unchecked in California’s East Bay.

It is incredibly painful to see my neighbors vilify Jews, tear down posters of Jewish hostages in Gaza and not believe Jewish rape victims. In this hotbed, hatred and hostility have become normalized. Families have moved their children out of public schools. Jewish businesses have been vandalized and boycotted. And lies about Jews and Israel have gone unchecked and unchallenged in our public forums. Our local Jewish community is both horrified and petrified.

This onslaught of Jewish hatred cannot become the new normal. This epidemic must be treated as seriously as all other hatreds that our society is confronting, such as racism and homophobia. We need more education about Judaism and how the long, sordid history of antisemitism ties into other forms of hatred in our public schools.

We need colleges and universities to unequivocally denounce hate speech and actions directed at Jews. We need public officials to urge mutual respect, understanding and civil discourse during city council and town hall meetings.

I have seen where unchecked antisemitism can lead, when people will do nothing — or worse, join the mainstream, such as our German neighbors during Nazism. This Passover, I resolve with whatever time I have left in this world to fight for the safety of the Jewish people, in Berkeley and around the globe.

During Passover, we are commanded to tell the story of the exodus out of Egypt to our children. We believe in the lasting power of sharing this history with younger generations and reflecting on this hopeful new beginning. There is also lasting power in sharing my history as a Jewish refugee — and I invite my Berkeley neighbors to hear my story. Without understanding and acceptance, we are enslaved by our biases.

The hatred, violence and bigotry against the Jewish community cannot continue — for our shared future, we must confront it and root it out.

[girlactionfigure]

⭕KINDERGARTEN HIT, PREEMPTIVE RUMORS - Real time from Israel  

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( VIDEO - Kindergarten HIT by a Hezbollah rocket in Acre. )

❗️For the 2nd time in a week, Hezbollah HIT a kindergarten, this time in Acre.  Fortunately the little children were not killed. But, as in the last case, the explosion was in the playground where the children were a minute before.  We await the condemnations and indictment for war crimes.

🔸CEASEFIRE NEWS.. US envoy Amos Hochstein will arrive in Israel tonight to discuss a Lebanon ceasefire deal.  However, those close to the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament told Sky News in Arabic: There are agreements on almost 80% of the issues.

.. Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Kassem on the cease-fire proposal: We have forwarded our comments, stopping the war now depends on the Israeli response.

.. Senior officials in Israel: The two main controversies, pertaining to Israeli freedom of action in Lebanon in the event of a violation, and the composition of the supervisory committee in Lebanon.

▪️OPPOSITION MK EISENKOT.. submitted a bill to finance academic tuition for combatants and supporters of combat, failed in the plenary following opposition from the coalition. Earlier, the coalition asked to postpone the vote in order to examine whether the proposal is possible in terms of budget - but he refused.

Likud: The law "Dimensions for studies" established 100% funding for a bachelor's degree for combat soldiers, passed on Dec. 2023.  Why is the opposition creating a false image?

▪️UN SEC COUNCIL.. attempted to pass a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza without immediately returning the hostages - but with Israel releasing Palestinian terror prisoners.  US veto’d. 

▪️I.C.J.  .. Prof. Malcolm Shaw, head of Israel's defense team at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, at the Security and Democracy Conference of the Israel Democracy Institute: "At the international level, Israel's position is weak. Israel is not Russia. Russia can afford to break the law and get away with it."

▪️MILITARY INDUSTRY.. The aerospace industry reports a backlog of orders of about 25 billion dollars - an all-time record. Among other things, the company presented an increase of about 74% in the net profit in the first 9 months of 2024, this in relation to the corresponding period last year.

❗️IRAQ - reports of Israeli preparations for a pre-emptive strike in Iraqi territory against the Shia militias supported by Iran. Transportation of heavy Iranian missiles to these militias in recent weeks.

♦️LEBANON - Wave of airstrikes through the day.

♦️SAMARIA - JENIN - forces carrying out works to expose terror infrastructures and destroy them, and eliminate terrorists.  IED’s encountered.

♦️SYRIA - significant airstrikes in Palmyra, central Syria.  Enemy report: a meeting was held that included officers from the regime with members of the Iranian militias.

⭕ROCKET HIT - Kiryat Shmona - apartment building seriously damaged.  No injuries.

[youreyeson1y]

ii. JYP ACADEMY

a leading private academy located at outskirts of seoul, south korea, JYPA is the dream institution of many talented individuals all over the country, and even overseas.

JYPA takes pride in having an unique approach to learning — they put as much importance in extra-curriculars as they do in academic education. one of the few performing arts academy, they give the students full freedom to pursue or engage in whatever craft they're drawn towards.

but for such an unique system to be sustained, they also need some rules. thus, the academy has their own democratic student council, with students from the third and fourth year being able to elect themselves for the role of president and vice president.

the current student council body is lead by their president, PARK JIHYO, the vice president, KANG Y/N, assisted by the respective class representatives and club leaders.

PREVIOUS < MASTERLIST > NEXT

MI'S NOTES — okay so this was kind of important because i wanted the story to be set in kind of like a high school-ish system with councils and clubs and all, but also wanted the characters to be aged up, so here is like a short introduction to jypa, to make sure there isn't much confusion in the future

STEAL THE SHOW. a kim seungmin smau

SYNOPSIS — kang y/n's focus was divided between the looming competition and the obnoxious and infuriating kim seungmin. his mocking and sarcastic online jabs sparked her retaliation, entertaining the university with their petty banter. but as their online repartee became routine, curiosity supplanted irritation, threatening her priorities and composure.

TAGLIST — open! (send in an ask to be added 🤍)

@babrieeee, @starlostastronaut, @charlieg1rl, @queen-in-the-shadows, @estella-novella

[mysticfoxdesigns]

Texas Antisemitism Executive Order

PLEASE SHARE THIS AROUND!!

As many of y'all know by now, I am a Texan. Specifically a Texan in higher education, at a public university. Gov. Abbott's new executive order to have public universities crack down on Anti-Semitic speech directly impacts the students advocating for Palestine.

Phrases such as "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" can now be considered HATE SPEECH!

“Some radical organizations on our campuses engaged in acts that have no place in Texas,” Abbott said in a press release. “Now, we must work to ensure that our college campuses are safe spaces for members of the Jewish community.”

This was never about protecting Jewish people, but protecting Zionists. The order was issued after universities across Texas had issues after Oct. 7th's events. Pro-Palestine and Pro-Israel students were butting heads, and some broke out into fights according to some sources. As a uni student myself, I have seen these conflicting sides in person. Abbott's statement also makes no mention of the Anti-Islamic rhetoric that has also been spreading due to Israel's persecution of Palestinians.

This order calls for all public universities and colleges review their free speech policies, and to lay out in their policies the definition of antisemitism, and punishments for Anti-Semitic rhetoric. All within 90 days of the order's publishment.

Most of this appears to be banking on HB 3257, the bill that introduced Texas' Holocaust, Genocide, And Antisemitism Advisory Commission

Now, there has been some actual pushback on this, from the The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Texas) as well as students and administration from the universities and colleges effected.

“This order not only undermines the principles of free speech and academic freedom but also perpetuates a harmful narrative that equates criticism of Israeli policies with antisemitism,” CAIR-DFW Executive Director Mustafa Carroll said in a statement.

Taken from the Dallas Morning News article posted earlier in this post.

The wordage used by Abbott worries many people, due to the fact that it is so vague. To the point where criticizing Israel and it's government can be considered hate speech.

Please share this around. If it is happening here, it can happen to any state.

Don't stop speaking about Palestine. Don't stop supporting the Palestinian citizens who are displaced right now. Educate your peers, donate if you are able, and don't give up hope.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Sarah Posner for TPM:

I am a journalist who has covered the Christian right for two decades. Over the past three years, I began to more frequently use the term “Christian nationalism” to describe the movement I cover. But I did not start using a new term to suggest its proponents’ ideology had changed. Instead, the term had come into more common usage in the Trump era, now regularly used by academics, journalists, and pro-democracy activists to describe a movement that insists America is a “Christian nation” — that is, an illiberal, nominally democratic theocracy, rather than a pluralistic secular democracy. To me, the phrase was highly descriptive of the movement I’ve dedicated my career to covering, and neatly encapsulates the core threat the Christian right poses to freedom and equality. From its top leaders and influencers down to the grassroots — politically mobilized white evangelicals, the foot soldiers of the Christian right — its proponents believe that God divinely ordained America to be a Christian nation; that this Christian nation has come under attack by liberals and secularists; and that patriotic Christians must engage in spiritual warfare to rid America of demonic forces, and in political action to restore its Christian heritage. That includes taking political steps — as a voter, as an elected official, as a lawyer, as a judge — to ensure that America is governed according to a “biblical worldview.”

If you want to see that definition in action, look no further than the career of House Speaker Mike Johnson. Seventeen years ago, when I interviewed Johnson, then a lawyer with the Christian right legal powerhouse Alliance Defending Freedom, I would have labeled him a loyal soldier in the Christian right’s legal army trying to bring down the separation of church and state. He is a product of and a participant in a sprawling religious and political infrastructure that has made the movement’s successes possible, from politically active megachurches, to culture-shaping organizations like Focus on the Family, to political players like the Family Research Council, to the legal force in his former employer ADF. 

In today’s parlance, Johnson is a Christian nationalist — although he, like most of his compatriots, has certainly not embraced the label. But Mike Johnson the House Speaker is still Mike Johnson the lawyer I interviewed all those years ago: an evangelical called to politics to be a “servant leader” to a Christian nation, dedicated to its governance according to a biblical worldview: against church-state separation, for expanded rights for conservative Christians, adamantly against abortion and LGBTQ rights, and especially, currently, trans rights. That mindset is still the beating heart of the Christian right, even as the movement, and other movements in the far-right space, have radicalized in the Trump era, taking on new forms and embracing a range of solutions to the apocalyptic trajectory they see America to be on. Different movements imagining a version of Christian supremacy exist side by side — different strains that often borrow ideas from one another, and that fit comfortably under the banner of Christian nationalism.  

The term “Christian nationalism” became popularized during Trump’s presidency for a few reasons. First, Trump, who first ran in 2016 on a nativist platform with the nationalist slogan “Make America Great Again,” was and still is dependent on white evangelicals to win elections and maintain a hold on power. He is consequently willing to carry out their goals, bringing their ambitions closer to fruition than they’ve ever been in their 45-year marriage to the Republican Party. They have been clear, for example, in crediting him for the downfall of Roe v. Wade, among other assaults on other peoples’ rights.

Second, the prominence of Christian iconography at the January 6 insurrection, and the support for Trump’s stolen election lie before, during, and after January 6 by both Christian right influencers and the grassroots, brought into stark relief that Christian nationalist motivations helped fuel his attempted coup.   Finally, sociologists studying the belief systems of Christian nationalists pushed the term into public usage, as did anti-nationalist Christians, especially after January 6, in order to elevate awareness of the threats Christian nationalism poses to democracy. (The paperback edition of my book, Unholy, which was published in mid-2021 and included a post-January 6 afterword, reflected the increasing usage of the term Christian nationalists by including the term in a fresh subtitle.)

The Trump era, along with the rise of openly Christian nationalist social media sites like Gab, and Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, have given space for otherwise unknown figures, like the rabidly antisemitic Gab founder Andrew Torba, co-author of the book Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide For Taking Dominion And Discipling Nations, and Stephen Wolfe, author of the racist book The Case for Christian Nationalism, to enter the Christian nationalism discourse. Although Torba and Wolfe have made waves online, and extremism watchers are rightly alarmed that their tracts could prove influential and radicalizing, they remain distinct from the Christian right. 

[...]

The conventional Christian right does not want a parallel society or a divorce. They believe they are restoring, and will run, the Christian nation God intended America to be — from the inside. They will do that, in their view, through faith (evangelizing others and bringing them to salvation through Jesus Christ); through spiritual warfare (using prayer to battle satanic enemies of Christian America); and through politics and the law (governing and lawmaking from a “biblical worldview” after eviscerating church-state separation). Changes in the evangelical world, particularly the emphasis in the growing charismatic movement on prophecy, signs and wonders, spiritual warfare, the prosperity gospel, and Trumpism, has intensified the prominence of the supernatural in their politics, giving their Christian nationalism its own unmistakable brand.

For decades, Christian right has been completely open about their beliefs and goals. Their quest to take dominion over American institutions by openly evangelizing and instituting Christian supremacist policies sets the Christian right apart from other types of Christian nationalists who might operate in secret, or imagine utopian communities as the ideal way to save themselves from a secular, debauched nation.  The fact that far-right extremists like Torba or Wolfe embrace the Christian nationalist label gives the more conventional Christian right leaders and organizations space to disassociate themselves from it. Some also berate journalists who use it to describe them, accusing them of hurling a left-wing slur at Christians. 

The bottom line is that Christian nationalism takes on different forms, and despite organizational or even ideological differences, ideas can penetrate the often porous borders between different camps. Someone who receives the daily email blast from the Family Research Council might also be drawn to Wolfe’s book, for example. On a more unnerving, macro level, major right-wing and GOP figures, including Marjorie Taylor Greene and the CEO of the Daily Wire, the podcast consortium run by conservative influencer Ben Shapiro, have embraced the rabidly antisemitic, Hitler-admiring antagonist Nick Fuentes, who is Catholic but also is accurately described as a Christian nationalist. The increasingly influential Catholic integralist movement, which seeks a Catholic-inflected replacement for the “liberal order,” is yet another unique form of Christian nationalism.

Sarah Posner wrote for TPM about the variants of Christian Nationalism within the larger Christian Right movement.

[kulemiwrites]

i desperately need more of your reina headcanons. i am FAMISHED.

I HIGHLY doubt this was what you were looking for but I saw an opportunity and I took it. Might I interest you in some Reina Lore?

BACKGROUND

- She was born to the very affluent Hattori family in Kyoto but at some point in her elementary school years, her family moved to Tokyo so that her father was closer to his work.

-She was an only child. Her mother raised her using a very firm mother/child distinction and her father spent more time in his offices or on the road than at home. So, to say that she grew up feeling sort of lonely is a bit of an understatement. 

-Her parents were pretty traditional and they prioritized grooming her to someday become the model wife and mother, rather than teaching her how to be an individual. At some point in her teens, she realized that her parents had her out of obligation, rather than love (or as a happy accident.)

-Even so, she lived the majority of her youth always striving to keep them satisfied with her (happiness seemed too distant a possibility but satisfaction kept them off her back.)

-She went to all-girls private schools her entire academic life, including university (let’s put a pin in that).

-She was a good student and genuinely enjoyed studying. Her favorite subject was science– chemistry, to be exact. 

-Her parents never really meant for her to attend university. They only wanted her to finish high school so that she could get that social experience but once she graduated, she was meant to be married off to the man of their choosing.

-She wasn’t a fan of the idea. She romanticized the idea of storybook romances and there was nothing romantic about being betrothed to some stuffy, bespectacled man who was only in it for the promise of wealth longevity.

-Since she excelled in her academics, and genuinely enjoyed studying, she pleaded with her parents to allow her to attend university. She allowed them to even choose which school and with the promise of not fighting against them when it came time for her to get married. It took some work to convince them but they ultimately decided and chose yet another girl’s school for her to study at, thinking that it was the better decision. In their minds, all the extra freedom might have given her the wrong idea about seeking out her own husband…

-When approving this, her parents gave her a stipulation: she was required to get married no more than 3 years post graduation and she agreed.

SOCIAL LIFE

-She was well liked during the entirety of her academic life, some might have even referred to her as popular but she was never too fond of the term. 

-She participated in as many activities as she could have over the years. She’d been a part of the student council and she’d been in a handful of clubs. The truth was, it was less about genuine interest in many of these things and more so the desire to fill her empty, free time around others rather than spend it in the loneliness of her home.

-Many people believed that she was lucky to be as charismatic, attractive and well-off as she was but for her, it felt more like an airtight bottle that she was shoved into and suffocated in. No matter where she turned, she felt she was meant to perform/behave the way other people wanted in order to meet their expectations.

-She had many friendships growing up but a lot of them felt very surface level. It was rare for her to find people willing to dig beneath the pristine facade she painted on every morning.

-She tried her hand at dating too (behind her parents’ backs) without much luck. She’d met guys on outings with her school friends and while some of them seemed nice at first, they either turned out to be jerks or they were perfect on paper but she couldn’t bring herself to reciprocate feelings. Her mother had taught her since youth that romantic love was a skill that one learns, rather than a feeling you experience and after several heartbreak, disappointments or trial errors she came to admit to herself that her mother might have been right.

-It took her reaching university, moving away from her parents and really getting to know herself that she realized something very, very, very important about who she was… And it horrified her. She even continued late into her adulthood denying the truth. 

-The family of the man her parents settled on her marrying fell on hardship and the Hattori’s decided that “the merger” wouldn’t have been mutually beneficial anymore. This dissolved the 3-year post grad requirement and she couldn’t have been more relieved. 

-Reina never had any interest in her family business, and since she was never intended to directly be a part of it she always daydreamed of ways that she could simply separate herself from all of it. 

-She’d even run away once, telling herself she would start a new life elsewhere on her own but her father immediately had her found and returned. 

-Upon graduation, with the confidence granted to her by the dissolution of the merger agreement, she confronted her parents with her desire for full independence and made it clear that she was willing to go to hell and back to get it. By this time, her father had grown extremely close to his nephew and was practically set on naming him the primary heir to his legacy anyway, with or without a merger.

-When informed of her plans, her father practically laughed in her face and sarcastically gave her the greenlight to “try” but told her that he expected her to run back home in tears with her palms out when it didn’t work out and when that time came he was “certain” he’d have a new merger secured. 

-Sarcasm or not, she took the chance and she left her family home at 23, just a year after graduation. Using the savings she’d started in middle school, she paid for and furnished her very first apartment on her own. 

-She looked into careers that would allow her to put her degree to use but not much screamed out at her. She didn’t think working for someone else would have been enough to prove her father wrong.

-The idea to open Serena came when she was out on the town with a couple of friends from university. 

-She’d always had a bit of a fascination with mixology anyway, despite not being much of a drinker herself. So, from there, she looked into making it a reality.

And the rest is history…

[Like I said, I know you were probably expecting something different like, spice and cute relationship stuff and I can totally do that but I have been wanting to talk about my backstory for Reina for a few years now and I leaped at the chance jkhdsfsd. If you're not happy with this, the ask box is closed BUT for you? Feel to come back and request something a little more specific so I can stay on prompt for you! Also, I can tell you, there is an NSFW ATOZ for Reina in the works. There I intend to touch on something that got hinted at here 👀]

And if you're just dying for something steamy, I recently drew (very badly might I add) something of her. Have a looksie~ hehe.

[ultfreakme]

Freeing Palestine is India's fight

I've seen lots of posts about how Western countries and their populations should be concerned for stopping the genocide in Palestine but Indians are involved in this as well.

India has a HUGE Islamophobia problem, from the day India became what it is, this country exists the way it does through conflict regarding religious majorities and it is a problem we must acknowledge.

Collective punishment has often been carried out indiscriminately against Muslims in India- Muslim people's houses in Madhya Pradesh have been demolished without warning. This has also happened in Uttar Pradesh and in 2023, Haryana(300 businesses and homes). These were all normal innocent civilians who had proper legal paperwork showing their purchase and ownership of their home and land, but the police did not care. In many of these instances the police stood by and were involved in demolition and all of these were under BJP-majority and ruled areas. The recent Ram Mandir was built on the demolished land of Babri Masjid(it was built in the 14th century before India as it was even a THING, its destruction & demolition on the claim that it was Ram's birth place is unfair). Hate crimes against Muslims run amok and there are multiple cases of violence against Muslims in India.

PM Modi of the BJP party has been consistent in maintaining positive relations with Benjamin Netanyahu and the occupying force of Israel. A majority of the military equipment for India comes from Israel, and India has constantly been neutral in UN council meetings when decisions regarding Israel are brought up. A spyware called Pegasus, developed by the occupying force of Israel was used to surveil politicians, journalists, activists etc severely breaching right to privacy and threatening freedom of speech.

Worse; India has been using the Israeli strategy of colonizing Palestine with Kashmir. Jammu & Kashmir is a union territory which basically means they are allowed to function independently on most fronts but India has been seeking to integrate J&K into itself and has been extremely hostile to its Muslim citizens and are currently intensifying their occupation efforts. There have been consistent internet and communication blackouts since 2018 and it is STILL ongoing.

India invited Israeli officials to Kashmir to open 'Centers of Excellence' which are supposedly for agricultural innovation but everyone in J&K are concerned and see it as India taking an opportunity to intensify its occupation with Israeli help.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, several Kashmiris told Middle East Eye the Israeli agriculture hubs would deepen India's occupation in the region and accelerate its settler-colonial project. "Earlier, we would draw the parallels between Kashmir and Palestine or India's intimate alliance with Israel. But now they are bringing Israel to the Valley in the form of these institutions - which will be "agro-oriented" in name - but we all know that Israel will physically help India in Kashmir to turn it into a proper Palestine," a Kashmiri academic based in Istanbul told Middle East Eye.

In 2016 Coalition of Civil Society said there are more than 8000 'disappearances' of people in J&K. There are mass graves with over 2000 bodies being found with these unlawful activities being attributed to the Indian Security Forces. That's just scratching the surface of decades of violence and human rights violations enacted by India.

BJP is not shy about its ties to the RSS and promotes Hindutva(I've seen people citing the literal meaning of the word as evidence that it is harmless but the word is a label given to an embraced by extreme right-wing groups who are open about their Islamaphobia. Meaning of the word becomes pointless when actions speak otherwise).

India is an occupying force on J&K, it's suppressing Muslims, demonizing them and further marginalizing them in the name of 'Hinduism'. It buys from Israel and endorses them. As Indians, it is key that we do whatever we can to stop the genocide because we are unwittingly being used to fuel this and are being radicalized to hate on our neighbors, the people we share our land and history with.

Even outside of the ways in which the current government is shamelessly supporting Israel, India's history is rife with colonization. The British had occupied us, forced us into fighting each other, into prioritizing meaningless differences to suppress each other. We were once starved by occupying forces, violated, killed. Our land is also covered in blood shed by colonization.

What are we doing if we don't speak up? If we don't stop this? Do not follow the propaganda conflating extreme right-wing ideologies with the identity of being Indian. Don't buy into the idea that India is "for Hindus", we are so ridiculously diverse, there are 100s of languages and religions in this country.

Free Jammu & Kashmir, free Palestine, stop Islamophobia.

[bluekat12345]

Naranja/Uva Academy student tracks

While it isn't really significant, in the Pokémon Scarlet/Violet games, whatever academy we're in, the students (our character and our friends/rivals) are mentioned to be in certain academic tracks.

The Player: General Studies

Nemona: General Studies

Arven: Humanities

Penny: STEM

Lately, I've been wondering what academic tracks other students in were. Specifically, what tracks the Team Star bosses were enrolled in. I had a few ideas on what tracks they could possibly be in, and I'll explain why I think so.

Giacomo: Humanities

This was the hardest, but ultimately, I think he would be in the Humanities track due to his past as a model top student and former Student Council President. He also helped create Team Star's code and he served as leader in Cassiopia/Penny's absence, so I feel like he would do well in this track.

Mela: General Studies

Ultimately, I see her as being in General Studies since during the Team Star tutoring session, she mentions that she doesn't really know what she wanted to do in the future, in contrast to the rest of her friends and only comes up with being a painter after the tutoring, so I can see her in this track so she'll learn the basics and have more freedom to figure out what she wants to do with her life.

Atticus: Arts and Design

Atticus is an aspiring fashion designer, having been the one to make the team bosses' outfits, but he also gives off theater kid vibes with how he acts like a ninja and his Shakespearean vocabulary, and these are all things that I see being taught and encouraged in this track, which he would thrive in.

Ortega: ABM (Accountancy, Business, and Mangement)

Since he is heir to major apparel company in Paldea, so I imagine his parents would want him in this course, so he'll be able to properly run the company when he's old enough. While this would be his track, I can also see him taking Industrial Arts classes as electives/extracurriculars since he is the team mechanic and was able to create the Starmobiles with Revavrooms with different types.

Eri: Sports

I believe this is rather obvious since it is mentioned she is attending the academy on a sports scholarship and is said to be a skilled athlete, is the strongest boss of the five bosses, and is the one that helped train the team. She even forms a wrestling club at the school.

[catalystrelay]

Petition for Emory University to reconsider the tenure of Mark Bauerlein, one of the DeSantis appointed Board of Trustees members of New College. The details on why his tenure should be reconsidered are contained in the letter.

Please consider signing it, it is a chance to strike back at one of the people aiding in the destruction of academic freedom in Florida.

[eretzyisrael]

by Corey Walker

Arguing that anti-Zionist activists are part of a long tradition of “freedom fighters” and “liberators,” Hill implored the US federal government to revoke all economic and diplomatic assistance to Israel, including support at the United Nations Security Council. He also argued that defeating Zionism is a necessary stepping stone on the path to ultimately dismantling capitalism.

“Stop it! Tell the truth! Stand up for freedom!” he said. “Do the work of liberation! Until Palestine is free, until Sudan is free, until Congo is free, until Haiti is free, not one single one of us free! Free Palestine, from the river to the Motherf—king sea!” Hill said, triumphantly pumping a balled fist in the air. 

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine shall be free” — a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists — has been widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Algemeiner asked the panelists why there was no mention of Oct. 7 or Hamas when discussing the causes of the ongoing war in Gaza. The outlet also asked whether the panelists believe Hamas should surrender in exchange for the sake of preserving Palestinian life.

“I feel like we have this reflexive take in American media politics where we have to say, ‘What about Hamas?'” Hill said in response in a mocking tone, adding that invoking the terrorist group is “unnecessary” and “excessive.”

“Hamas hasn’t surrendered because they’re still under brutal occupation. Hamas hasn’t surrendered because Israel has never given the Palestinian people one minute, one moment of self-determination, freedom, or liberation,” Hill said. 

“And so, when you talk about Hamas, when you talk about Oct. 7, you [should] also talk about Oct. 6. Because, history didn’t start on Oct. 7,” he continued.

Hill went on to say that although it is against his “moral code” to maim, rape, and slaughter thousands innocent civilians or abduct hundreds of innocent bystanders, as Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists did on Oct. 7, he believes that it is not his “job to tell people how to liberate themselves.”

“The question presumes, and it is undergirded by a kind of orientalist, white supremacist idea that Palestinians are these unyielding, barbaric, uncivilized, premodern people that are incapable of negotiation.”

The academic then defended Hamas as a “democratically-elected organization that has been systematically undermined.” He urged the audience not to talk about Hamas “like they’re some irrational crazy people,” arguing that the Islamist group’s actions are motivated by a “backdrop of Israeli settler-states that sexually abuse people, that steal land, that kill people.”

“Let’s have a real conversation about Hamas, not the neoliberal, dishonest, orientalist conversation about Hamas,” Hill concluded. 

Hill has a long history of peddling anti-Israel narratives and calling for explicit violence against the Jewish state. In 2018, Hill was fired from his position as a CNN contributor for calling for “free Palestine from the river to the sea,” a phrase which according to critics implies a genocide or mass expulsion of Jews from Israel. He has also voiced support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS), an initiative which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as the first step toward its eventual destruction. The pundit additionally praised antisemitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan — a hate preacher who has referred to Jews as “termites” and called Nazi leader Adolph Hitler “a very great man.” In 2019, Hill skewered mainstream media outlets as “Zionist” organizations, a nod to the antisemitic conspiracy theory notion that Jews control the media. The progressive activist also pushed an unsubstantiated claim that Israel is “poisoning” Palestinian drinking water.

Following the panel, The Algemeiner was pulled aside by a pair of individuals connected to the event and grilled about the publication’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and whether it supported “black solidarity with the Palestinian community.”