Moral Dilemma

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cpttango30

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Well Kind of.

I had a professor at college last summer. He is a far left Liberal. Totaly anti-gun. I was walking by his office today and seen an article from the washingont post about how most of the guns taken off the streets in DC and Maryland were from Virginia hanging off his door.

I was looking threw my dec 07 American Rifleman and found an article on Pg 78 titled Less Gun Control, Less Crime. I photocopied this and was going to pin it up right next to his washington post article. Now he will listen to anyone side of the story but if it is not far left he just blows it off. I have a good repor with this professor and I would put my name on the paper. Do you guys think I should do this or not? I doubt he would do anything other and take it down.

My thinking is if he can post anti-gun stuff on the door I should be able to post pro-gun FACTS on there as well.


I personaly think he would get a kick out of it. Because he sat threw a 11min speech on gun control and how it did not work in the UK or Ausie by me in the summer.
 
It's (almost) always worth a shot. However, it's been my experience that people who want to share their opinions with you rarely want to hear yours. Good luck.
 
I'd guess you have multiple bulletin boards on campus where people can post what they want; roommate needed, car for sale, etc.

I'd say post some copies on a few of the bulletin boards. Maybe one on the wall next to his office. Let him do what he wants with it.
 
do your collegiate duty and teach. I wouldn't put my name on the paper unless you were ready for an emotional 'debate' from him assuming my depiction of your teacher is correct. Couldn't get in any trouble like you could in high school, that’s for sure!
 
I wouldn't attach it directly to his but along side of it. Go for it you may win him over.
Good Luck...A.H
 
I generally ask these types this question-
" If GWB refused to step down after the next election, dismissed congress and declared martial law, would you be pleased with the idea of that the American people were disarmed?"
Most of them believe Bush to be next to the Devil, this scenario, to them, is entirely possible-so it shows the Founding Fathers intent through a clear glass.
 
not to be a grumpy--but it is dilemna and --you have a good rapport-- that being said odds are he won't read it but go for it!
 
If he is your current teacher or good friends with your current teachers then absolutely not. You don't know who he talks to regularly (dean, director of external relations, etc.). Maybe he sits through your presentations because he thinks you're an imbecile and he thinks that he is somehow watching over you. Most college professors have a superiority complex. You want to be careful not to step over the line. I don't know the guy, so maybe he wouldn't mind, but if he's anything like 90% of the college profs out there, he may take your action as an affront to his teaching. If you put your name on it, he may constitute that as some sort of threat, like, "I'm going to bring a gun to campus 'for protection' ". Or some garbage like that.

I say this, because in less than a year, I should be teaching full-time at the university level and let me tell you, most of these people in this line of work, are totally unbalanced.

Also, unless you have a publicly established reputation at the university of going against the grain, I wouldn't engage the professor. Think of repercussions on your current GPA if he informs other anti-professors who couldn't give a damn if you flunk out of college or not.
 
I think it is entirely inappropriate to post something on his door, or anybody elses door other than your own (unless you are Martin Luther, and that didn't go very well for him).

Put it in an envelope with a note or give it to him personally. If you want it on his door as a counterpoint, present it as such, "I was reading your article, and I found this one that refutes it, I was wondering if you would be willing to put it up next to yours as a counterpoint from a student who disagrees."

If you post it on his door, you leave it for him to find and wonder who had seen it before he did. You put him in a position where he might feel he needs to act to show his colleagues how much he disagrees with your article, and this action is going to involve causing you trouble in some way.

If he posts it because you ask him, it allows him to show off to his colleagues how he is open-minded and willing to consider the opinions of students, in which case you are in the position of making him look good.

Just think how you would feel if you found an anti-gun article prominently attched to the door of your office for all to see. You'd probably be pretty pissed.

-J.
 
I would not forget that this is his door.
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Agreed - his door is his space to soapbox (professors can be very protective of their office doors, actually...). I'd either pass the article to him, or post it on your door, or some other location he's likely to see.
 
Why put your grades in jeopardy by getting into a battle of wits with an unarmed man? Go with the flow and get the most out of your educational experience.Teachers,professors,bosses,leos etc tend to enjoy getting even with us peons for making sense.
 
If you want to show him the article or discuss the issue with him, stop by when he's not busy during his office hours. Maybe give him the article ahead of time so he can be prepared. Hiding behind anonimity isn't needed or desirable in an accademic setting. Don't fear for your GPA; you'll stand taller for it when you debate fairly and still set the curve.

One thing;
"My thinking is if he can post anti-gun stuff on the door I should be able to post pro-gun FACTS on there as well."

Why? That's HIS door, right? Never underestimate the accademic ego and pride--it takes a while to get your own office, tenure, etc. He is probably VERY proud to have his own door to decorate as he sees fit. It would be likely be viewed by him as an affront to post anything on his door without his permission.
 
It's his door, and his soapbox.

I'd be offended if someone posted anti-gun carp on my door, because that would be presuming to speak with -my- voice.
 
Karrotx and Geek have it right. His door, his soapbox.
You want to post the Gospel According to Uncle Ted on your own door, go for it!

That said, I wouldn't think twice about taking a copy of that article to his office someday, knocking on his door and inviting him to discuss both sides of the issue. That's what college is, or at least used to be, all about.
 
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The idea may not be to change his mind, but the minds of those who read the article he posted, and while he might not admit it, maybe he'll think on the issue a little more.

Plus, instead of be adversarial about this, why not approach him to say you saw this article posted "somewhere" and you were wondering what he thought of it, and how he would respond to it. You'd be stroking his ego abit, asking for his "wisdom" to help you understand, instead of confronting him and stating he's wrong (even if he is wrong, which he is).
 
His door, his decision about what goes up. I'd ask first.

You'd be better off providing something from a less obviously biased source though if you want to exploit that good rapport.
 
Hi Crank,

Why put your grades in jeopardy by getting into a battle of wits with an unarmed man? Go with the flow and get the most out of your educational experience.Teachers,professors,bosses,leos etc tend to enjoy getting even with us peons for making sense.
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My experience with profs makes me agree. Bosses you can appeal to profits and LEO's you can talk to with an attack attorney present. A prof is going to get the last word in a hundred different ways you have no recourse to correct.

The best advice I was given at Purdue was that one of the main goals of a college education was to learn when you have tons of crap rubbed in your face not to swallow any of it. Considering the amount thrown at me with an engineering major I can just imagine what he goes through in his major.

Keep the faith

Selena
 
It has been my experience in life that there are some battles you just can't win.
In those situations, you just get behind something and save your "ammo" until you come across one where you do have a chance.
I just don't see what you could possibly gain by even going to the effort to print off an article that opposes his. A college prof who posts something like that on his door is undoubtedly aware that there is another side to the argument. He just doesn't agree with it.
I'd say that discussing it with him would be a waste of breath and printing something off will only cost you $.08 worth of printer paper and toner that you will never get back.

In your position, I'd keep my mouth shut, and move on with my life.
 
Professors are convinced they are correct about everything they think. They are the teachers not the learners and so they can't possibly be wrong, or so they believe. You can never teach a proffesor by words, he has to learn by exspearience and since most of them live a school life so they have little room for learning for real.

jj
 
Since you know the prof and have a friendly relationship perhaps you should consider approaching him and mention that you read the article that he posted.

Then I would ask him why he feels the way he does. If he gives you his reasons, and he is dogmatic about them, perhaps you could then mention to him that colleges and universities are institutions of learning and that one should have an open mind in order to learn. And that one continues to learn as one proceeds through life. Then offer to provide him with opposing viewpoints. You may not ever change his mind, but he may soften his stance a bit.
 
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