Liberty Law School: provisionally accredited since 2002
Following up on the ginned-up prayer controversy post below, while googling I ran across a profile of Liberty Law School. Liberty Counsel, the affiliated "religious rights group," has promised to support the aggrieved students in Evergreen.
The Aug. 19, 2006 The Roanoke Times reports that Liberty Law School is um, well, kind of new:
The question is why reporters don't seem to understand this from the beginning. KGW, in its initial on-line story, identified Liberty Counsel this way:
The initial KGW on-line story did not mention Falwell, nor did it mention the affiliated law school's history, such that it is.
There certainly was no mention of Liberty's clear anti-gay rights agenda.The whole story was so obviously a fabricated controversy that it's pretty sad that KGW fell for it. And of course once it's on the boob tube, everyone else has to cover it.
This is a good example of why it's important for journalists to use their skills to inform rather than inflame, and to exhibit some editorial judgement when it comes to the claims made by the far right (and especially the religious right.) While other journalists rather quickly filled in the holes for the public, making it clear that the students had been offered every possible accommodation and that something else was at work, there will still be a certain percentage of the public that resists the facts and clings to the preferred right-wing narrative of persecution.
So thanks, KGW, for enabing the theocratic right to embrace its pre-determined victim status.
The Aug. 19, 2006 The Roanoke Times reports that Liberty Law School is um, well, kind of new:
Founded in 2002, with $14.6 million invested so far, it may be too early to judge the provisionally accredited school. Falwell knows his school will earn its reputation based on where his graduates land jobs, and how they comport themselves in courtrooms and in the legal world. The students' rate of passing the bar and other achievements are vital to the school's gaining full accreditation. (bold added)It's not a secret that the religious right has set out to create its own funhouse mirror institutions to justify attempts to create a Christian theocracy. There's an entire cottage industry out there of "Christian therapists" and probably everything else you can imagine.
The question is why reporters don't seem to understand this from the beginning. KGW, in its initial on-line story, identified Liberty Counsel this way:
According to Liberty Counsel, a non-profit legal organization advancing religious freedom, the students were suspended for 10 days.Just because a group says in its news releases that it is "advancing religious freedom" does not mean it is so. One can make a fairly convincing argument it is doing the opposite, in fact.
The initial KGW on-line story did not mention Falwell, nor did it mention the affiliated law school's history, such that it is.
There certainly was no mention of Liberty's clear anti-gay rights agenda.The whole story was so obviously a fabricated controversy that it's pretty sad that KGW fell for it. And of course once it's on the boob tube, everyone else has to cover it.
This is a good example of why it's important for journalists to use their skills to inform rather than inflame, and to exhibit some editorial judgement when it comes to the claims made by the far right (and especially the religious right.) While other journalists rather quickly filled in the holes for the public, making it clear that the students had been offered every possible accommodation and that something else was at work, there will still be a certain percentage of the public that resists the facts and clings to the preferred right-wing narrative of persecution.
So thanks, KGW, for enabing the theocratic right to embrace its pre-determined victim status.
