It’s chilling to see crowd at Harvard flock to hear far-right voice
Re “A new era at Harvard: Once shunned, conservative students are now welcome to share their views” (Opinion, Oct. 10): During a long career in university teaching, I have felt, like Carine Hajjar, that universities have been too prone to push a specific and often narrow line. However, I do not share her relief in seeing Michael Knowles receive an enthusiastic welcome from a Harvard audience.
Knowles is a strong supporter of President Trump’s efforts to create an authoritarian government — that is, to destroy our democracy. He publicly endorses Trump’s disregard for the law and flouting of judicial rulings, his use of the Justice Department to attack political enemies, and his campaign to stifle free speech at American universities.
It’s not universities that pose a danger to free speech in the United States but, rather, Trump and the vanguard who advance his views. The sight of an enthusiastic audience for Knowles’s speech at Harvard is not encouraging — it’s chilling.
Beatrice F. Manz
Arlington
The writer is a professor emerita of history at Tufts University.
Commentator’s brand of conservatism is extreme and dangerous
I am not a conservative, but I respect conservative ideas — genuine ones like traditional marriage and religious belief. But Michael Knowles follows the path of many conservatives today, first by demonizing liberals: “Political violence is real, it is on the rise, and it is a uniquely left-wing problem.” That’s so not true it’s a ridiculous assertion. Think Jan. 6, 2021. Knowles wants “all immigration” to be “drastically reduced.” The United States is a country of immigrants, and many of us, including Knowles, have benefited from their contributions. He has said that “transgenderism must be eradicated from public life.” Does that mean eradicate a whole group of people? Transgender people are as much human beings as Knowles.
Conservatism is about supporting traditional views on life. It’s not about demonizing people who think differently from you or about eliminating people you don’t like. That kind of conservatism spreads hate and persecution.
Katharine Gregg
Amherst
‘Traditional marriage’ … hmm, what do you mean exactly?
I must query one phrase in Carine Hajjar’s column. In her description of Michael Knowles, she comments that he “supports traditional marriage.”
What does this mean? Is it that he opposes marriage between two persons of the same sex? Or does it mean that he believes that wives should not enter the paid workforce?
In both cases I vehemently oppose his view.
All people deserve the right to marry people of their choice, and all couples deserve the right to make the domestic arrangements that suit them.
Martin G. Evans
Cambridge