Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

Liberal bias in the media is one thing, but a lot of people complain about liberalism on college campuses as well. I've never actually understood the latter, because I believe if you have solid logic and reason for what you believe in, then the professor's bias should have no bearing on the way you think. Is it uncomfortable to hear your point of view assailed or questioned? Sure it is. And I admit, it's not easy spending your time with people who hold views that are polar opposites of your own. When I ended up on easily one of the most conservative campuses in America for my grad school, people were amazed. "Why would you go there? They will eat you alive!" was a common refrain, along with, "There is nothing to do in that town except drink." (BTW, this town is also where I developed a true appreciation for eating burritos the size of my head).

I kept my politics mostly to myself during the two years I was there. It was not easy to say no when a classmate kept asking me money for an anti-abortion group and it was certainly not easy to sit there when a professor harangued 'tree huggers' for nearly 10 minutes in the middle of what I thought was international marketing (not to mention, his endless tales about buying an oriental rug in Turkey. Please). Most of this stuff just rolled off my back because honestly, it was part of the learning experience. Annoying, yes, but it's always good to at least acknowledge there are other points of view out there. I think what got me was when I was shot down for expressing my view that the war in Iraq was a bad thing. There were only five or six of us in the class who were brave enough to say anything and the reaction was amazing and swift, because choosing to question the President's policy in itself was treason.

To me, that's the sad part of all of this polarization. People talk about bias, whether in media or on campuses, as if one opinion is the One True Way (tm) and there's no room for any other ideas. It's almost as if we think we'll be 'polluted' if we even come in contact with the other side and heaven forbid if we should ever be in a situation where we're forced to confront and examine our own beliefs.