Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I Won't Be Attending Graduation at the University of Alberta Any Time Soon

...and here's why.

A publicly-funded university shouldn't be instructing its students to do something "for the glory of God".

You can write the President of the University of Alberta, Indira V. Samarasekera, to express your displeasure with her university's actions.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

"A publicly-funded university shouldn't be instructing its students to do something "for the glory of God". That's a very good point. I'm a Christian, but I can see just how problematic that statement is. What if instead, the university had instructed its students to do something for the glory of the flying spaghetti monster? How would people react then?

Garkbit said...

Interesting. At Cambridge I received my degree in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, but only because I couldn't be arsed to ask for the alternative version (iirc, it was a long time ago).

Unknown said...

"What if instead, the university had instructed its students to do something for the glory of the flying spaghetti monster? How would people react then?"

Rational people would find it ridiculous and laughable. Which it would be. But no more so than pledging to use my new degree for the glory of a bronze age hebrew myth is.

You may have missed the point of the FSM. Yes, it is absolutely a ludicrous concept of a supreme being. But it isn't any more ludicrous than any other supreme being.

S.M. Elliott said...

Horrifying. I'm rather ashamed, though it's certainly not my fault.

Anonymous said...

I like how people can not come up with their own ideas ie: "the flyging spaghetti monster." Way to take it from someone elses comment in the U of A paper. This just goes to show people have a difficult time thinking on their own. People need to stop being so selfish. What about those students who look forward to hearing that phrase " the glory of god and in honour of your country?" Does this also mean that the individuals who want this removed also have no patriotism towards their country? This is a traditional phrase that has been used for years. This issue with religion in schools has been so over dramatized it's disgusting. Everyone is looking to start some kind heated argument and Ian has found his place in the spotlight! Props Ian! Agnostics and Atheists are not the only people on campus. What about the students who are catholic or jewish or muslim. I can agree with the word "God" being removed from the statement but i still strongly believe that the word "religion" can be used instead.