Oren M. Spiegler – 5/16/17

 


This page was last updated on May 27, 2017.


How can Christian school honor a man like Trump?; Oren M. Spiegler (OMS); Beaver County Times; May 16, 2017.

Mr. Spiegler is such a prolific letter writer the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review gave him a little tribute back in 2003.  Google “Oren M. Spiegler” and you’ll get more hits than you know what to do with.  Unfortunately, prolific is not a synonym for competent.  Mr. Spiegler claims to be a Republican.  In my critique of “Breathing more freely,” I cited reasons why I was “beginning to believe Mr. Spiegler is simply another Republican impersonator,” but he sealed the deal with “Greatest foreign policy debacle.”  Subsequent letters provided more confirmation.  The group of local Republican impersonators also includes Messrs. William A. Alexander, Arthur Brown, Edward J. Hum, Bill Ralston, and George Reese, all claiming to be disgruntled Republicans.  While he has previously claimed to be a Republican, this appears to be the first time Mr. Spiegler claimed to be a registered Republican in a BCT letter.  If true, Mr. Spiegler joins Mr. Hum in going the extra mile to further his impersonation of a Republican.

ALERT!  Though I missed it by several months, Mr. Spiegler finally did the honorable thing and ended his charade and deregistered as a Republican.

You can find links to previous critiques of Spiegler letters I critiqued here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

The BCT has or had a limit of 12 letters per writer per year.  In 2014, the BCT either ditched that limit or made a huge exception for Mr. Spiegler.  By my count, the BCT published at least 25 Spiegler letters in 2014.  Mr. Spiegler and/or the BCT dialed things back a bit in 2015; the BCT published only 15 Spiegler letters in 2015 and 10 in 2016.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.


“The website of Liberty University touts the school as one which provides a ‘solid Christian foundation’ where ‘you’ll gain the values ... you’ll need for success in every aspect of life.’”

[RWC] The complete statement is “Get a world-class education with the solid Christian foundation you’re looking for at Liberty University.  Here, you’ll gain the values, knowledge, and skills you’ll need for success in every aspect of life.”

“How does the institution demonstrate its laudable tenets?  By honoring as its 2017 commencement speaker President Donald Trump, the man who has violated every tenet of legitimate faiths, including Christianity.”

[RWC] Perhaps OMS should ask the same question of the Pope.  Pope Francis granted an audience and he met DT at the Vatican on May 24, 2017.

“I wonder what type of role model is provided by the man who lies, who is boastful, arrogant, profane, condescending, hateful and intolerant, someone whose life focus has been the enhancement of vast wealth and achieving it by stepping on the throat of the little guy.”

[RWC] Perhaps someone who impersonated a Republican for years should be more careful when it comes to calling someone else a liar.

“Can one be a Christian role model when they express pride in having engaged in sexual assault, ‘grabbing women by the p---y,’ due to a sense of entitlement as ‘a star’?

“What religion commands us to stereotype, to discriminate, and to slam the door on the stranger, the persecuted, the refugee?

“Case closed: Liberty University and the Falwell family that has presided over it are frauds; every bit as hypocritical as the president they so revere.  So much for moral and family values.”

[RWC] Unlike too many colleges, LU invites speakers on campus with whom the school and/or its students may disagree.  For example, LU invited Bernie Sanders (BS) and Hillary Clinton (HRC) to speak at convocations during the 2016 campaign.  BS (Socialist-VT) accepted but HRC did not.

Student attendance is mandatory at LU convocations.  Even worse, the “conservative stronghold” audience treated BS politely throughout his speech and the following Q&A session.  LU didn’t bar BS signs or BS t-shirts.  In other words, LU is not afraid of its students hearing things with which they may disagree.

Now, let’s look at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.  “Rutgers … is a leading national research university and the state of New Jersey’s preeminent, comprehensive public institution of higher education.”

Rutgers invited Condoleezza Rice (CR) to speak at its 2014 graduation and she accepted.  Some number of students and the faculty council threw a temper tantrum.  Though Rutgers’ president and board didn’t back down, CR wanted the graduates to be the focus of the graduation ceremony, not her, so she chose to rescind her acceptance.  In her letter to the Rutgers president, CR said, “Commencement should be a time of joyous celebration for the graduates and their families.  Rutgers’ invitation to me to speak has become a distraction for the university community at this very special time. … As a Professor for thirty years at Stanford University and as (its) former Provost and Chief academic officer, I understand and embrace the purpose of the commencement ceremony and I am simply unwilling to detract from it in any way.”

Snooki (2011, not graduation speech) was good enough for Rutgers’ faculty and students, but not CR.

You may hear President Obama chided Rutgers’ students about running off CR.  While true, BHO didn’t do so until 2016 during his Rutgers commencement speech.

Finally, if DT is good enough for the Pope, he should be good enough for LU. 


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