Cancel culture attacks university’s Fulbright

Religion section commentator Terry Mattingly told the story on June 27 of the MIT chaplain who was asked to resign after sending an email to his Catholic flock at MIT trying to “apply his words about mercy and justice to the firestorm of protests and violence unleashed by the killing of George Floyd.” In the rush to judgment so typical of today’s online cancel culture, pejorative labels were quickly applied to his email message and the critical thinking so desperately needed in today’s divided society was abandoned. Piled on by MIT Vice President/Dean of Student Life Suzy Nelson and Boston Archbishop Sean O’Malley, suddenly Father Daniel Moloney was toast. I encourage whoever wants to fully understand this set of actions to do research and read the entire statements of all three — then come to your own conclusions.

Now protesters across this country have moved on from the easy targets of Confederates and are pulling down/erasing the statues of Christopher Columbus, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson – the list keeps growing.

I am a University of Arkansas alum with deep roots in Fayetteville, and this morning I was horrified to read that J. William Fulbright, a man of immense accomplishments and strong ties to the University of Arkansas, is under attack by the same social media cancel culture that is trying to erase history and create a falsely inclusive “safe” learning environment on campuses across the U.S. Safe from critical thought and reasoned discourse? Does not the truly wise person learn from history, not try to erase it?

My Christian faith tells me all humans are sinners, and my experience says all our heroes, whether political or sports or cultural, past or present, have clay feet. Jesus told those with stones in their hands that the one without sin should throw the first stone. Let me remind you that justice without mercy or compassion is tyranny. That is what is happening in our social media cancel culture today. The stones are flying without critical thinking, listening for understanding, or mercy and compassion for others who, like all of us, have clay feet.

Will you throw your stone?

JEFFREY WILLIAMS

Fayetteville