Thursday, January 24, 2013

An Open Letter to Texas Aggie Conservatives

EDIT: As of Saturday, 26 Jan 13, I still had no response from the TAC. Here is a copy of their email for people who did not receive it.

This morning I received an email from the Texas Aggie Conservatives. A well meaning group of people who I believe are terribly out of touch with society and need to curb their aggressive stance against liberalism. They wanted me to sign a petition which would ask for a limit to liberal speakers at sponsored TAMU events. To be perfectly honest, I am deeply conservative. However, I will not, and CANNOT, in good conscience support a cause which would limit the free speech of fellow Americans and Aggies. This is not right. And so I wrote a letter expressing my distaste for what I found in my email. The text of this letter is below. Cheers. Thanks and Gig 'Em.

______________________________________________________________

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This morning I received an email from your organization, specifically from your Chairman, Mr. Eric Schroeder.

While I thank you for the time that you took in order to write in such detail about deep issues that bother and concern you, I must say that I cannot in good conscience sign your petition or support your organization anymore.

Though you may have found the comments of Mr. Glover and Dr. Loftin deplorable, I find your response to be unsettling at best and more akin to something incredibly alarming.

Your petition is a travesty. You are requesting for the viewpoints of your fellow Americans to be obstructed, simply because you have not been able to communicate your own viewpoints with same level of media attention or volume. This is not something that you should be proud of.

If I may I would like to direct your attention to an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

If that does not remind you of the way that people should be free to express themselves then may I humbly offer the following:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
           - Amendment I, Constitution of the United States

In short, you are asking for me, and other Aggies, to sign a petition that would limit the freedom of speech which is guaranteed to every American. The freedom of expression which is one of the ideals spoken about in the Declaration of Independence. And the very freedom of ideas and thoughts which is part of our community of learners as a flagship university in our great State of Texas.

In regards to your claims about the History Department at Texas A&M University, I feel the need to reassure you. As a History Major let me assure you that I have taken numerous courses that have extensively covered military, diplomatic, religious, and intellectual issues. In fact, these courses were taught by professors who are not only experts in their field, and not only share their passion for learning with their students, but also ensure that their students form their own, logical and methodical way of thinking, writing, and speaking critically about any kind of topic that they might encounter. The History Department might have contributed to many of the speakers that you disagree with, but the History Department is also completely dedicated to preparing students to be critically thinking leaders after graduation from Texas A&M University.

Lastly, you mentioned how Christian organizations were not eligible for student funding. If you are Christians, and you are worried about the world hating you, then fear not!  Remember these words from our Lord:
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
                                                                   - John 15:18-19 ESV

Thank you very much for your time and consideration of this letter. I hope that it finds you well! I would greatly appreciate any feedback that you would send and I am anticipating a reply eagerly. I merely ask that you stop attempting to spread hate between Aggies, and instead work to find mutual ground that all Aggies and Americans can stand upon. Thanks and Gig 'Em.

Very Respectfully Yours,

Timothy K. Walker '12

5 comments:

  1. Gig 'em! I, too, consider myself fairly conservative but blanch at what the TAC has been doing now a days.

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  2. Did you even read the email?! It specifically addressed and upheld free speech. This isn't about the 1st Amendment; this is about the university administration spending our money to push only one political perspective.

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    1. @Tony
      Well if what you say is even remotely true, wouldn't it be more politically correct to just ask for more of the speakers you want, instead of limiting those you don't want.

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    2. Tony, I did read the email. And the organization is not asking for more funding for conservative speakers, they are asking for the University to curtail the liberal speakers. There is a stark difference. It also fails to recognize the numerous conservative speakers brought in by other departments. One the most important things about University is learning about different points of view, and learning to accept people who are different from yourself.

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