So the politically correct professor warns his students in advance that he finds certain opinions “unacceptable” and “dangerous”. (The fact that he used a particularly egregious example doesn’t make up for the fact that he shouldn’t be intimidating his students by encouraging self-censorship the first day of class. [Not to mention that in a free society everyone is, in fact, entitled to his opinion, though not to express it in all circumstances.]) Politically correct student decides that the professor wasn’t being sensitive enough, and that the example he used was “unacceptable” and “dangerous.”

David Bernstein at Volokh Conspiracy

Pity poor Professor Cameron Johnson at York University. He was just trying to make this fundamentally Canadian concept clear to the students in the class he was teaching by giving examples of unacceptable opinions.

Ken at Popehat

He didn’t notice Sarah Grunfeld storm out. Grunfeld, a 22-year-old in her final year at York, understood Johnston’s example to be his personal opinion.

“I think it’s a very good thing that people are sensitive to this kind of remark, and I think it’s a very good thing that someone would respond immediately and deal with it if they thought that they heard an anti-Semitic comment,” Johnston said. “But in this case, it’s a misreading.”

The Toronto Star

Bernstein calls it irony.  Ken calls it stupidity.  The Star calls it cautionary.

Professor at his first lecture of the semester to Canadian university students: “Despite what you may have heard elsewhere, everyone is not entitled to their opinion. ‘All Jews should be sterilized’ would be an example of an unacceptable and dangerous opinion.”

Student misunderstands, and launches attack on professor for being anti-Semitic. When the context was explained to her, she refused to relent: “The words, ‘Jews should be sterilized’ still came out of his mouth, so regardless of the context I still think that’s pretty serious.”

Bernstein

Grunfeld also expressed skepticism that Johnston was in fact Jewish.

Asked directly by a reporter whether she believes Johnston is lying, she was unclear.

“Whether he is or is not, no one will know,” she said. “. . . Maybe he thought because he is Jewish he can talk smack about other Jews.”

Ken

It has been a very painful experience for me to see how the university has closed ranks and reneged on its assurances to me. I understand that there may have been a miscommunication, but any miscommunication was on the part of the professor, not me. The media has been complicit in allowing a false interpretation of my actions to be circulated widely, which can only have a chilling effect on the ability of students to have any kind of a voice on campus.

Sarah Grunfeld via The Toronto Star

Meanwhile, if Sarah Grunfeld feels that Canada is a cold and barren place that refuses to celebrate her differences, she should consider coming here to America. Sure, we don’t have Human Rights Councils like Canada. But there are signs that our universities and their administrators are coming around to Sarah’s way of “thinking,” and doing what they can to protect the moron community.

Ken

Professor: I’m very troubled because “I’m very proud of the fact that in the history of my teaching career I’ve stood for the best values of what constitutes a meaningful human community.”

Bernstein

No one was bullied in the writing of this story and no transgender Jews were harmed.  This is only going to get worse.