disclaimer
In principle, this page shouldn’t be necessary. In practice it may very well be; there have been several recent cases where blogging academics were denied tenure, and it’s a matter of some controversy to what degree their blogging affected the decisionmaking of the promotions committee.
In any case, I invoke the standard net.disclaimer.
My views are my own. Although they’ve been formed by countless influences, from which they probably derived whatever virtues they may possess, I’m the only one responsible for them: not my employers, not my friends, not even my enemies. No one approved any of this, and I speak for no one but myself.
Under the usual conventions, I’m also responsible for what I write, not for what I mention — sometimes I’ll link to things which I profoundly disagree with — or what someone I mention says, or who may link to me.. and similarly I’m not responsible for someone else’s unreasonable misinterpretations of what I’ve written.
For students:
I’ve spent my life being in an invisible minority (the Church) which gets a fair bit of unjustified abuse, and by virtue of our usual invisibility I get to hear what those who congratulate themselves on their tolerance say when they think they’re the only ones around. (Hint: it couldn’t fairly be described as tolerant.)
Fortunately for my sake I have a deep contrarian streak, but I understand how uncomfortable strong disagreement can be when the person you’re disagreeing with is of higher rank. I think it’s important to recognize — both in the Real World and in the academy — that truth is independent of us, and that a difference of opinion, even a severe one, isn’t a personal attack. There’s a real distinction there.. I’ve been on the receiving end of both, and the one can be invigorating while the other is irritating.
At heart I believe the worth of a human person is rooted in the imago Dei, not in ideological agreement; all our present-day thoughts are but shadows, pale reflections, of the Truth that is to come and which one day we will know fully even as we are known.
Translation: don’t take any differences in our views too seriously — I certainly don’t.
Well, except for the Leafs..
