We have discussed the growing intolerance for opposing views of politics or the law on our campuses. The most recent example is small but highly illustrative. The sorority Kappa Delta has issued an abject apology. The reason is that the sorority committed the unforgivable sin of tweeting out a congratulations to Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a member of the sorority at Rhodes College, on her nomination to the Supreme Court. One should not have to agree with Barrett’s judicial philosophy to offer a simple attagirl to a sorority sister for her extraordinary accomplishment. However, other members protested that this simple act of civility was “hurtful” and traumatic to them as fellow members. The most notable however was feminist writer Amy Siskind who previously was attacked on Twitter for her own views opposing Black Lives Matter and supporting such political figures as John McCain and Sarah Palin. It is a tale of two Amys and one is being shunned for defending her long-held views and one is being celebrated for dispensing with them.
On September 28, the sorority tweeted a congratulations to Barrett reading: “KD alumna Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to serve on the Supreme Court. While we do not take a stand on political appointments, we recognize Judge Coney Barrett’s significant accomplishment. We acknowledge our members have a variety of views and a right to their own beliefs.”
That would seem a balanced and civil acknowledgment. For a sorority, there can be no greater testament to your organization than a member ascending to the highest court in the land. Moreover, many members of the sorority likely share those very same views. Indeed, roughly half of the country supports her nomination.
Yet, after a backlash, the sorority profusely apologized for the fact that its tweet “was disappointing and hurtful to many.” It said that the congratulations was the “cause [of] division among our sisters, or alienate any of our members.” It even thanked outraged members for “holding us accountable.”
Notably, the sorority proclaims that it is values women “from all backgrounds and corners of the world” and focused on “building confidence in women and girls.” Barrett would seem the embodiment of such values. However, there seems to be an unwritten exclusion to the sorority’s motto “KD sisterhood is for life.”
Amy Siskind was one of those declaring outrage that Judge Barrett “is in any way associated with our sisterhood.” She defended the sorority withdrawing its support with an apology, writing “She does not stand for our values, and that goes well beyond a half century old decision. but [sic] I appreciate national addressing the hurt this has caused.”
Siskind was a surprising addition to this protest. Just two years ago, she faced precisely this type of savage treatment from critics who denounced her for being an embarrassment due to her dissenting views. She was called a closet Republican who mouthed opposition to Neo-Nazis while revealing a lack of knowledge of their history. She was further attacked for praising Palin while opposing Black Lives Matter. Journalist Imani Gandy ridiculed Siskind as insufficiently demonstrating true liberal credentials and asked “when exactly did she start fighting for marginalized communities?”
In the face of such criticism, Siskind accused her critics of being Russian operatives — an accusation that she later withdrew in a column.
However, it is this statement that most sticks out from Siskind: “We were never going to move forward on women’s issues until we could devise something that could be inclusive of all women. Sexism against conservative women is still sexism.”
That was Siskind’s response to criticism of her own views including supporting Palin. Now however she is objecting that the sorority would simply congratulate a conservative woman who became a leading academic intellectual and would now become the fifth woman ever to sit on the highest court. After she was ostracized by the left, one would think Siskind would have a modicum of sympathy for Barrett. She was right in 2018 about the unfair treatment of conservative women. In 2020, she became the very thing she denounced just two years before.
The greatest disgrace however remains with Kappa Delta. The mantra of “Once a KD, always a KD” does not appear to apply for conservative women who succeed in life. While the sorority boasts of shaping young women to think for themselves, that clearly does not extend to thinking in ways that others do not accept. When Kappa Delta withdrew its tweet, it made a mockery of its sororal mission and membership.
The FBI’s subpoena of a laptop and hard drive purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden came in connection with a money-laundering investigation in late 2019, according to documents obtained by Fox News and verified by multiple federal law enforcement officials who reviewed them.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/laptop-hunter-biden-linked-fbi-money-laundering-probe
Hmmm? 🤔
Withdrawal of congratulations for esteemed accomplishments is an inappropriate reaction for any organization. As a fraternity brother, I hope social organizations can survive this onslaught of wokeism.
Why did they back down? They did not back down because there congratulations were out of order. They had no real epiphany after their original statement was made. It was pure fear of being ostracised and draped with a scarlet letter by there group. Courage you are hiding in the shadows of the night.
“Their,” not “there.” I must be a generation ahead of you. But I digress. Your comments are on the mark.
I am a Catholic and could not invite Biden, who supports killing unborn children, to my house. Clear choice, Amy.
It’s really such an easy choice.
You don’t know what you’re talking about. Biden does not SUPPORT killing “unborn children”–he opposes government intervention in this decision prior to the age of fetal viability. That is all the difference in the world. Any other position would be to impose your religious values and beliefs on those who don’t hold them, and this violates their First Amendment freedom of religion or to have no religion at all. There are things that are secular in nature and things that are in the realm of religion. Deciding when government protection of personhood attaches is in the realm of religion.
Natch is the sort of arrogant fool who fails to reckon that religion continues to inform morality and law just as it did when Hammurabi set down his CODEX before the time of Moses set down his. All law is derived from religion and religion continues to inform. Not dictate– but inform.
why? because the PEOPLE want it to. Or not– but that itself is a valid question on every ballot. the First Amendment too is subject to a vote if ever amended. As it seems to need amending more and more, the worse the case law strays
Kurtz, law precedes religion or we wouldn’t have made it down from the trees.
PS Kurtz, your response to Natasha’s post was ignorant. She was not disrespectful of religion in it. That’s my job.
Yep, Ole Joe is a real spider monkey roaming the tree tops.
Joe Friday:
Law and morality are two different things. Mr Kurtz said religion informs the law, not that the law did not exist prior to religion.
The law under Herod was that the killing of male Jewish infants was just.
If you had the power to do something, it was right.
Judeo Christian values of what constituted right and wrong is what changed the laws.
Atheists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Agnostics…almost all agree that at some point there should be restriction on abortion. Very few believe access should be unfettered.
This means that most Americans believe that at some point, the unborn infant’s rights outweigh that of the mother’s. The argument is about when.
Can an atheist discuss when a fetus may be considered a person? Religion influences when an unborn child is considered to have a soul, and the value of its life. “Personhood” is a cultural definition.
really? I think homo erectus probably had neither religion nor law. neither you or I were alive but we have some clues about the possible emergence of religion among the Neandertals– contemporaries of Homo Sapiens if not a sort of subspecies, perhaps
https://www.npr.org/2016/12/11/505187953/discoveries-give-new-clues-to-possible-neanderthal-religious-practices
Melchizidek was both King of Salem and a high priest of God. Talmudic authorities consider that this name was a nickname for Shem, son of Noah
Hence, we may infer their belief that the post-diluvial order of divine authority and law invested in the King concurrently, was the ancient pattern laid down by God
I think I am with the Talmudists on this notion, at least figuratively
in the beginning of civilization, law and religion were concurrent is my thinking– but the leaders claimed authority from God, which means, they claimed a consecrated authority, which puts some primacy of some sort on religion atop their physical kingship. So.. It seems egypt, Sumer, china, ancient Hindu society, all followed this.
Why even today the Chrysanthemum throne of Japan claims descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu herself
joe book, I respect your secular materialist mindset, however, I think most people in the world might think otherwise
So you disagree that women have a *God-given* right to kill a baby inside their bodies? You monster! You also probably have outdated so-called “moral” beliefs like: men can’t have babies.
You should be so, so….so very ashamed. I suppose that next you’ll be arguing that cis-females can use urinals, need prostate exams to be covered by insurance, and are continually oppressed by the patriarchy by having menstrual cycles forced on them by men!
I have grown so tired of this weary discussion as to Justice Barrett’s disposition towards rulings. I have no doubt that she will be a remarkable jurist and will conduct herself accordingly. She IS the law at this juncture and will uphold it as she has stated, she will not overthrow Roe vs. Wade or seek to take down any other law ie. amendment already established. This vitriol towards this very able young woman is ridiculous, and for the National sorority to issue an apology is deplorable. This is offensive to those of us who are extremely proud of Justice Barrett. yet, you caved to those unnecessary tweets and hateful remarks hurled at the Justice. Why does everything have to be so political? In fact, you need to apologize to those Kappa Delta’s, including me, that you have insulted with that apology. It was senseless and the wrong thing to do. I do plan on seeing her written up in our sorority magazine and soon! I hope KD will not cave to a political agenda that has no merit. For God’s sake, what she has accomplished has been nothing short of amazing. Recognize this and be supportive. Develop a backbone, Kappa Delta.
He supports government paying for abortion, he supports killing unborn children.
And putting unborn children in “scare quotes” is sick.
I don’t think it is a religious view to want unborn babies to live and not die – that is just common humanity.
“age of fetal viability”? Biden supports abortion, as do most liberal politicians, at any point of the pregnancy, including just prior to birth. That’s what the democrat party of pushing… abortion at any time during the pregnancy, for any reason. Fetal viability implies Biden only supports abortion if the baby could not live otherwise.
Alfred Hussein — You are wrong about that.
“It said that the congratulations was the “cause [of] division among our sisters, or alienate any of our members.” It even thanked outraged members for “holding us accountable.”” – But apologizing for congratulating a conservative sister was not divisive, and did not outrage members?
THIS is example 1,765 on why the Left is totalitarian and does not tolerate dissent. Once the Left takes control, criticism is not allowed. It took control of academia, and from then on, conservative students have been harassed, punished, ostracized. A conservative sister cannot even expect a simple congratulations when she gets nominated to the Supreme Court?
If it had been Hillary Clinton, or Ruth Bader Ginsberg, would a sorority have issued such a cool congratulatory statement in the first place? Would part of the original message have even acknowledged that sorority members hold a variety of beliefs? How Alpha Epsilon Phi handle RBG’s nomination, confirmation, and passing:
“Sincere condolences to the family, Alpha Epsilon Phi National Sorority sisters, friends and colleagues of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who passed away at age 87. A former chapter president of Cornell AEPhi, she graduated from law school and was a law professor before her first judicial appointment in 1980. Confirmed in 1993, she served 27 years as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and will certainly be remembered as a trailblazer and pioneering advocate for gender equality and women’s legal rights. “Fight for the things that you care about but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Cornell University #NotoriousRBG #RBG #FamousPhi”
– Fraternal and Sorority PAC
Check out Alpha Epsilon Phi’s FB page, website, and archives on their glowing commentary on RBG over the years.
Meanwhile, conservative sorority sisters are treated like they suffer from an unfortunate character defect.
Enough! No more taxpayer money should go to organizations or institutions that are blatantly Democrat, spread Democrat propaganda, and censure other political parties, unless an equal amount of money goes to institutions affiliated with other political parties. Or better yet, just don’t fund politics. And that is what universities have devolved to – political organizations. They create make-work fluff degrees utterly unsuited for employment, and now demand taxpayers foot the bill. But if taxpayers do end up financing the cost of these useless degrees, they will also be funneling money to what has become a Democrat organization of madrassas.
I am in complete agreement that the left is the closest thing we have ever seen to a widespread totalitarian ideology in this country. The only objective of the left is power, all other values be damned, be it liberty, truth, free speech and debate, property rights, and even our country’s Constitutional structure. And just like every other totalitarian movement, it thrives on the use of intimidation to maintain and grow that power. Sadly, it appears those tactics are prevailing over wide swaths of our country, this post being just one example of many.
Absolutely 100% correct!!! If these so-called sisters are so appalled at her appointment then they should turn in their badges. I know one thing, people like this are not sisters of mine. ACB’s conduct mirrors what KD stands for. It certainly does not with these other hate mongers.