Philosophy Prof Punished for Expressing Religious Beliefs
by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
February 11, 2004
(AgapePress) - A philosophy professor at an Ohio community college has been punished for disclosing his religious beliefs. The educator is asking the school to rescind the punishment, which was levied after he discussed his Catholic beliefs in class.After a student at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland complained last Spring about Dr. James Tuttle discussing his Catholic beliefs in his "Moral Philosophy" class, Tuttle added a disclaimer to his syllabus informing students that he was a Catholic theologian. However, Tuttle was then warned by a Lakeland administrator that his disclaimer was inappropriate, and that he should keep his religious opinions out of the classroom.
In a letter to Tuttle, the dean of the schools Arts and Humanities Division told the philosophy instructor that "you have a deeply-held need to state your case for your beliefs in the classroom. This is unacceptable .... I'm beginning to question your suitability to teach in a public school classroom. I think that you would be happier in a sectarian classroom."
The college, located near Cleveland, then punished Tuttle by reducing his class load and pay for the fall semester, and having him monitored by a fellow professor.
Greg Lukianoff with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is advising Tuttle. He notes philosophers like Plato, Maimonides, and Thomas Aquinas believed philosophy and religion were one in the same.
"Saying that a philosophy professor cannot discuss his own personal philosophy or his own personal take on philosophy -- particularly something that has as many great minds behind it as the 2,000 years of Catholic philosophy -- is both outrageous and absurd," the FIRE spokesman says.
In a December 5 letter to the president of Lakeland, FIRE says Tuttle's treatment shows a "distressing disregard" for academic freedom. "How can a professor, when faced with an administrative ban on discussing his own personal views, challenge the unexamined views of his students or expose his own views to reasoned criticisms?" Lukianoff asks in the letter.
"Dr. Tuttle's personal religious beliefs are not problems that must be solved; rather, respect for the religious faith of others is integral to maintaining the intellectual diversity of Lakeland's instructors."
The FIRE spokesman says the school is engaging in religious discrimination. "There's an unwarranted bias against this professor just because his philosophy is based in Catholic thought," Lukianoff adds. "I think if his philosophy was based, as many philosophers are, in Buddhist thought or in some other religious tradition other than Catholic, he wouldn't be experiencing a problem at all."
Lukianoff says just as "feminists are not forced to veil their feminism, Catholic philosophers should be free to be Catholic philosophers." And regarding the school's opposition to Tuttle's disclaimer, Lukianoff notes that his organization's experience has shown that a professor could have just as easily been punished for not including such a disclaimer in his syllabus if he offended the sensibilities of his students.
"If universities truly wish to create an atmosphere where open exchange and candor is welcome, they must teach students that having their beliefs challenged is essential to -- not the enemy of -- education," FIRE's letter says.
FIRE is calling on Lakeland to restore Tuttle to his full class load and to use "no further contrivance ... to censor his religiously based philosophical point of view."
