I was in a situation like this once. I took a philosophy course where we spent about half the semester discussing abortion. My prof and all the teaching assistants were pro-choice. OK, so am I, so far so good.
We had to read this paper that compared pregnancy to waking up one morning to find yourself in a hospital, with your circulatory system hooked into another patient, who happens to be a concert violinist, and you're told you must stay that way, in bed, for nine months, otherwise the violinist dies. Would you be justified in pulling out the needles and walking away? (i.e. having an abortion) The argument was that yes, you were justified, because you have the right to control what happens to your body. I agree with having the right to control your own body - but it was one of the stupidest arguments I've heard in my life. For one thing, most women can lead full healthy lives during pregnancy, and if a woman is put on bed rest, rarely is it for the full nine months.
So we were assigned to write a paper as to whether this was a good argument. I wrote a paper that said what I just said above. Unfortunately, the teaching staff thought the author of this paper was the Messiah or something, so even though it was a well-thought-out paper, I got a pretty bad grade.
Next week, we were assigned to write another paper based on this same document. So I wrote a paper basically worshipping it. I got a full letter grade higher.
That's when I figured out that this wasn't a proper philosophy class that allows for discussion and dissension - it was the professor spouting
his views on various issues, and us having to regurgitate it in papers and tests, even if we didn't agree.
ok, </vent>
I feel like a hypocrite telling you this, given that I did regurgitate as ordered, but - stick up for yourself and write about what
you believe. Looking back, I wish I'd done so.
Threaded Mode