Brickbat: You Have a Right to Your Opinion

professor megan/Flickr

Sheffield University, a public university in England, has expelled Felix Ngole, a graduate student in social work, after it found he'd posted a Bible verse condemning homosexual acts in a private Facebook discussion. A university panel said that while he had a right to his opinion, his remarks could have offended some people and would make it difficult for him to work as a social worker.

Comments

[Adans smith]

There seems to be quite a bit of crazy going on in the Isles.Margret Thatcher must be rolling in her grave over the wimps and whiners in her beloved England.

[UnCivilServant]

It's part of their clean energy initiative. They've fitted the corpses of the great leaders of the past with magnets, installed copper coils and govern in imbicility.

[Suthenboy]

It is more than a bit Adans.

I saw the title, began reading and got to 'England' and thought, yeah, whatever. This shit happens on an hourly basis there. They really have turned their country into Oceania.

[Adans smith]

True,no free speech to speak of,and defending yourself is a crime.

[The Hyperbole]

...Initially angered over the injustice, Mr Ngole, has since moved on and is looking forward to opening his new business in downtown Sheffield - "Cakes by Felix"...

[Adans smith]

How about 'Cakes by Felix the Cat'? Think of the possibilities.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He's always had an interest in wedding photography.

[straffinrun]

Great. I'm on the side of a dude that quotes Leviticus to win FB arguments. How big of a totalitarian pig do you have to be to get an atheist do that?

[Adans smith]

Does anyone ever 'win' a argument on FB? I ask as someone that's never been on there,or Twitter.

[straffinrun]

Never bother anymore, but it's more about the people scrolling through the argument than the guy you're arguing with.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Facebook: the only winning move is not to play.

[UnCivilServant]

Are you up for a game of Global thermonuclear War, Sloopy?

[Swiss Servator]

Can we nuke Facebook?!

[Suthenboy]

Actually not much of one straffin'. You are not defending a religious man, you are defending principle. A principled person such as yourself will find themselves at odds with the majority of humanity. Having said that, yeah, they are degenerate statist pigs beyond what I would have ever believed a few years ago.

England: the birthplace of liberty, the land of the Magna Carta. Every limey should hand their heads in shame.

[straffinrun]

Well said.

[buybuydandavis]

Isn't that evil quote part of the Holy Book of England's State religion?

[Notorious UGCC]

Don't oppress them with your "logic."

[Fist of Etiquette]

"I have worked with people in same-sex relationship in the past and there has been no issue whatsoever but the university said that if someone Googled me and found that (comment) they would not be confident to come to me for support."

Sounds like he should have done some googling before choosing Sheffield University to attend.

Mr Ngole - who originally came to the UK from Cameroon as an asylum seeker in 2003 and has since gained two university degrees and worked as a teacher - said that, far from discriminating against others, he had suffered religious discrimination.

Sounds like he should have done some googling before choosing Cameroon to be born in.

[Notorious UGCC]

"Pointedly, he also questions what action they would take against a Muslim student who expressed a sincere belief in Sharia law."

Why not ask what authorities would have done with a gay student who *questioned* Sharia law?

(hint: nothing pleasant)

[jester]

It's amazing to me that one needs a post grad in Social Work to do social work. I would think that someone in the somewhat dubious discipline of Social Work might well be studying or researching successful social work strategies that could easily be applied within many different charities with outreach programs, some that might even have religious affiliations. Certainly, it seems that this never occurred to the faculty at Sheffield U.

[Reactionary Moment]

he should of quoted the Koran. then he would be fine.

[Rich]

Or this: "When a man mounts another man, the throne of God shakes."

[Swiss Servator]

STEVE SMITH SHAKE HEAVEN?

[Doctor Whom]

How can this be? I have it on good authority that no one actually allows the right not to be offended to trump freedom of speech and that any suggestion to the contrary is just a right-wing talking point.

[GILMORE?]

a public university in England, has expelled Felix Ngole, a graduate student in social work, after it found he'd posted a Bible verse condemning homosexual acts in a private Facebook discussion

Well, to be technical... it wasn't really a very "private" discussion now, was it?

That said.... we do have this "freedom of religion" thing here in the US that they don't have over there. The thing is, the general attitude towards it is becoming much the same.

e.g. I noticed this piece the other day pointing out that "Failing to give the state the ability to punish people for having the wrong opinions" was considered a piece of "Anti-Gay Legislation"

to be fair, it is a british news org, but the issue hasn't been spun any differently in US papers

Some have characterized these RFRA things as "freedom to discriminate"... which i think might be closer to the truth, but not in the sense that the critics intend.

[jackrose]

nice post thanks admin