Contrary to popular belief, free speech isn't protected everywhere in the United States. Private colleges, for example, have full discretion on speech restrictions. Most schools, however, recognize that free speech and free press are important to an intellectually vibrant society, and they give the student press most of the same freedoms bestowed on those outside the gates.
Cedarville University is not like those schools.
Cedars, Cedarville's student newspaper, suspended publication for the remainder of its spring semester after university officials asked the paper's adviser to ensure that the final edition was controversy-free.
Previous items considered controversial included opinion columns about gay rights, abortion and Sarah Palin as a vice-presidential candidate.
The standard stuff of most editorial pages was apparently not consistent with Cedarville's mission
as university spokesman John Davis told the Springfield News-Sun. There were problems with articles that did not necessarily reflect biblical truth what the Bible has to say about an issue.
Right. Because once students enter the real world, they will never see anything that does not reflect biblical truth.
Cedarville is a Baptist university, and it is within its legal rights to censor the university-funded newspaper. But the student body will suffer because of it. Universities are supposed to be places of intellectual debate, not of ideological indoctrination. Even within a Christian worldview, there are many interpretations of current events. Protecting students from alternate viewpoints is not doing them a favor. Moreover, what message are university officials sending about their prized ideals when they imply that those ideals are unable to stand in the marketplace of ideas?
But perhaps Cedars news editor Mike Shirzadian said it best: Secular universities will say 'we have to devote ourselves to the pursuit of truth.' I think (as a Christian university) we have a moral obligation to pursue the truth.
Cedars will resume printing in the fall, and it can be hoped that the Cedarville University administration will abandon its claim to a monopoly on truth. Until then, we applaud our peers for showing a real loyalty to the truth and refusing to crack under political pressure. Where the law ends, reason should begin.
Editorials represent the views of The Post's executive editors.
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