The latest issue of the CAUT Bulletin (organ of the Canadian Association of University Teachers) reports that the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a complaint by a Christian graduate student that she was discriminated against because of her religion.
I don't approve of Canada's human rights tribunals, because they have in the past acted in ways contrary to free speech. But it is a relief to see they decided rightly in this case.
Cynthia Maughan, a Master's student in English, had complained that one of her graduate seminar classes was held on Sunday, making it unable for her to attend. However, she admitted she didn't regularly attend church, and that she sometimes did school work on Sundays. Her instructor, Lorraine Weir, apparently offered her a work-around on the class, but didn't change the date of the seminar. Maughan also complained about an e-mail message in which a student "fondly re-[called] the stoning of Christians", and that her case was unfairly discussed at a 2004 conference at UBC and in a faculty association newsletter.
Judy Parrack, a member of the Human Rights Tribunal, dismissed the complaint in its entirety. About the last complaint, she wrote "Ms. Maughan seems to suggest that if an individual responds to, or speaks of, an allegation of discrimination, that response serves to further the discriminatory conduct and thus constitutes a continuing contravention of the Code. With respect I disagree. If Ms. Maughan were correct, it would mean that no respondent could defend or speak about allegations made against him or her in a public document. Ms. Maughan filed an action with the Court, an action that is a matter of public record, and should have expected that some consequence would result."
From what I can see, Maughan took a simple dispute that could have easily been resolved and turned it into a huge and unnecessary battle for Christianity. With Christians an overwhelming majority in Canadian society, I really don't understand the proclivity of some Christians to view every incident through the lens of martyrdom. Universities accommodate Christians to an extent not provided to any other religion---Jews, for example, don't get Yom Kippur off as an official university holiday. And the remark about "stoning Christians" was offered in response to a remark by far-right politician Stockwell Day, and was clearly not intended to insult Christians in general.
Maughan is still pursuing an independent $18 million civil lawsuit against UBC, Lorraine Weir, and three other professors. $18 million represents about 2% of UBC's annual budget, as noted here.
Maughan's case became something of a cause celebre for conservative Canadian Christians. Now that the Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed her complaints, I can only hope that the civil suit gets similar treatment.
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7 comments:
With Christians an overwhelming majority in Canadian society, I really don't understand the proclivity of some Christians to view every incident through the lens of martyrdom.
Yeah, but those other folks aren't real Christians -- they're wishy-washy pew-warmers only one small step from agnosticism. So they don't count: we True Christians really are a persecuted minority. (Trust me on this -- 30 years ago, I was a fundamentalist).
And $18M? For 6 lousy marks? For being expected to go to the house of someone she didn't like, and disobeying a presumed religious injunction that she admits she doesn't hold to anyway? What a freaking whiner.
Just FYI, York U in Toronto does require everyone to take off the Jewish high holidays (Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, and possibly a few others). York is right at the edge of North York and York Region, which tend to have higher-than-average (in the GTA) Jewish populations, so it does make some sense -- most students wouldn't be there anyway.
York gets Yom Kippur off? Not according to this calendar of events at York, which states specifically that the university remains open for Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashana, and Passover, but is closed for Good Friday. (It does look like no classes or exams are held on Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashana, and parts of the Passover holiday, though.)
First of all your assumption regarding Christianity being the dominant religion in Canada relays on it following that it is also dominant in the university. This is as you know a non sequitur argument. Canadian universities especially in the arts are dominated by communists both the teachers and the indoctrinated students. Communism as you know relies on being able to convince everyone that their communist masters are actually their ruling gods. Thus, there is no room for religion that will not subvert to any other Human master than God. So, no Christianity is not the dominant ideology on campuses. Additionally, I actually go to this university and know the extremely leftist radical professors that persecuted her and trust me just like any other communist oligarchy they will not allow any dissent or they will do everything in their power to cancel you. They do not even allow diverse intellectual opinions in the English department. In other words, they are a bunch of communist tyrants. Her case got dismissed because her evidence of discrimination was weak but it does not follow that it did not happen. Remember OJ Simpson. He killed two people and everyone knew it but the evidence against him was weak so he walked. These professors are masters in using grades as a weapon against students who they seek to cancel because it is an easy means to discriminate because it is hard to prove otherwise in Subjects such as English which are highly subjective. I hope you might take some time to look at the review of the tyrants in this department that collaborated to cancel this young lady. Visit rate my prof and you will see that they have some very bad reviews from students due to their tyrannical behavior. There are several women in the department that are in positions of power that act like Putin himself. They have ten year and think they are invincible because they have been there for so many years and have developed a buddy system to protect each other. As I mentioned I actually go there and am in that department and have had friends who have encountered the same fate and watched them lose their academic careers over nothing more than finding themselves a target of the rage of these extreme leftist professors.
Holly:
Is it too late for you to get a refund on your tuition? Because, judging from your deathless prose, you haven't learned much after grade 7.
I've worked at a Canadian university for 30 years, and oddly enough, I don't know a single "communist" here. I do know, however, a lot of Christian professors. There's even an endowed lecture series aimed at converting people to the Christian faith.
I pity you. Stick to numbers and poorly attempting to create a valid argument. I know personally the people who persecuted that girl and they are communists and anti-Christians. I have so much proof that very soon I will be releasing proof that will demonstrate everything I claimed. I feel sorry for you that they are about to ban math because it is too hard for some groups. You could always get a job working at McDonalds! Good luck and you will soon read all about what I drop! P.S death prose is not a word so you might wand to finish grade two!
You're absolutely right, "death prose" is not a word!
It's two words, and it's not what I said.
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