Dive Summary:
- Charles Negy, a University of Central Florida professor of psychology, is receiving attention from around the world after an e-mail message to students in his cross-cultural psychology class accusing them of religious arrogance and bigotry made the rounds on Reddit.
- According to Negy, who is no stranger to in-class uproars during discussions on religion, a group of 8 to 10 of his 496 students began arguing that Christianity was superior to all other religions and then asked the rest of the class not to participate in the discussion following Negy's request that they demonstrate how this was so.
- Since appearing on Reddit, the e-mail has renewed discussion about the professor's right to insist on civilized, reasoned discourse in an academic setting versus the students' right to say whatever they believe.
From the article:
Charles Negy, a professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida, has taught his cross-cultural psychology class for 15 years. Uproars are not uncommon, especially when he talks about religion or tells his students that there is really no "heaven." Even so, the arguments reached a new low in January. In Negy's telling, about 8 to 10 students, among 496 students in the class, started arguing that Christianity was superior to other religions. Negy asked the protesting students to demonstrate how this was so. At this, one of the students in the group asked the rest of the class not to take part in the discussion. ...