Word: moralizers
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...more interesting debate that emerges from Pappin’s letter, which called on administrators to enforce “moral decency” at Harvard, is whether morality is absolute and who should set moral standards at Harvard. If those who would ferret out “bigotry” from the darkest recesses of our community have their way, we will never have common ground for discussing morality. Liberal opponents of Pappin will doubtless claim that they are moral relativists, tolerant of all belief systems, but in fact these petulant liberals are just moral absolutists who want their...
...after the substance of Pappin’s letter, they would win. Pappin denounces homosexual acts as “perverted” in support of his larger point: that Harvard College should “act in loco parentis by upholding for us…a moral framework...
Even if one believes that moral education belongs in the schools, rather than at home under the guidance of family, the obligation of educational institutions like Harvard diminishes once students are adults. We are already responsible for the choices we make, and as a result, Harvard’s role in our intellectual growth does not involve, as Pappin suggests, mandating our definitions of “moral decency.” By now, we should have arrived at those conclusions...
...Thompson’s dark fantasy lurks the same suppression of dissent that tolerance classes usually promote. By suggesting that Pappin lacks “appreciation for contemporary morality,” we have to question what exactly Thompson’s definition of “appreciation” is. Since Thompson wrote in the throes of moral indignation that Pappin does not agree with him, “appreciation” clearly means conforming to Thompson’s own views on “contemporary morality,” lest one be labeled an intolerant bigot...
...well-governed. Harvard is rooted in its context—were it located in Mexico City instead of Cambridge, it would surely be a poorer university. Because so many of its alumni go on to the highest positions of American cultural and political leadership, Harvard has a strong moral obligation to instill the ideals of service in its students, giving them the experiential knowledge that makes for wise stewardship. It is important in a democracy that the elite be grounded in the common...