Weekly Roundup

Reading List

Fidelity to Individual Psychotherapy Patients in a Time of Ideological Extremism

For FAIR’s Substack, Aaron Kindsvatter writes about why ethically-minded counselors must clearly distinguish themselves from those who view vulnerable adults (and child patients in school settings) with ideological intent.

In addition to assisting new and existing psychotherapy patients to avoid political/ideological indoctrination, the Society of Ethical Practices in Psychotherapy will assist psychotherapists to avoid political/ideological indoctrination. Increasingly, psychotherapy regulatory boards are requiring continuing education credits in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The Society for Ethical Practices in Psychotherapy will be creating a wide variety of content to meet these continuing education requirements. However, unlike most DEI trainings, we intend to produce content that is ideologically neutral, pro-human, heterodox, and based on the Enlightenment principles of rationalism, objectivity, compassion, truth, and fidelity to the individual. 

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You’re Only For Free Speech If You Defend It For People You Hate

For his Substack Public, FAIR Advisor Michael Shellenberger and Alex Gutentag write about why we should protect people physically, not emotionally.

And most recently, the House Rules Committee advanced the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023, a bipartisan bill to expand the definition of antisemitism in Title VI federal anti-discrimination law. The bill refers to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which includes criticism of Israel, such as characterizing the state of Israel as a racist endeavor, or applying double standards to Israel’s conduct. Because all schools that receive federal funds must comply with Title VI, the bill would lead to greater censorship of speech on campus.

All of these efforts are violations of freedom of speech and we condemn them unreservedly. It’s once again time to remind ourselves and our fellow citizens that the test of our commitment to free speech is when we demand its protection for our enemies and for speech we hate, not for our friends and for speech we like.

Religious Liberty and the Human Good

For National Review, FAIR advisor Robert P. George writes about the importance of religious liberty why it should be cherished, advanced, and held inviolate.

Human rights, such as the right to life or the right to religious freedom, are grounded in and shaped by the human goods they protect. The right to freedom of speech, for example, is grounded in several goods: political stability, the search for truth and the appropriation and dissemination of it, and so on. Indeed, only by reference to human goods can any right be defined and justified. Some human goods are merely instrumentally valuable. Monetary wealth, for example, is valuable just because it enables people to pursue other goods. But not all human goods are instrumental. As I and other philosophers working within the natural-law tradition have argued, there are human goods that are inherently and irreducibly valuable. Human life, health, knowledge, and friendship are examples of irreducible, or basic, human goods.

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Don’t Expand DEI. Dismantle It.

For The Free Press, Christopher F. Rufo and Jenin Younes set aside their political differences to write about why the the Antisemitism Awareness Act is profoundly misguided.

Anyone who worries about pitting identity groups against one another, or is repelled at the idea that some Americans deserve more protections than others, should oppose all of this proposed legislation. It violates our country’s most fundamental principles, including the letter and spirit of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee Americans the rights to free speech and equal treatment under the law, regardless of their racial, ethnic, or religious identity.

The only constitutional and moral approach is to establish a single, color-blind standard applicable to all individuals, regardless of their background. Any policies which, by definition, subordinate the individual to the group and suppress our speech will harm our nation in the long run and exacerbate, rather than resolve, racial and ethnic prejudice. 

The human cost of cancel culture

For the Free Speech Union, Frederick Attenborough writes about his experience after being fired for expressing gender-critical concerns in the workplace.

I’m still angry about what happened. But while I was mistreated in a professional and psychological sense I can move on and heal; any comparison with the plight of gender ideology’s true victims would be odious. I will say, though, that now that the final Cass Review has been published, many scales have fallen from many eyes and this topic is receiving the coverage and analysis it should have had years ago, I hope all those who contributed to my dismissal and who upheld unlawful discrimination feel ashamed.

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