Notes on Robert Spencer from the Treasurer of Student Senate
Photo credit: Gettysburg College
By Luke Frigon, Treasurer and President-elect of Student Senate
Dear Gettysburg College Community.
As the current Treasurer of Student Senate as well as next year’s President-elect, I feel compelled to weigh in on an issue that has our community embroiled in controversy: bringing Robert Spencer to campus. You’ve all hopefully read about him, so I’ll spare you a biography. From a purely ideological perspective, I completely disagree with everything Mr. Spencer stands for. His presence is one of hate, intolerance, bigotry, and a general lack of human compassion. Not only is he in the wrong, but actively promotes the marginalization of others, especially those who practice Islam. His presence on campus may disturb some of our community members. It may make some of us incredibly angry and disappointed with our administration. But he needs to be allowed to speak his mind. Not allowing him to do so would not only be a gross violation of his constitutional rights, but also an ignorant way to deal with conflict. If you won’t like what he is going to say, don’t scream and yell and get in his face. To do so would be the opposite of what you should do. Instead, just don’t listen to him. It’s that simple, don’t go to his talk on Wednesday. Instead, think critically about why and how we should advocate for and protect our marginalized peers. Instead, be a voice for those who cannot speak. Instead, be a friend to those who need one. The issue we face here is not new or rare, and the conflict between free speech versus hate speech is one faced by institutions all over our nation. But if we can come together as a campus to actively listen to each other and have meaningful and respectful discourse, we can listen to those who don’t feel listened to, and advocate for those who feel left behind.
And for the record, to my knowledge YAF’s funding was never “pulled.” They’ve always had access to the senate-allotted funds, and will be using them for this event. If you don’t like that fact, you should have come to the Senate meeting where they requested it. Student Senate does a lot more than many people think, and to complain about its actions while having the active capability to change or affect those actions is immature and ridiculous. Your voices need to be heard, so let them be. We meet Mondays at 7:00pm in CUB 260. I’ve also got office hours every Friday (except finals week) in Plank 106 from 10-11am. Come and talk to me.
Luke Frigon
May 3, 2017
Hi Luke!
You seem to be confused about what is protected under the First Amendment. The First Amendment states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” The important caveat to these regulations is that these only apply to public institutions. Private institutions, such as Gettysburg College, are under no obligation to allow freedom of any and all speech on our campus. Furthermore, Spencer’s presence on campus is not really a freedom of speech issue. He was invited to campus to speak, and is being paid for his “””contribution””” to discourse on campus. Freedom of speech generally does not cater to paid speakers, especially when that money pays for bigotry.
I hope this clears up any confusion!
Alexandra Casella
Gettysburg College Class of 2017
May 3, 2017
Dear Luke: Man are you dumb. You don’t know anything about Islam. You’re a Know-Nothing. You should read Robert Spencer’s books and educate yourself. What do you have? An IQ of 5? The “hate, intolerance, and bigotry” is Islam’s you little moron. You should be in the 5th grade, like your IQ. GC is a joke! The alums are idiots, the students are idiots. It’s unbelievable! I’m stunned by the stupidity and ignorance concerning bellicose, barbaric, Jew/Christian-hating Islam and its Jihad doctrine. Jihad means to wage war against non-Muslims. Perhaps you’ve noticed???
Spencer is in the RIGHT. Your portrayal of him is so wrong as to be grounds for slander.
May 4, 2017
Agreeing with Sean. Luke Frigon is talking HOT AIR. Frigon writes: “I completely disagree with EVERYTHING Mr. Spencer stands for.”
Presumably, Luke Frigon has not read EVERYTHING Spencer has written SIXTEEN books, thousands of articles and made hundreds of public addresses. The task of disagreeing with EVERYTHING is thus daunting and I do not believe Mr. Frigon has read one word of any of Spencer’s writings, let alone understood Spencer’s main thesis: namely, that Islam has a core doctrine of the duty of warfare against disbelievers which is called ‘jihad’. Jihad is the sixth and most important pillar of Islam, according to Islam’s leading clerics. Here is a quote: -“Jihad is holy fighting in Allah’s Cause with full force of numbers and weaponry. It is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars. By Jihad Islam is established, Allah’s Word is made superior (which means only Allah has the right to be worshiped), and Islam is propagated. By abandoning Jihad Islam is destroyed and Muslims fall into an inferior position; their honor is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihad is an obligatory duty in Islam on every Muslim. He who tries to escape from this duty, or does not fulfill this duty, dies as a hypocrite.” – Footnote commentary on jihad from p580 of Sahih Al-Bukhari, publ. by Maktba Dar-us-Salam
Does Mr. Frigon disagree with that quote? Because that is the main thesis that Robert Spencer makes.
May 4, 2017
A great comment, Antonia. Your quoting Bukhari on Jihad shows that you’re educated and knowledgeable about Islam. Unlike Luke, who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
May 4, 2017
Hello Antonia — Thank you for an excellent lucid distillation of Robert Spencer’s basic message, and historically factual context.
As a 68 year old senior citizen, I will be a tad less harsh than you toward Luke Frigon, choosing to focus instead on his Western-values well intended but clueless rejection of Mr. Spencer’s credentials and authorship.
Until about 6 years ago, I also thought Islam was benign — an “Abrahamic monotheism” paralleling Judaism & Christianity. Then a switch in my foggy brain was fortunately flipped and investigation began.
Here are 2 great sources of information: www [dot] citizenwarrior [dot] com / www [dot] inquiryintoislam [dot] com. Search for “The Terrifying Brilliance of Islam” on either website. It is roughly a 20 minute read when not multitasking.
Also, for students completely short of time, try this: David Wood’s video titled “The Jihad Triangle”. Ultra-brief (4:57), it explains how non-devout Muslims transmogrify into killers: San Bernardino, Orlando, Nice [France}, Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon, Bataclan [Paris], Belgium, German street markets, etcetera on and on.
May 4, 2017
I replied to you, Antonia, but my reply must be “moderated” because I’m a truth-teller about Islam like Robert Spencer. The censoring GC paper when it comes to Islam!
May 7, 2017
Luke states that Robert Spencer’s presence is one of “hate, intolerance, and bigotry”.
I’m at a loss why he – and many others – refers to Spencer like this. Why is pointing out the facts of Islam considered to be hatred and intolerance?
Why?
Do people like Luke think that Islam is just another religion? That, with who-knows-how-many armed terrorist groups, a mandate for world domination and subjugation of non-believers, not being just a religion but a political system, and the concept of dar-al-harb, that we should just pretend being concerned about it is somehow a “phobia”?
Luke also perpetuates the myth that muslims are “marginalized” and “cannot speak for themselves”. Oh please – enough of the pretend victim status.
Luke, do you really think that muslims need you to speak up for them? Really?
Back to the apparent condition of “Islamophobia” – we must ask why there is “Islam”-ophobia – but not phobias of any other religions. Now, why is that? Did so-called “Islamophobes” just get out of bed one morning, and for no reason at all whatsoever, decide they were afraid of Islam? Maybe if, you know, the more-or-less daily terrorist attacks would stop, this so-called phobia just might not exist?
Come on.