The University of Virginia may be in trouble if Congress passes H.R. 1955: The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. The law seeks to identify "homegrown terrorists" that advocate "ideologically based violence".Founding father and past President Thomas Jefferson clearly meets the definitions included in the bill. Consider his admonitions:
"The oppressed should rebel, and they will continue to rebel and raise disturbance until their civil rights are fully restored to them and all partial distinctions, exclusions and incapacitations are removed." --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Religion, 1776. Papers 1:548
"As revolutionary instruments (when nothing but revolution will cure the evils of the State) [secret societies] are necessary and indispensable, and the right to use them is inalienable by the people." --Thomas Jefferson to William Duane, 1803. FE 8:256
A University founded by a homegrown terrorist surely can't stay in business long. Will its closing devalue my undergraduate degree? I'll let you know...
