God and Man at SOCCCD

1. IN GOD THEY TRUST. As you know, the SOCCCD has been and will continue to be a tiny battleground of the “culture war” between Red Meat Republicans and most everyone else. For instance, our board is fond of prayer, and, often, there is no mistaking which God is being prayed to or invoked at the start of meetings of the SOCCCD Board of Trustees.

Naturally, some object to this practice. Below, I provide a brief (1:30) example of a plea to cease the practice of prayer at district functions:

The board meetings are held, of course, at a district building on the campus of Saddleback College, and thus in the city of Mission Viejo—among the safest cities in the country, or so says the FBI. It’s also mighty conservative.

Yesterday, the OC Register reported that

Mission Viejo may become the third Orange County city to approve displaying the national motto "In God We Trust" in City Hall. 

¶ The City Council will discuss placing the motto on the walls of the council chambers at its meeting Monday. … 

¶ Councilwoman Gail Reavis placed the item for discussion on the agenda. The move comes after the Cypress City Council voted Feb. 11 to display the phrase in their council chambers. Westminster City Council passed a similar ordinance last July and began displaying the words in their council chambers in January. 

¶ Reavis said displaying the motto would be a symbol of the city's character, and that she did not expect the issue to be controversial…. 

¶ Cypress Councilman Phil Luebben, who voted against the [Cypress] ordinance, said the motto does not represent all of the city's residents…. 

¶ Jacquie Sullivan is president of In God We Trust – America, an organization that encourages cities to publicly display the phrase, which was adopted by Congress as the national motto in 1956. She said the motto is meant to include all faiths, and that it is a sign of a city's patriotism. 

¶ "This is not a religious effort, it's a patriotic effort," she said.

Perfect! South County conservatives think back to 1956 to express their patriotism—which, evidently, is the same as their theism.

(See Ceremonial deism)

2. NEW ACCREDITATION-RESPONSE PROPOSAL. As you know, our effort to deal with our dire accreditation difficulties recently yielded the proposal of a district-wide Accreditation Advisory Panel.

Things change. The latest proposal—coming from the district? From Chancellor Mathur?—is a committee per college to include various district personnel and even a trustee—as well as some faculty.

Naturally, some have expressed skepticism about the new proposal. For instance, are enough faculty on these committees?

At a recent academic senate meeting, I noted that it is one thing to endeavor to address our problems (as identified by the accrediting agency) and it is quite another to write a report on our progress in addressing our problems. I worry that this proposal obliterates that distinction and is therefore muddled.

Perhaps when we hear the details of the proposal, my concerns will be assuaged or even shown to be erroneous. Could be. Hope so. Nothing’s been decided yet.

3. SHAME? On the 26th, Sean Hill of Liberal OC weighed in on IVC’s little flag controversy:

For the last ten years a 144-flag display has hung in the atrium of the student center of the Irvine Valley College without incident. However according to an article written by Marla Jo Fisher in yesterday’s Orange County Register school officials have removed the display after threats from radical anti-communist activists in the local Vietnamese community.

The display represented the flags of the nations of the world “in a gesture designed to symbolize the diversity of the college’s student body”. It was the fact that a flag depicting the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was displayed that drew the ire of the activists. The activists threatened mass protests with busloads of protestors if the flag was not removed. Fearing this, school officials caved and removed the entire display.

Leading the charge for the radical activists were Van Tran allies Westminster Councilman Andy Quach and Garden Grove Councilwoman Dina Nguyen. Quach and Nguyen essentially threatened and coerced school officials by reminding them of what happened during the 1999 protests in Little Saigon over a shop owner displaying the Vietnam flag and a photo of Ho Chi Minh. During those protests some 50,000 people showed up and at times turned violent, going as far as attacking an American veteran of the Vietnam War who spoke in favor of the shop owners right to free speech.

It is time that this thuggery and intimidation by the radicals in Little Saigon comes to an end. These folks believe in the right of free speech. Theirs. They wrap themselves in the Constitution to protect their rights, and step on it when it comes to the rights and beliefs of the people who disagree with them. They left Vietnam in search of freedom and yet they act not too much different from those in charge of the country they fled.

Shame on Irvine Valley College officials for bowing to their threats and shame on those issuing those threats. If you believe in the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression you must be willing to defend things that may be offensive to you. That is the beauty of America, or at least that used to be the beauty of America. Clearly we have allowed the threats of a radical mob to determine what can be said or expressed.

This leaves me to ask should Cuban-Americans be able to demand the removal of the Cuban flag because they don’t agree with the government there? What about Persian-Americans and the Iranian flag? Should we only allow the display of flags of countries we like? Should we ban the display of all flags except the American flag?

So what do you think?