ERIC Number: ED536964
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 112
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: ISBN-0-9724-7123-5
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
FIRE's Guide to First-Year Orientation and Thought Reform on Campus. FIRE's Guides to Student Rights on Campus
Silverglate, Harvey A.; Lorence, Jordan
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (NJ1)
Before one can have the freedom to express ideas in open debate, however, one must have freedom of conscience: the right to arrive at one's private beliefs, without being coerced into an artificial unity by those who wield power over him/her. After all, the freedom to speak is a dead letter if one lacks the freedom to think, to believe, or to disbelieve. At the heart of American liberty lies a recognition of individual rights, individual responsibility, and individual dignity. Over one's inner mind, conscience, and self, no one has coercive power. The form of censorship with which this "Guide" is concerned is the affirmative form of censorship that goes beyond prohibiting "bad" speech and ideas. It instead seeks to impose on a student, and coerce the student to adopt, and to believe in, the "approved" point of view advanced by the authorities. The fundamental rights of conscience and belief, the thought-reform programs that threaten those rights at today's universities, and the means by which a decent and free people can challenge such programs are the topics of this "Guide." (Contains 1 footnote.)
Descriptors: Censorship, Freedom of Speech, Human Dignity, School Prayer, Colleges, Guides, School Orientation, Court Litigation, Moral Values, Beliefs, School Policy, Public Colleges, Private Colleges, Social Attitudes, Religion, Academic Freedom, Training, Cultural Pluralism, Ideology, Group Discussion, College Faculty, College Students, Teacher Role, Counseling
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. 601 Walnut Street Suite 510, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 215-717-3473; Fax: 215-717-3440; e-mail: fire@thefire.org; Web site: http://www.thefire.org
Publication Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: John Templeton Foundation; Achelis and Bodman Foundations; Earhart Foundation; Joseph Harrison Jackson Foundation; Aequus Institute; Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation
Authoring Institution: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE)
Identifiers - Location: West Virginia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A