Corrections to a news story in the R-G for December 7, 2010 It was most unfortunate that the "newsman" the Register-Guard sent to interview Barry Sommer was a cub reporter hired fresh from high school. If this characterization is not literally true it is close enough. In any case, Saul Hubbard made so many "baby mistakes" in his account that it was necessary for me to make various corrections to his text. My words appear in BF Billy Rojas Eugene, Oregon former teacher and former magazine editor ===================================================== College drops Islam course in light of instructor’s history He denies allegations by a civil rights group that he is anti-Muslim By Saul Hubbard The Register-Guard / aka The Red Guard Published: Tuesday, Dec 7, 2010 05:02AM
____________________________________ Lane Community College has pulled the plug on a noncredit winter course entitled “What is Islam?” after learning about some of the controversial political views of the course’s instructor, Eugene resident Barry Sommer. Sommer has given talks at the Pacifica Forum, a discussion group forced off the University of Oregon campus following a series of presentations that critics said were anti-Semitic. [ Pacifica actually was a loose association that had three distinct sub-groups, one of which was anti-Zionist, one of which had varied academic interests and some of whom were pro-Jewish, and an unclassifiable "other" section consisting of the curious and people who liked to socialize with group members. At any rate, the RG article in repeating the misleading claim that Pacifica as a whole has an anti-Semitic reputation, in the context of an article about Mr Sommer, insinuates the absurd, inasmuch as Barry had a Jewish mother and is half Jewish himself The implication that Sommer is anti-Semitic falls rather flat considering that he would then be anti-Semitic against himself ] He also leads the local chapter of ACT! for America, a nonprofit organization that describes itself as an issues advocacy group but that opponents [ almost all of whom are Muslim or Marxist-Leninist ] describe as an Islamophobic hate group. LCC President Mary Spilde said the college first learned of Sommer’s background as the result of a media inquiry. “When it got on our radar, given the recent events in Portland and Corvallis, we said, ‘Wait a minute, we need to be very careful and really consider how Lane engages learning experiences in this environment,’ ” she said.[ evasively, trying to conceal her real motivations ] Spilde was referring to the alleged bombing attempt by a young Muslim man in downtown Portland, and the subsequent arson at a Corvallis mosque attended by the man, a former student at Oregon State University. Every year, LCC offers between 100 and 200 noncredit personal enrichment courses, some of which are proposed by community members. The classes generally must attract a minimum of six to eight students to be held, Spilde said. No one had signed up for the “What is Islam?” course prior to it being cancelled, [ which is hardly a surprize inasmuch as the class had only been listed for about 24 hours when the snowball hit the fan ] Spilde said. The eight-week course was slated to cost $55, and Sommer would have earned $160 for teaching it. [ and would have deserved far more, especially considering the de facto bigotry that characterizes many Left-wing multi-culturalist teachers at the school who live and breathe some version of "California Anarcho-Socialism ] Spilde said she had not yet spoken to the person who scheduled the Islam class, and did not know whether officials knew of Sommer’s background. References are routinely checked for individuals teaching noncredit classes, but the process is not as comprehensive as the vetting for for-credit classes and the instructors teaching them, she said. [ and in any case, while it is true that Barry approached the school initially, as he has reported to me, he was unprepared for the enthusiastic response he received from the administrator in question who rushed approval for the course, something that required additional approval from various other administrators all of whom had to sign their names to an agreement. ] Sommer said Monday he is disappointed with how LCC handled the matter and that he regards it as a free speech issue. [ which is exactly what it is, along with a breech of contract issue ] He said he has retained the services of the American Center of Law & Justice — a nonprofit public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C., founded by evangelist Pat Robertson — for any potential legal action. [ Rather than the ACLU, which was founded by, among others, William Z. Foster, at that time the chairman of the Communist Party of the USA, and author of "Toward Soviet America," a screed which was inspired by Lenin. / In any case, the ACLJ has been wholly independent for a good number of years and the insinuation that its association with Robertson discredits it is specious on the face of it inasmuch as the organization's world class attorneys have argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, winning such major decisions as _Pleasant Grove City v. Summum (2007)_ (http://www.aclj.org/Cases/default.aspx?Section=120) , _McConnell v. FEC, (2003)_ (http://www.aclj.org/Cases/default.aspx?Section=1) , and _Operation Rescue v. National Organization for Women, 537 U.S. 808, 123 S. Ct. 58 (2002)._ (http://www.aclj.org/Cases/default.aspx?Section=72) Sommer said he has been researching and studying Islam intensively for 12 years, but acknowledged that he does not have any strictly academic credentials to teach the course. [ However, he has been a professional radio announcer for 30 years, has hosted a valuable news show on CTV, channel 29, for more than 2 years entitled "Islam Today," and has lectured , under Pacifica auspices, four times at the University of Oregon, despite strong opposition from some of the Anti-Zionists in the Forum ] Sommer’s proposed course caught the attention of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization. [ CORRECTION , actually CAIR only calls itself such a group, in reality it is a front organization with ties to various Islamic terror groups in the Mid East such as Hamas. At least 5 of the leaders of CAIR in the early 2000s are currently serving prison sentences for their part in aiding the enemies of the United States, which CAIR still seeks to do, although not as blatantly as previously. Unfortunately mainstream reporters rarely, almost never in fact, do the least research to learn the relevant facts about CAIR, although the reason is not mysterious since the political Left-wing is essentially pro-Muslim throughout most of America and , because the Left is rabidly anti-Semitic, it is happy to accommodate the vile anti-Semitism in the Qur'an which, among other things, in Surah 5 : 60 or slightly different numbering in some translations, calls Jews "sons of apes and pigs." ] “Unless the goal of this course is to promote anti-Muslim bigotry, [ actually Barry Sommer wanted to present the clinical truth about Islam which, sad to say, local leaders would not recognize if it bit them on the ass since all, or very nearly all, have done zero serious research in any area of religious scholarship, least of all Islam, and they aren't about to start now when all their shots are called for them by such Leftists as Rev. Dan Bryant, someone known for his post hoc apologetics on behalf of Muslims , a viewpoint he borrowed from Baha'is and which I am VERY familiar with as a Baha'i myself for 13 years in the past ] Lane Community College should [ NOT ] replace Mr. Sommer with [ since Barry is ] someone who will offer students a balanced and objective analysis of the subject matter,” [ even though Muslims would hate it, since any objective account of Islam must necessarily include the numerous atrocities done in its name as commanded by the Qur'an, would include descriptions of religiously sanctioned slavery affirmed in Muhammad's book, would describe how Islam regards the appropriate punishment for homosexuality as death, which demands that the hands of thieves should be amputated, which demands that women's testimony in a court of law should only count one-half that of a man, and so forth, ALL of WHICH gross hypocrites like Rev Bryant try to excuse or rationalize away with the modern equivalent of Jesuistry ] Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of the Washington state chapter of CAIR, said in a letter to Spilde on Friday. Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s communications director in Washington, D.C., said Monday that he applauds LCC’s decision to cancel Sommer’s class. [ what does anyone expect of Hooper, someone who detests any and all free speech when someone who understands what Islam actually is, criticizes this criminal religion, not "criminal" by way of metaphor, but in terms of the many provisions of Shariah law, which is binding on all serious Muslims, which completely contravene US Constitutional Law, about all of which there now is an entire literature ] “He has an apparent history of anti-Muslim bias [ if you understand Islam and have studied its texts and history what else can anyone be except critical ? ] and he has made numerous misinformed [ actually all of Barry's comments about Islam in the years I have known him are rigorously sourced, based on hard research, and, while there may be minor errors here or there, all are factual and true ] statements about the Islamic faith,” he said. Hooper said some of the posts on Sommer’s personal blog — including an entry in which Sommer describes a proposed constitutional amendment [ I am the author of that Amendment and stand by it and all the years of research that ultimately led to this formulation of uncompromising opposition to Islam --a religion that condemns me to death for my belief in the Holy Spirit as a Goddess, a "sin" that the Qur'an regards as the very worst form of "shirk" ] to ban the practice of Islam in the United States as “brilliant, crystal clear and something to seriously consider in the face of Islamic supremacism”— further illustrates his anti-Muslim agenda. “Is that really the type of person who should be teaching students about Islam?” Hooper asked. [ Barry is exactly the right kind of person. The exact wrong kinds of instructors, despite the extent of their knowledge, would be people like Georgetown's John Esposito or Michigan's Juan Cole , each of whom, albeit in their own ways, lack even elementary critical perspective on Islam ] Sommer defended himself against accusations that he is Islamophobic. [ a neologism ironically borrowed from homosexual activists, "ironic" inasmuch as the Qur'an regards homosexuality as an utter abomination, which is little more than a smear word intended for purposes of ad hominum attacks and vilification campaigns of various kinds ] “I have been accused of many things in the past few days ,” he said. “I just want to say that I have nothing against Muslims. I do have concerns about how Islam is defined today by its leaders, and how some people respond to those leaders’ interpretations.” He said the purpose of his proposed course was education, not indoctrination, and that he wanted to provide students with information and let them decide for themselves. According to Spilde, discussions about whether to cancel the course began before the college was contacted by CAIR. She said the college reserves the right to decide whether a class is ultimately offered, and that no contract was signed with Sommer. [ Which is a blatant lie. No-one is hired for any job at LCC who does not sign a contract --or legal equivalent-- and this fact cannot be evaded by parsing, something no court would allow itself to be deceived by. Or are we to believe that upon a handshake and a verbal agreement Mr Sommer was hired at the school and his course advertised in the academic catalog ? ] She said she does not regard the matter as a free speech issue. [ Because, obviously , she is clueless about the meaning of the First Amendment ] “We certainly value intellectual inquiry and freedom of speech but we also want to make sure, when LCC is involved, that we are doing it in an appropriate way to provide a productive and effective learning environment,” she said. “We are not going to be pressured by any group on any side of this issue when we make a decision.” [ Unless a group is Muslim, in which case, LCC will capitulate without murmur because, as everybody knows, it is in extreme poor taste to offend Muslims. Plus, if you nonetheless do offend them they will kill you. ] -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
