During a class discussion last week, I presented an argument inspired by the lightning talk we had just heard. At the end of class, a student approached me because he had planned to argue a different position during his upcoming lightning talk. “Would that be OK?” he wanted to know. Not only did I encourage the student to deliver his talk as planned, but I also suggested that during his presentation that he should explicitly cite my comments; the ones with which he would be disagreeing.

The same day that the student asked if it was OK that he planned to publicly disagree with me, I learned of comments that Austin Ruse of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute made in which he suggested that I should be “taken out and shot.” Although Ruse did not mention me by name, I am confident that he would include me as one of the “dumb leftists,” a term he used the follow day to describe the people who run modern universities; the people who should be killed. Ruse now claims that his words were “not intended to be taken literally.” Although Ruse is an extremist whose views about killing liberals are at odds with the teachings of Pope Francis and more traditional Catholic views, his fear of liberal professors is widely held within the conservative community.

Even more troubling than Ruse’s comments about killing liberals is the seemingly innocuous mention that his “daughters go to a little private religious school and we pay an arm and a leg for it precisely to keep them away from all of this kind of nonsense.” The implication is that his daughters must be isolated from other points of view because the position imposed by their father has no substance.

The Gautama Buddha was once approached by some monks who told him that there were people in the town criticizing his teachings. The Buddha’s response, “Listen to them. They may be correct.” On another occasion, the Buddha asked his student, Sāriputta, if he believed what the Buddha was teaching. Sāriputta’s response was, “No.” The Buddha claimed Sāriputta showed wisdom because “One who is wise doesn’t readily believe, he listens with an open mind and then weighs up the truth of that matter before believing or disbelieving.”

One does not promote wisdom by killing liberal professors or anyone else. One does not promote wisdom by burning books or keeping students/ourselves away from worldviews that challenge us. Instead, we cultivate wisdom by exposing ourselves to a variety of points of view on which we can reflect; including the views of Austin Ruse.

As a liberal professor, I do not attempt to uphold an extremist status quo as Austin Ruse would prefer I do. Nor do I overtly try to work against that status quo. Instead, I do my best to promote an environment where a student can comfortably stand up and give a lightning talk in which he can say, “Last week, Dr. Berg argued such-and-such and I disagree with him.” As the student presents his case, I will model wisdom by keeping an open mind, weigh the truth of what he presents, and realize that he might be correct.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Photo Caption: Austin Ruse