Adjunct Professor Fired for Not Signing Loyalty Oath

From the Progressive:

Wendy Gonaver was hired by Cal-Sate Fullerton last fall to teach American Studies and Women’s Studies. As part of her American Studies course, she had planned to teach a section on McCarthyism. But she wasn’t allowed to teach at all because she refused to sign the loyalty oath that the state of California still insists that its employees sign.

And

This is the text of the oath:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.”

As a Quaker and a Buddhist and a pacifist, Gonaver says she could not sign the oath without registering her views.

“As I was sorting through all this, I was listening to reports about extraordinary renditions and eliminating habeas corpus and whether torture was a fine thing for us to engage in,” she says. “I am opposed to war and have never seen one in my lifetime I could support.”

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Right. The era of torture and illegal, immoral invasions makes "loyalty" an extraordinarily problematic notion. Actually, in a modern democracy such as ours "loyalty" is a problematic concept from the get-go. Loyal to what, exactly? To the Constitution? Sure, I'm all for that; I support rule of law. But how is loyalty to the Constitution defined here? Should we use the recent definition of the word "patriotism," that we should support the government no matter what it does? Well, no fucking way. None of us should be loyal like that. Indeed, such widespread loyalty in the wake of 9/11 has gotten us into a great deal of trouble that it will take decades to repair, even if we start right away. True loyalty, true patriotism, is about telling your fellow countrymen when they've gone round the bend, that if they persist, they'll be fucking us all over.

In short, loyalty oaths are so fucking stupid they deserve nothing but contempt. They're anti-American in the truest sense of the word: they force people to publicly declare blind obedience, which is profoundly damaging to our democratic spirit. It's amazing that California, land of fruits and nuts, continues this relic from the Cold War. So, good for Wendy Gonaver's display of conscience.

On the other hand, as far as navigating treacherous career waters are concerned, I wouldn't have a problem with anyone signing such an oath dishonestly. Like I said, it's fucking stupid, and no government supported institution has any right to require it. So rank dishonesty is entirely acceptable here. In fact, that's what they deserve for being so fucking stupid. Lie to them. Then tell everybody else that you lied. Parade around; dance and sing about how you stuck it to the man. And if the university makes an issue about it, call it "performance art." Call it a protest. Whatever. You signed the damned thing. What do they want?

At any rate, people need jobs, even academics. It is not dishonorable to lie and lie and lie when required to verbally violate your deepest beliefs in order to get work. It's a double ethics bind, damned if you do and damned if you don't: lying is an acceptable ethical choice, especially when you've got a family to support.

But getting the ACLU involved is good, too.

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