A Harvard Conference Keynote Speaker Has Written That Religious Jews And Christians ‘Deserve To Be Locked Up’
Over the last ten years, the FAS Diversity Dialogue Series has sparked conversation about diversity, equality and inclusion in the FAS community and beyond. Join us for a retrospective look at diversity and inclusion, a discussion of current issues, and practical guidance on how we can move toward greater inclusion and belonging at Harvard.We are pleased to announce that our keynote speaker will be Tim Wise, prominent anti-racism writer, educator, and activist. A moderated discussion with Tim will be led by Renee Graham, an associate editor and columnist at the Boston Globe.
Hold aside for a second why Harvard would invite a white, reportedly heterosexual man to lead its ten-year commemoration conference on a diversity initiative. Because as conservative campus watchdog site The College Fix reports, this "anti-racism" activist has a rather colorful online history of grotesquely bigoted statements against religious Jews and Christians. Most specifically, Wise has publicly called for those who actually believe in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament to be "locked up."
Per The College Fix:
Tim Wise, an "anti-racism writer, educator and activist," has denigrated Christians as "Jeezoids and fascists and called Pope Francis evil. He has tweeted that "people who believe in a God of hell/damnation deserve to be mocked viciously and run out of the public square."
Those who base their morality on the Hebrew Scriptures "deserve to be locked up," he said in 2015, claiming to be "sorta kidding but not by much."
The Diversity Dialogue Series provides a "retrospective look at diversity and inclusion, a discussion of current issues, and practical guidance on how we can move toward greater inclusion and belonging at Harvard," according to the event description.
Here is the full underlying Facebook post from 2015, which features Wise commenting derogatorily about former U.S. congresswoman Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and which he set to a public viewership:
This is America...people basing their beliefs on the fable of Noah and Ark, or their interpretation of Sodom and Gomorrah...rather than science or logic...If you are basing your morality on a fairy tale written thousands of years ago, you deserve to be locked up...detained for your utter inability to deal with reality...NO, we are not obligated to indulge your irrationality in the name of your religious freedom...but we will provide you a very comfortable room, against which walls you may hurl yourself hourly if your choose. Knock yourself out....seriously, knock yourself out, completely, for weeks at a time...I'm sorta kidding but not by much...I don't believe lunatics like this should be locked up, but I do think they have to be politically destroyed, utterly rendered helpless to the cause of pluralism and democracy ...the world is not theirs. They have no right to impose their bullshit on others. They can either change, or shut the hell up, or practice their special brand of crazy in their homes...or go away. Their choice. And this argument applies to any fundamentalist religionist of any faith who thinks they have a right to impose their beliefs on a secular, pluralistic society. Go away.
In Wise's extremely limited defense, The College Fix notes that the noted "anti-racism" activist avoided any bigoted anti-Jewish/anti-Christian language during his Harvard appearance yesterday.
