As you are surfing the Internet this morning, I am in a car driving west somewhere between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. The particular column you are reading right now is the 639th I have written since I became a columnist for Townhall in September of 2003. It will also be my last.
My first column for Townhall was called “NAMBLA: Coming to a Campus Near You.” In that column, I argued that the diversity movement had gained such momentum – ironically, from not being subjected to competing ideas – that it would not be long before pedophilia was accepted and actively promoted on our nation’s campuses – all in the name of “tolerance” and “diversity.” That time has now arrived.
My most recent column included a revealing email exchange with a university administrator. Careless readers of that column considered it to be somewhat mundane and unenlightening – perhaps even petty. The more careful readers noticed that, in one of the administrator’s emails, she included a quote by James Baldwin, which said “If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality.”
Of course, when Baldwin made that statement he was not a “boy.” He was a grown man suggesting that pedophilia is not a disease but, instead, that opposition to pedophilia is a disease. I disagree. That’s why I’m a follower of Jesus, rather than a follower of Baldwin or Muhammad.
Several readers who picked up on that quotation asked a rather pointed question: “Is your university so caught up in moral relativism that it has lost its capacity to condemn pedophilia?” The answer: “You don’t know the half of it.”
Regular readers of my column recall an incident last year when the Faculty Senate passed a resolution to support the First Amendment rights of a feminist who wished to place nude pictures of little girls (pre and post-pubescent) in the lobby of the university library.
Regular readers of my column also recall an incident at another UNC campus involving a 34-year old man who was convicted of possessing child porn – including pictures of eight-year-olds being raped and sodomized. After admitting to the felony child porn convictions – right on his application, mind you - he was still admitted to UNC-Greensboro. They even hired him to work in the Office of Student Life where he worked to get a porn star hired to speak about “safe sodomy.” The day after she spoke the College Republicans were denied funding for my speech. I was deemed “too offensive” even though I wasn’t talking about sodomy.
But the story I’m breaking today takes the cake. During my First Amendment lawsuit against UNC-Wilmington, my attorneys discovered a series of emails, which began with an accusation of “transphobia” leveled against me by a group called the Gender Mutiny Collective. This was in response to two columns I wrote - “Diversity and Perversity at my Little University” and “The Old Rugged Cross-Dresser.”
For those who don’t already know, the Gender Mutiny Collective is a group of transgendered anarchists. They support violence as a means of eradicating the oppression of transgendered people. One of their recruiting manuals quotes their president as saying “I don’t trust a boy unless he knows how to suck a good (rhymes with “clock.”).
When the Gender Mutiny Collective demanded an investigation of me – to determine whether I was transmitting “transphobia” in the classroom - the university had two options. They could: a) support the First Amendment rights of their faculty member, or b) support the rights of transgendered anarchist pedophiles to be perpetually un-offended.
So the university sided with the transgendered anarchist pedophiles and conducted an investigation. The investigation found no evidence of the transmission of “transphobia” in my classroom – nor did any consensus emerge as to what exactly constitutes “transphobia.”
Despite all these damning emails, the chancellor of the university asserted that she knew little of Mike Adams other than that she and the administration had frequently defended his First Amendment rights. So it was somewhat strange to see her lawyer (The N.C. Attorney General) argue that I had no First Amendment rights associated with my controversial columns. Take a few minutes to digest the following synopsis:
In several hundred nationally published columns Mike Adams said: “The University of North Carolina does not protect free speech.”
In response, the university said: “You don’t have a right to say that.”
And, sadly, the court agreed saying that because I mentioned my column in my promotion application, it was now a part of my “official duties.” And that means the First Amendment no longer prevents the university from discriminating against me for my beliefs.
My attorneys at the Alliance Defense Fund have appealed the case to the 4th Circuit. And we’ll go to the Supreme Court if we lose there. In the meantime, liberals who never previously supported me have seen the danger that the court’s ruling presents to all university professors – conservative and liberal.
It isn’t surprising that The Washington Times ran a very supportive article about my case on April 15th. My case is so compelling that even the left-wing American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is writing an amicus brief (on my behalf) to the 4th Circuit.
I recently sent the article from The Washington Times to the president of the faculty senate of my university. With it, I sent a note asking him to circulate it to the entire faculty. They need to know that the university can discriminate against them for anything they put in their promotion applications.
For example, imagine a professor lists as “service” that he is the advisor for the College Democrats. And imagine the Dean is a Republican. Since his advising is a part of his official duties, he can be punished by the Dean for his political views. Or imagine a professor writes a peer-refereed publication taking a particular position on global warming. But the college president takes a different view. The possibilities are endless and, beware liberal professors, you could be next!
Of course, I don’t have to tell you that the Faculty Senate has remained silent on the issue of my pending appeal. They’ll never say my columns are protected free speech unless they start featuring pictures of naked little girls. But I can’t bring myself to provide comfort and pleasure to pedophiles. Call me old fashioned.
And, since this column is not protected by the First Amendment, I must bid you farewell.
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