Some inquisition

It's worth recalling that the 16th-century Spanish Inquisition featured various non-Christians being horrendously tortured and executed in barbarous ways for heresy. The Crusades involved bloody warfare, massacres, raping and pillaging and the other usual antics of medieval conflict.

So what ill treatment has so unnerved the St. F.X. professor that he would liken his treatment to violent torture and death? Criticism, it appears.

Dossa made headlines across Canada in December when he disappeared from his classroom in tiny Antigonish and reappeared at a conference in Iran called "The Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision." This conference had been heralded by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a way to set the West straight on what really happened during the Holocaust. Ahmadinejad has suggested that the number of Jews slaughtered during the Holocaust -- some six million documented -- was grossly exaggerated. He also has mused that the world would be better off without the "occupation regime over Jerusalem," meaning the state of Israel.

At the conference itself, internationally known Holocaust deniers David Dukes, Frederick Töben, Patrick H. McNally and Robert Faurisson provided much of the entertainment. By Dossa's own admission, six "academic" papers were presented that defended the Holocaust. The rest merely criticized how it had been used by Zionist Jews to promote their own interests, he says.

It was hardly unexpected when Dossa's colleagues in the political science department at St. F.X. raised a stink over their workmate's attendance at this suspect - to say the least - academic conference. No surprise, either, that the university's chancellor, Antigonish Bishop Raymond Lahey, would distance his institution from Dossa's deed in a letter to the Globe and Mail. Or that a significant portion of the faculty would sign a petition expressing embarrassment at Dossa's action - while defending his academic freedom.

Yet today Dossa purports to have been appalled and shocked by this reaction. It was, he explains, an example of Christian Islamophobia, all the more deplorable since it arises in a Catholic university.

But what kind of crusade is this? Dossa, a tenured professor at St. F.X., still has his job. He was not sanctioned in any way by his employer. He admits that senior university administrators treated him fairly throughout the controversy. Some colleagues and administrators criticized his actions.

To sum up: Living in a free country, Dossa practiced his freedom of association and freedom of speech to go to a conference featuring Holocaust deniers. In this same free country, he was roundly criticized. And that's it.

In other words, this is academic life as it should be in Canada.

- - -

Joseph Sinasac is the publisher and editor of The Catholic Register.

Contact

The Catholic Register
http://www.catholicregister.org ,
Joseph Sinasac - ,

Email

Keywords

More Catholic PRWire

Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716

• « Prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• Next »

A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain

Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.

The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul

A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.

Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell

My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz

Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell

Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online

Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online

Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online

State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online

Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online

2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online

Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online

Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online

Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online

Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online

Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online

Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online

Full Circle
Robert Gieb

We ask you, humbly, to help.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you. Help Now >

Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite

Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony

Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell

World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online

Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA

Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online

A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe

Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly

Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard

The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely

Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow

A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow

Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea

Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard

Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol

Edging God Out
Paul Sposite

Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow

George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online

Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell

Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey

Free Catholic PDF's - Home / Parish / School / Bulletin Inserts

Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite

Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol

Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol

Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online

Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online

Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online

Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online

Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online

Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online

Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol

• « Prev
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• Next »