I walked into the student union at CU Denver today and overheard a student say, "I hate all religion." I walked through a door where pink signs promoting the upcoming NARAL rally were all over the place. I looked up inside and saw a poster for a presentation entitled, "Christian Pacifism, The Just War Tradition, and the War on Terrorism." This banner's largest print was the words "HATE" in large red font, and "From Jesus to George W. Bush" in large multicolored font. This is a presentation that will be funded with student fees. I walked into the student book store's political science section and saw the following books featured: The Truth by "satirist" Al Franken, New Rules by America-hater Bill Maher, The Best War Ever: Lies, Damned Lies, and the Mess in Iraq by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, and some book calling conservatives "Bitches and Pimps". Oh, and they "couldn't find" their two copies of Culture Warrior by Bill O'Relly.

No matter how much I wish I could ignore it, my college is one of hundreds around the country that has become a cesspool of political correctness, identity politics, conservative and Christian bashing, and downright liberal idiocy. This is a place where every special interest group has a student fee-funded place to be except for conservatives (who must dance around all the PC rules and meet mostly on the internet), Christians (can't have anyone's tax dollars pay for that), and especially white males. It is obvious to me that I don't belong. It is ironic that, although we watched the conservative Christian candidate for President get a majority of the votes cast in 2004, our nation's universities are ever-increasingly hostile to conservative Christian thought. Why is this?

Wait, I think I know. Universities are a bubble. They are a bubble that insulates its occupants against middle-American values, American traditions, and (most importantly) the harsh realities of real world scrutiny. They are a bubble that allows professors to explore the most wildly ridiculous ideas without having to answer to anyone. They are a bubble with a protective tenure system that prevents all but the most offensive and criminal employees from losing their jobs. Think about it. A businessman in the real world cannot afford to grasp onto socialist economic ideas that don't work and hold onto them with religious fervor: he'd be put out of business or lose his job. A private tutor can't sit there and pretend that raising their student's self-esteem will produce academic results: the parents won't put up with the lack of improvement. I've spent the last three semesters skating through my classes with reasonable grades while putting forward almost no academic effort whatsoever. The standards are that low. My teachers know that the classes they're teaching don't matter to most of our degrees, so making sure we learn the subject matter is simply not that important. Sure, most go through the motions, but some seem equally interested in exploring their own political ideas than actually teaching the class.

In the university setting, students are forced to pay for a "well-rounded" education, where a biology major takes classes in cultural diversity, psychology, and painting (this apparently doesn't say much for the "well-rounded" high school degree). At least a third of classes paid for have little or nothing to do with the specific degree being earned. My teachers have cushy, tenure-protected jobs that provide a regular paycheck for spouting whatever harebrained, politically correct idea comes into their heads. This environment is, at best, a racket that supports a bunch of 60's holdovers and allows them to perpetuate their war-protesting glory days. At worst, it is a cancer that is destroying the traditions and rugged individualism that made this country great, and turning the young people of the country into America-hating, entitlement-demanding, socialist do-nothings.