Faithful Philly Forum

On every mock tombstone is the phrase “in loving memory” followed by the name of a child, his/her age at death and the reason for their death, tank attack or battle. There are 500 in all each one representing 1,000 deaths in the war on Iraq. What is stunning however is that the faculty member from Penn Faculty and Staff Against the War on Iraq, Felicity Paxton, went to great pains to explain to the Daily Pennsylvanian that no Penn funds, tuition or otherwise, went into this project. This is because one student was ready to create a ruckus if any of his tuition dollars supported the Penn Teach-in Against the War. So since when did it become a liability for a University to be political? Isn’t academe supposed to challenge our cherished ideas of the status quo? As educated people aren’t we supposed to learn to think critically on campus and  embrace those who do (whichever side of the political fence they are on.) And since when did war become a partisan issue? Why can’t all of us agree that killing is wrong or at least the option of last resort and not to be justified but to be grieved? (Perhaps defensible for some people but then we should have the debate about it, not quell dissent with our dollars or threats of lawsuits because we disagree!)