Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Read, James C" <K0434995 AT kingston.ac.uk>]

I agree that such bickering brings nothing of benefit to the forum. But in 
order for us all 
to discuss linguistic cases we must all acknowledge together that it is the 
proofs that win 
the case and not the credentials of who presents them.

-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org on behalf of Heard, Christopher
Sent: Mon 9/5/2005 7:46 PM
To: b-hebrew
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Doctorates or not
 
Listers (including moderators),

Could somebody kindly explain to me precisely how all this bickering  
about academic qualifications advances list purposes, namely, the  
understanding of biblical Hebrew?

Thank you,

Chris
--
R. Christopher Heard
Assistant Professor of Religion
Seaver Fellow in Religion
Pepperdine University
Malibu, California 90263-4352
Professional Web Page: http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/cheard
Internet Resource Index: http://www.iTanakh.org
Personal Web Page: http://www.heardworld.com

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George:

While I don't have experience with Hebrew as 
taught in public universities, I have seen 
documented cases of viewpoint discrimination 
in other fields, thus it does not surprise 
me that it may happen in Hebrew at a 
particular university.

In particular, it has been well documented 
that people in the life sciences are often 
discriminated against if they do not believe 
in evolution. A few years ago, a professor 
at Texas Tech University, teaching a class 
that was a prerequisite for medical school, 
bluntly told his students that if they did 
not believe in evolution, they would receive 
a failing grade, no matter how well they did 
academically in the course. That was one of 
the rare cases where a lawsuit succeeded in 
granting relief. Another case where a legal 
action failed was where a professor was 
fired for not believing in evolution, and 
that was the reason given for his firing, 
even though he was given superior marks for 
his teaching and research. However, most of 
the discrimination is far more subtle, more 
along the lines of innuendo and "not up to 
standards", or other such weasel words. 
While undergrads can often, though not 
always,  answer "You teach that..." or 
something similar, to show their familiarity 
with what is taught without compromising 
their beliefs, such anonymity is harder to 
maintain in grad school.

Now back to Hebrew, it is unavoidable that 
we will be influenced by our philosophical 
presuppositions as we study the language. 
That is why I have been up front where I 
come from, while trying to avoid preaching 
or proselytism (I figure that by the time 
anyone who has achieved expertise to hold 
his own in discussions in this forum, he has 
already heard all the preaching/proselytism 
from all points of view, so why waste the 
bandwidth?). I have a far different view on 
the historical development of the language 
than one who holds to the Documentary 
Hypothesis, and unless and until source 
documents are found that can substantiate 
either view, we must admit that both views 
are not historically demonstrable. Likewise, 
as Peter Kirk mentioned, where there is a 
questionable reading, I will tend to come 
down on the reading that is consistent with 
my presuppositions, understanding word 
definitions even grammar to be in line 
thereto.

I don't know James Read's situation, in fact 
he may have exacerbated his situation by 
being outspoken, though he may have run into 
professors like the one from Texas Tech. 
Without knowing more details, I accept his 
claim that he believed that he was being 
coerced to change his beliefs in order to 
graduate.

Karl W. Randolph.

----- Original Message -----
From: "George F Somsel" <gfsomsel AT juno.com>
> 
> On Mon, 5 Sep 2005 08:39:06 +0100 "Read, James C"
> <K0434995 AT kingston.ac.uk> writes:
> > Imagine 2,000 years from now a group of 'scholars' that go about 
> > studying the now dead English language....
> >
> >...
> >
> > Sound familiar?
> _____________
> 
> It sounds to me like a highly improbable story which you have concocted
> to justify yourself.  I don't believe your complaint that you would have
> had to compromise your beliefs.  That's . . . (ummm) HOGWASH!
> 
> george
> gfsomsel

-- 
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