Editorial Denounces Boston Law Profs’ Mukasey Disinvite
The Wall Street Journal is criticizing law professors at Boston College for using religion to justify their opposition to Michael Mukasey’s upcoming commencement speech.
In “a discourteous bit of political theater,” 22 law professors signed a letter asking the attorney general to withdraw, the Wall Street Journal editorial says. The letter faults Mukasey for failing to disavow waterboarding, saying his stance conflicts with the ideals of the law school and its Jesuit principles.
The editorial says waterboarding has been used in only three instances involving interrogations of top al-Qaida officials, and Mukasey’s stance allows future administrations to make their own judgments about use of the technique. The editorial writer suggests that the professors are motivated more by liberal politics than religious beliefs.
“Jesuit universities are frequently in the habit of substituting liberal politics for religious tradition, a tendency born of the fact, perhaps, that many Jesuits like to consider themselves the rebels of the Catholic Church,” the editorial says.
It notes that the school has awarded honorary degrees to Kate Michelman, the former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, as well as several liberal Democrats.
“Boston College professors don’t like conservatives,” the newspaper says. “They’re not the only academics to feel this way. But to cloak their opposition to Mr. Mukasey in the language of religious mission is the real disservice to the school and its Jesuit tradition.”
