“In the US it’s known as the culture wars; the battle between a liberal-humanist view of education based on the disinterested pursuit of truth and those committed to overthrowing the status quo and turning students into politically correct new age warriors.” – Kevin Donnelly in The Australian.

No, the US culture wars pit a liberal-humanist view of education based on the disinterested pursuit of truth against Christian fundamentalists. The people in academia *are* the liberal humanists interested in the disinterested pursuit of truth. Only right-wing loons think that banning gay-hate groups from campus is a worse threat to liberal values than making kids learn creation myths as fact…

The rest of the article is just as bad. Mr Donnelly mostly attacks an Australian teacher called Wayne Sawyer, who has written that John Howard’s victory at the last Aussie election raises questions about public morals.

Since Mr Howard is a proven liar and cynical race-hate-monger (irrespective of your views on his contribution to Iraq), this is not a particularly controversial view: even a Victorian puritan would disapprove of him on moral grounds. Mr Donnelly, however, takes the opportunity to lie that Mr Sawyer wants kids to be taught left-wing propaganda, and then goes on a traditional no-nothing ‘political correctness has gone mad’ rant.

Alternatively, Mr Donnelly’s claim is that only people on the left still believe in honesty and in not stirring up hate for electoral advantage. This would certainly explain the current US administration…

(via Barista [blog dead, now a malware site], who also gives Donnelly some good punishing)