How “Care” Compromises a Macalester Education
Accusations of “harm” from blasphemous art and a subsequent “pause” in showcasing the art roil Macalester as it did Hamline University. After Muslim students claimed they were harmed by Iranian-American artist Taravat Talepasand’ artwork, a Professor of Anthropology, Arjun Guneratne, penned a powerful letter to the Macalester newspaper. ”The artist…has the right to express her views. In a free society (such as the one Macalester seeks to model), she is entitled to not have her voice silenced in any way whatsoever. Whether her work is blasphemous or not is irrelevant…Blasphemy is a crime in many countries.. It is, however, not a crime in the United States, which is something about this country that I, as an immigrant, appreciate and celebrate…”
“That Macalester has chosen to take sides on the issue of blasphemy in Islam — a matter for Muslims to work out among themselves and is none of Macalester’s business — is deeply troubling…
“What interests me,” she goes on, “is the rhetorical value of the word ‘pain,’ along with other words like ‘hurt,’ ‘trauma’ and ‘harm,’ that campus officials use to describe the impact on students of disconcerting or challenging ideas. If pain (or trauma or harm) is being caused, then of course, we should act to stop it. But do ideas cause ‘pain’?…”
“When people at Macalester are offended by a graphite drawing that depicts a partially nude woman in a niqāb, what is being caused is not pain, but offense. In a free country, no one has the right to be exempt from being offended. Giving offense is a necessary byproduct of the freedom of speech and foundational to the existence of a free society…”
Related:
The Point of Education Is Not to Reduce Harm: “Blaphemous” Art Show (Chronicle, 2/23/23)
Taravat Talepasand’s Art (Chronicle, 2/8/23)
