At the start of this month, Christopher Newport University welcomed the award-winning journalist Sophia Nelson as a scholar-in-residence. Nelson is known as an independent and at times contrarian figure, including being a Republican who opposed Donald Trump. Now however students and faculty are calling for her to be terminated after she tweeted her opposition to the decision by DC Comics to make Superman a bisexual figure.
The tweet unleashed a firestorm. One student, student Abigail Honeycutt, is quoted as saying that “Reading her tweet, we felt uncomfortable and scared in a place we are supposed to call our home.”CNU President President Paul Trible called for healing and reflection, according to WTKR reports.
Nelson lashed out at the cancel culture:
We are cannibalizing one another with #CancelCulture it has to stop or I promise you in a decade or less America will no longer be America. It’s bullying. They are mean, nasty bullies. Vicious with their words, with intimidation and hatred in their hearts. And there is no excuse for ever bullying another human being because they made a mistake, messed up, misspoke, were just caught being simply human.
There is a wave coming. A movement of sick and tired Americans. Tired of being pushed around and bullied, canceled, targeted, harassed for our faith beliefs, for our values, for our free thought and free speech. Today it’s me in the crosshairs. Tomorrow it’s you.
However, she deleted her tweet.
For those seeking to fire Nelson, consider the implications of such an action. Today we discussed another faculty member who was allegedly terminated due to her use of social media to criticize Vice President Michael Pence. Nelson was expressing her view of a cartoon character and social divisions surrounding bisexuality. I understand why many find the comment offensive. Other share her view. The solution is free speech in responding to her viewpoint rather than a campaign to silence her.
We have previously discussed the worrisome signs of a rising generation of censors in the country as leaders and writers embrace censorship and blacklisting. New polls show that sixty-six percent of college students think shouting down a speaker to stop them from speaking is a legitimate form of free speech. Another 23 percent believe violence can be used to cancel a speech. That is roughly one out of four supporting violence. A prior poll shows roughly half of the public supporting not just corporate censorship but government censorship of anything deemed “misinformation.”
Calls to fire Nelson will not be successful. CNU is a public university that is subject to not just contractual but constitutional limitations. The First Amendment will prevent such a termination or force the intervention of a court.
Superman once said that “a superhero is just an ordinary person who has found a better way to mask their human frailties.” One of those frailties is the intolerance for opposing views and the desire to keep opposing values from being voiced or heard. After all Clark Kent is a journalist. The greatest danger on the CNU campus is not Nelson’s view of bisexuality or superheroes. It is the villainy of speech intolerance and censorship.
Kal-El was in love with Lois, but Lois was in love with his alter-ego “superman”. Kal-El posed as Clark in order to separate him from his identity, and pursue the woman he loved. It’s a beautiful story retold over the ages, and serves as a cautionary tale to not exercise liberal license to indulge diversity [dogma] (i.e. color judgment) and other purposes.
Jonathan: So Sophia Nelson is all in a snit because DC Comics is portraying the son of Superman as bisexual. It’s about time. Times they are a changin’ for the better. Religious conservatives, like Nelson, are fighting a losing battle. Gays have come out in the NBA, NFL and other sports. Openly gays hold public office. Gays are in the Biden administration, the military, in the media–everywhere. But Nelson apparently thinks acceptance of homosexuality, bisexual or transgender individuals is contrary to biblical teachings. Nelson has support at one church in Kansas City, MO. The Westboro Baptist Church has large signs hanging outside the church. Two read: “”Godhatesfags.com” and “FAG MARRIAGE DOOMS NATIONS” But the neighbors are fighting back against the church’s bigotry. Two gays bought houses directly across the street from the church. Their two houses are painted in “gay” colors with a large sign that reads: “Black Lives Matter”. It’s their version of “free speech”. Nelson has also lost the battle with the younger generation over homophobic bigotry. My three granddaughters, now in middle and high school and are heterosexual, have gay, lesbian and bisexual friends. They treat people as individuals–not through the lens of sexual discrimination and hatred from some Christians. Nelson should not be fired because of her openly expressed opposition to the betrayal of bisexuals in comics or elsewhere. She should be exposed and your column is a salutary reminder that bigotry still is prevalent in our institutions of higher learning.
Long ago, I accepted the fact that some individuals prefer companionship and sexual relationships with same sex partners. While I believe their acts are offensive and a sin to God, I am not their ultimate judge. In addition, is homosexual acts a greater sin then the person who publicly praises God and privately is an adulterer?
However, there is an enormous chasm as the alphabet soup of LBGTQRS becomes elongated. I am no longer being requested to simply accept this lifestyle, I am being demanded to embrace it. That is as preposterous as embracing a concerted public coming out of adulterers!
As an aside, I have friends within the LBGTQ community who agree and resent the fact that people who share the same life experience, are publicly exploiting it in a manner that promotes division, and intentionally trolls to stoke anger. The tactic of praise and encouragement for those revealing their preferences falls far short of, and diminishes the word heroic.
Wow a firing over discussion of a fictional character. Of course if they wanted a bi-sexual superhero they could just create a new one.
But creating a new character that no one cares about isn’t the point. The point is to destroy the image of this hero in the hearts of the people of this nation. The point is to take the character away, to break down our memories of him, and to claim him now for the ideology. The point is Satanic – to divide, to lie, and to destroy.
(OT)
WaPo, various school boards, and the DoJ — to parents:
Surrender your children to us. And shut up. Or else.
“Parents claim they have the right to shape their kids’ school curriculum. They don’t.” (WaPo)
Where did they get this noxious idea from? Plato. He argued that children are property of the state, and that the “Higher Authorities” should control every aspect of a child’s education.
Remember Ashli Babbitt
-January 6, 2021
Alec Baldwin needs a prop trial.
Alex Baldwin needs a sentence of 15 years in a próp prison.
It’s amazing, but few seem to realize that the pandemic, the mandates, CRT, wokeness, social media censorship, mainstream media disinformation and misinformation, and the focus on sexual orientation are all interconnected and are part of the same Marxist agenda to control the public and to destroy America to pave the way for Globalist rule by a billionaire elite. So, kids, it’s time for a real educational cartoon. Here’s the important message from it: “When anybody preaches disunity, tries to pit one against the other through class warfare, race hatred, or religious intolerance you know that person seeks to rob us of our freedoms and destroy our very lives.” This was true in 1948 when this cartoon was made and it’s still true today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw9uaMuG6U4
Some men get turned on by other men. Some woman get turned on by other woman. I don’t think any of that belongs in a comic book targeted at kids.
Jojo,
“ Some men get turned on by other men. Some woman get turned on by other woman. I don’t think any of that belongs in a comic book targeted at kids.”
Why? This has been going on for decades. Remember the original looney tunes?
These were children’s cartoons that regularly depicted homosexual and trans behavior. Nobody thought it was a big deal. Bugs bunny was constantly kissing Elmer Fudd on the lips for no apparent reason. He dressed as a woman often. Same thing with the Tasmanian devil. Heck even Yosemite Sam donned a dress once in a while.
The irony about complaining of fictional characters being bisexual when it was the norm for years on Saturday morning is hilarious.
It’s hard to even credit the complaints anymore, these kids are talking themselves into being offended or cynically lashing out at people who have no ill intent as a way of elevating their own status.These kids probably don’t realize how much they’ve over done this and how little normal people care about their made up drama, even people who would normally be defensive of anyone being bullied. It doesn’t appear to come from a place of deep hurt or a reaction to experienced pain as much as it is an attention demand as a way to *distinguish* themselves without any actual achievement. People in actual pain express themselves quite differently. These people aren’t merely expressing themselves, they have an agenda and it seems to to elevate themselves at someone else’s expense.
Follow the science.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/waterford-city-district-has-state-s-highest-rate-of-covid-19-infections-1.4707344
Waterford, Ireland has the highest vaccination rate but also the highest Covid rate.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10136983/How-did-Florida-end-one-best-COVID-19-case-death-rates-US.html
“How did Florida end up with one of the best Covid case and death rates in the US despite Gov Ron DeSantis refusing to implement mask or vaccine mandates?”
It is almost as if the official ‘follow the science ‘ narrative has less to do with science than with politics.
Comic books are marketed to children as well as teens and adults. Plenty of parents don’t want any kind of sexuality in kids comics. There are regularly complaints about the sexy outfits female super heroes have to wear. As if anyone would want to do mortal combat wearing heels.
Why shouldn’t people be free to speak their mind about whether they like it, or they don’t? This is a comic book marketed to the public. Some of the public are not going to like it.
This will either become a money maker or another way to go broke going woke for comic book publishers.
No one should be so hyper fragile that they need a day of healing, or feel scared to go on campus, because a woman questioned how Christian parents would view a kids’ comic book that turned a superhero anti-American, anti-capitalist, and bisexual with a gay boyfriend.
Does Kim Kardashian require a mental health day and mass firings every time someone remarks that body con dresses are not particularly classy or fashionable? She’s not the most thick skinned person, yet she manages to heel-toe it through her day in her Louboutins despite some pretty fierce criticism and dislike.
People aren’t going to like everything the Left pushes. Some people will voice an opinion that defies the Far Left Party Line. Deal with it. Tolerance goes both ways. Tolerance also does not mean that everyone has to agree with everything the Left says and does.
People who don’t like this story line won’t buy this comic book for themselves or their kids. Maybe ultra woke metrosexual emotive socialist globalist non intimidating super heroes will find a niche market and capitalist success. Good for them. It’s not for me or mine, though. This woke hijacking of super heroes will probably drive up the value of classic comics.
Karen: you’re once again regurgitating the propaganda you learned from your daily alt-right indoctrination. There’s no “Left” “pushing” anything, other than tolerance for others’ sexuality, which is not a “Left” thing at all–in fact it’s the law in most of the United States. How does the “Left” “push” sexuality, anyway? By not verbally or physically abusing LGBTQ people, or discriminating against them, or mocking them based on their sexuality? Is this “pushing” an agenda–or, in other words, should people be discriminating against, mocking or abusing people because they are LGBTQ? There’s no “Far Left Party Line”, either. Superman is just a fictional character. I don’t even see a reason why sexuality of a super hero should enter into the story line at all. Children should be taught to respect everyone for who they are, regardless of race, gender, creed or sexuality. It’s the reality of the world we all live in, and LGBTQ people don’t have to hide or apologize for being who they are. The people with a problem are you Trumpster types who believe you have a say-so or an opinion about the lives of people who are different from you, like LGBTQ people, or who think you have some right to have a voice in a woman’s private reproductive decisions. That’s not American, Karen, and it’s not a matter of being “woke”, either. America has progressed since i was a child, and there are LGBTQ people everywhere who don’t have hide who they are.
Nelson was expressing her view of a cartoon character and social divisions surrounding bisexuality. I understand why many find the comment offensive
There are no social divisions surrounding how others seek to sate their sexual desires.
The social divisions are caused by groups that insist anything less than clear and vociferous cheer leading promoting their activities, are discrimination.
Superman is demonstrably normal heterosexual.
We are supposed to just accept SJW injecting their cause into every sliver of life. Gays make up 2% of the population, but unless every media conveyance does not include homosexuals, the SJW scream discrimination. Conversely. If a character that would have been gay is not played by a homosexual, it’s discrimination. If you do a story including Truman Capote, but ignore that single insignificant marker, its discrimination.
Superman is demonstrably normal heterosexual.
Meh. He had an impressive muscular physique, Lois was always pursuing him, he rebuffed her each and every time, he would rush into a phone booth (closet) where he felt most comfortable (to change apparel… eye roll), his hair was always perfectly groomed, and the glasses he wore were incredibly stylish.
Muscular men with impressive physiques come in 2 types: professional bodybuilders (who later become fat) and gay men.
Superman was a homo.
😎
The prince and the pauper. Superman and Clark, respectively. Superman was in love with Lois, but was Lois in love with superman or an identity? That is the question. Superman was unambiguously normal until transgenders et al denied his sex and gender for social progress.
Lee Harvey Oswald s family says that he thought he had a prop gun when he shot someone.
Lee Oswald had nothing to do with any murders in Dallas —- the DPD were never able to place him with the murder weapon nor at the scene of the crime —- the waitress to the murder of Officer Tippit who called was upon to pick Lee Oswald failed to ID him —- other sitnesses never called forward described two males fleeing the scene of the Tuppit murder who fit the descriptions of Jack Ruby and his roommate!
Which is why it is still in the Unsolved Murder file.
This Honeycutt female is a rather large shotputter so why someone’s opinion on a cartoon character scares her indicates Abigail Honeycutt is mentally deranged!
Intersex Luthor
Professor Turley might begin providing percentages when publishing quotes like “…students and faculty are calling for her to be terminated….”
It’s very difficult to believe that every real student, actual American student, on every campus is this deeply indoctrinated by communists and dissociated from reality – desirous not of freedom, but enslavement.
Campuses are not dissimilar to “Jan. 6” when actual Americans went home and a small percentage of covert democrat rabble-rousers and hired rioters conducted their “fake” anarchy at the Capitol.
There very well may be some sane, patriotic, actual Americans going to college.
If all the students are really this mislead about freedom, free enterprise and the Constitution, America is done.
“misled”
Excellent post.
Why are we introducing sexuality to children who cannot even understand the concept?
I am against this just as I am against those children beauty pageants.
“A prop”. Term used in the Alec Baldwin case when they discuss a lethal weapon. Went in dumb. Come out dumb too. Hustling round California in their alligator shoes.
Liberty, I’m here in L.A., no alligator shoes. Where did you get that dumb idea?? Sounds like some myth from Hollywood’s so-called ‘golden age’. One doubts you’ve ever been here.
Indoctrination of children into their sexual world. This action is more aptly defined as pedophilia. They want to prepare the children for the touch of their hand at an early age. They try to tell us that this is normal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty. There must be big money in porn for kids.
John Locke wrote “… contradiction is a sort of censoriousness wherein ill breeding often shows itself. Complaisance does not require that we should always admit all the reasoning or relations that the company is entertained with, no, nor silently to let pass all that is vented in our hearing. The opposing the opinion, and rectifying the mistakes of others, is what truth and charity sometimes require of us, and civility does not oppose, if it be done with due caution and care of circumstances. But there are some people that one may observe, possessed as it were with the spirit of contradiction, that steadily, and without regard to right or wrong, oppose someone, or, perhaps, everyone of the company, whatever they say. This is so visible and outrageous a way of censuring that nobody can avoid thinking himself injured by it.”
Or as Horace taught “Queis humana sibi doleat natura a negates”, translated as ‘Human nature grieves for those who are denied’.
To all the Woke and the Lemming I’ll say ‘One way to learn more is not to hide your ignorance.’