The Fundie's War on our Young People

Let me preface this with saying that if you look at the track record of the Heterosexist Dominionist Theocratic Fundamentalists you'll see a steady attack on young people. From their attempts to rid schools of gay teachers and Gay-Straight Alliances to now moving to the college setting where institutional policy on respect and tolerance for "all people" is an affront to their free speech rights.

The story below links to the American Family Association's Agape Press, which outlines their displeasure.

Radical right angry that colleges are promoting "respect [for] the dignity of all persons"

Some of the examples of college academic rules that the religious right is outraged over:
* A ban on "insults, taunts, or challenges directed toward another person" (Appalachian State University).
* A practice of outlawing "statements of intolerance" (North Carolina Central University).
* A requirement that all students "respect the dignity of all persons" and "strive for the openness to learn from differences in people" (UNC Asheville).
* A policy outlawing "disrespect for persons" (UNC Greensboro).

John Aravosis of Americablog asks a great question on this: What exactly are conservative Christian activists promoting that they're afraid of these kind of campus policies?

Yes, what are they afraid of? If there is a respectful debate and discussion in the classroom on hot topics of the day (as there should be on a college campus), what exactly are these folks wanting to say on campus that they are worried will be misconstrued as disrespectful?

Personally, I don't think this has anything to do with free speech as being the only one with the right to speak. Being aware of the college environment, I've seen and heard of conservative students taking offense and even suing professors for not siding with their views. There is even a website for students to report such "violations": Students for Academic Freedom.

USA Today covered this trend and this group:

On about 90 campuses, meanwhile, students have joined Students for Academic Freedom, created four months ago by leftist turned conservative activist David Horowitz. They argue that campuses are overwhelmingly liberal and demand that administrations seek a more balanced point of view among faculty and in programs such as lecture series.
...
Some professors stress that part of their job is to challenge students to question their beliefs. "We're in the business of helping people become critical thinkers," says Shippensburg sociology professor Debra Cornelius. Though she acknowledges her own liberal politics, she says, "We on a daily basis struggle with ... making sure people behave in a tolerant way (without) chilling speech."
...
Conservative students aren't the only ones feeling pinched. In May, Wesleyan University President Douglas Bennet banned a long-standing tradition, particularly popular among gay rights groups, of writing messages in chalk on sidewalks. Some faculty were targeted by name, and increasingly vulgar obscenities, sexual and racial slurs had spurred complaints.

But the most well-oiled attack is driven by conservative and Christian students, "who basically feel they're targets for getting their minds dry-cleaned to think the right way," says Jordan Lorence, a litigator for the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona Christian organization involved in several lawsuits.

Is the question about being able to say anything you want as offensively as you want or about civil discourse? If a person wants civil discourse, no problem. Don't worry about the school policies. If you want to harass and offend others, I can see where these folks would want to change policy. When there is no line to distinguish constructive discussion from hate speech, everything is open game.