The Sociology Department at taxpayer—supported Brooklyn College in New York has chosen a notrious religion—basher as its new chairman. The New York Daily News reports that the campus is an uproar over the appointment of Prof. Tomothy Shortell:

E—mails expressing alarm that Timothy Shortell was now chairman of the sociology department circulated among students last week on the school's Midwood campus.

As chairman of the department, he will approve the content of courses in the field of sociology at Brooklyn College.

Here's what he wrote in an online journal:

[The religious] "discriminate, exclude and belittle. They make a virtue of closed—mindedness and virulent ignorance. They are an ugly, violent lot."

Even more notoriously, he wrote

"In the name of their faith, these moral retards are running around pointing fingers and doing real harm to others."

Leaving aside the politically incorrect cruelty of the slang expression "retards" (talk to the parent of an impaired child!),  this is nothing less than outright bigotry toward and contempt for a substantial percentage of the American populace, and, more importantly, a substantial number of his students at Brooklyn College.

Is it even conceivable that he could write such things about blacks and hold onto his job?

Then how about this? American Christians are so accustomed to scorn from the intellectual and cultural elites that they barely bother to notice when some more is heaped onto the pile.

But Muslims have been known to riot and kill over even phonly reports of slights to their faith. Muslims number among the devoutly religious among his potential students. He is thus characterizing Muslims in this offensive way. Where is CAIR?   

Although the sociology of religion has a long history in the field of sociology, most sociologists that I have encountered are rather hostile to actual belief in God. I doubt that Shortell will face many consequnces if sociologists have anything to say about it.

But what about the consequences for sociology? Quick: what major contributions to human welfare has sociology made in thelast two or three decades?

Just who are the "moral retards"?

Thomas Lifson, renegade sociologist    5 23 05