So What Are They Hiding?

[DangerUXD]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21542041
The university merely needed to pre clear content.

[FredPuli43]

Dr Hasan ,in the link, gives the answer.

[mushroom25]

but from the other angle, what right have the university got to set themselves up as thought police?

[daffy654]

They have nobody but themselves to blame after the previous problems.

[FredPuli43]

Thought police? Detecting thought crime, thoughts and unspoken beliefs which threaten the ruling party? Depends whether you think that stopping people from having a forum in which they tell or encourage others to murder citizens is preventing them from threatening the ruling party. I think it's in the public interest of everybody, but maybe that's just me. And that is what this university is worried about.

[jake-the-peg]

I think "merely" is an interesting word

Imagine if the Ed decided that posts would have to be vetted for racism before they could appear on here.

The sqealing would be deafening.

As Fred says Dr Hasan is on the nail - such censorship is *normally* inappropriate and would not be acceptable.

But this University has had a recent history of Islamic radicalism that makes it a special case.

It would not be any more acceptable to extend this sort of monitoring to other institutions than it would be for the Ed to vet your posts in advance

[Gromit]

Do Christians who want to pray on campus have to submit their prayers beforehand?
If not, then it is clearly discriminatory.

[DangerUXD]

It's not the prayers that are the issue, it's the contents of the sermons. I have no doubt any christian vicar would be happy to publish his sermon, in fact they often do as a matter of course anyway.

[Prudie]

Universities should exist primarily as places for learning and research. Why should they not have a say about what goes on on their own campus, nothing to do with thought police. if people want to promote their religious beliefs it should be done elsewhere.

[woofgang]

"The university could not continue to condone an activity taking place on its premises where it cannot exercise reasonable supervision."

Seems reasonable to me

[Prudie]

As for the outcry if Ed chose to vet posts before they went on here that happens anyway - anything unacceptable is removed by Ed/Mods, the slight timeframe difference is irrelevant.

[ludwig]

I don't see why they need to vet anything in advance. They need to monitor what's actually being said, and act accordingly.

Apart from anything else, there's no guarantee that the text submitted for approval will reflect the actual sermon given.

[youngmafbog]

As R1 will qualify