Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just to clarify, I used the word liberal in my post -- not as a "lazy pejorative buzzword", but because there ARE those who consider much of academia to be liberal, just as there are those who consider Liberty a machine of hateful bigotry. It is either intellectually dishonest or delusional to recognize the sentiment of one without acknowledging the sentiment of the other. For what its worth, Im always suspicious when people cant realize that those who have either particular political agenda (liberal or conservative), do view their opposition as being indoctrinating of their ideology, whether it be in academia or government.
Just to clarify, I used the word liberal in my post -- not as a "lazy pejorative buzzword", but because there ARE those who consider much of academia to be liberal, just as there are those who consider Liberty a machine of hateful bigotry. It is either intellectually dishonest or delusional to recognize the sentiment of one without acknowledging the sentiment of the other. For what its worth, Im always suspicious when people cant realize that those who have either particular political agenda (liberal or conservative), do view their opposition as being indoctrinating of their ideology, whether it be in academia or government.
There's no doubt that there are people who believe academia to be liberal but are their arguments legitimate? In the game of politics people make all kinds of exaggerations that aren't true but can certainly cause an emotional reaction in the listener. I called it a lazy buzzword because it's too conclusory and doesn't 1) define liberalism and 2) say how academia advances it. Which specific schools are you referring to that are indoctrinating students with this so-called "liberal academics." Are you referring to UVa? U Cal-San Diego? Georgia State Univ? UNC-Charlotte? The problem is we're debating the merits of a specific school--Liberty University--and commenters have given specific examples of the political ideology the school advocates. You're talking about some unspecified "them/they" who are forcing some so-called liberal ideology on students.
There's no doubt that there are people who believe academia to be liberal but are their arguments legitimate? In the game of politics people make all kinds of exaggerations that aren't true but can certainly cause an emotional reaction in the listener. I called it a lazy buzzword because it's too conclusory and doesn't 1) define liberalism and 2) say how academia advances it. Which specific schools are you referring to that are indoctrinating students with this so-called "liberal academics." Are you referring to UVa? U Cal-San Diego? Georgia State Univ? UNC-Charlotte? The problem is we're debating the merits of a specific school--Liberty University--and commenters have given specific examples of the political ideology the school advocates. You're talking about some unspecified "them/they" who are forcing some so-called liberal ideology on students.
Everyone claims their opposition's beliefs are illegitimate, while declaring their own legitimate. If they didnt (whomever you want to believe "they" or "them" is -- it doesnt matter, as this is universally applicable), it wouldnt be considered opposition. From what I know of Liberty (and honestly, Lynchburg in general) it absolutely is bigoted, and judgmental/condemning, and politically biased in some areas. But if the bolded are the parameters to post here, then any post on here that makes a blanket reference to Liberty being a hateful bigoted university is guilty of using "lazy buzzwords", without specifying which professors, which classes, and which subjects, and in what way each advances a hateful agenda and as such would be invalidated due to being unspecified and exaggerated. -- yet these were unaddressed.
Additionally, this thread isnt about specific other schools so its illogical to derail it with specific references to Harvard, or Notre Dame or wherever else. (Not saying these are liberal or conservative, just using them as examples.). Frankly, this thread isnt even a solicitation of opinions about Liberty's religious leanings. So, my statement was a deliberately broad statement about the philosophically different perceptions of academia. It wasnt intended to cherry pick each and every school categorically in this thread about Liberty University.
Last edited by soletaire; 06-25-2012 at 09:48 AM..
I, also, would be leery of being advised by someone who seems so virulently opposed to Liberty. There might be reasons to dislike Liberty, but to disparage it with blanket statements, especially since the person they seem to hate so much died 7 years ago, is pretty daft. I and my wife attended there; she, a nurse for 16 years with the local hospital system (straight out of college) and I, owning a decent business as well as being a full time faculty member at another local liberal arts school. Neither of us found that we were stigmatized by our degree. If any of the three liberal arts colleges in Lynchburg will hire you with a Liberty degree, just about any organization would.
Liberty has been an incredible driver of the local economy and appears to be doing so for quite a while. The leadership is very different than when Jerry Falwell was alive and while the school might have some barriers to being accepted, many of them have been removed over the last five years. Lastly, Liberty is viewed by most people as being more mainstream than Bob Jones or Oral Roberts University, and in some Christian circles, they are actually viewed as being liberal.
Thank you for the info. I still have not registered for courses because I am having a difficult time getting help with the registration process. (getting an Apple computer with the person they tell me I have to go through, help with knowing what courses to take first in the graduate program I was accepted to, ordering the books, getting through the financial process , etc.) It seems like they need people who can help new students wanting to take the course requirements online, because this has been a difficult situation for me.
Haters goin hate....LOL. In all seriousness LU is a solid school. I'm a vet and they are VERY pro vet. Every credit hour for every level of class to include doctoral is just 250 dollars. In the DFAC here in Afghansatin they put up almost every big schools banner hanging from the ceiling. And LU's is hanging up too. Falwell Jr. isn't his father and shouldnt be condemned for things his father did. LU's a religious school just like Baylor, BYU and Notre Dame and are upfront about it. It's better then going to a Uni that claims to be open minded but easily condemns anything it doesn't agree with.
Fun fact the first woman to graduate from Notre Dame was in 1972. LU was founded in 1971. I think LU is still growing and maturing into what one day will be a ND type reputation.
Aside from all this religious talk. LU is a NCAA D1 school. They just won the 2012 Big South Conferance in Football. And they are getting major props from newspapers like the "The New York Times" http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/sp...pagewanted=all and I think that says something.
good the hear all of this. their online programs/school has a lot to do to deal with the tons of people who are trying to get started in their program. It is very difficult to reach someone who is not a student and get the help one needs to get a decent start in their respective programs. I would pack up my bags and attend the program there in Lynchburg but that is not practical for me so I applied to the online graduate program. I was accepted, but have not been able to reach a counselor to help me map out my plan to graduation. Very frustrating.
I, also, would be leery of being advised by someone who seems so virulently opposed to Liberty. There might be reasons to dislike Liberty, but to disparage it with blanket statements, especially since the person they seem to hate so much died 7 years ago, is pretty daft. I and my wife attended there; she, a nurse for 16 years with the local hospital system (straight out of college) and I, owning a decent business as well as being a full time faculty member at another local liberal arts school. Neither of us found that we were stigmatized by our degree. If any of the three liberal arts colleges in Lynchburg will hire you with a Liberty degree, just about any organization would.
Liberty has been an incredible driver of the local economy and appears to be doing so for quite a while. The leadership is very different than when Jerry Falwell was alive and while the school might have some barriers to being accepted, many of them have been removed over the last five years. Lastly, Liberty is viewed by most people as being more mainstream than Bob Jones or Oral Roberts University, and in some Christian circles, they are actually viewed as being liberal.
Yeah, before I enrolled in LU I googled the hell out of LU's rep or anything related. It dawned on me hardly anyone has first hand info. The ones that do love LU, of course you have the small percent that are negative. But thats common with anything. Any forum type info you find on the Internet concerning LU is people's opinions based on others people's opinions. Makes me wonder does anyone do actual research anymore? Or has our society digressed Into Wikipedia based facts or I heard this fact from a friend of a friend...LOL.
3 pages of this forum have been wrote. So far only around 3 people including myself have any first hand knowledge of LU.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
