Loyalty Oaths in China and the US

I wrote an article where I looked at one of the reasons Tibetans rebelled: they are forced to sign loyalty oaths and participate in forced denunciations of the Dalai Lama. I would like to think that such things wouldn’t happen in a free society such as the US anymore, but I would be wrong (via Pam at Pandagon):

When Wendy Gonaver was offered a job teaching American studies at Cal State Fullerton this academic year, she was pleased to be headed back to the classroom to talk about one of her favorite themes: protecting constitutional freedoms.

But the day before class was scheduled to begin, her appointment as a lecturer abruptly ended over just the kind of issue that might have figured in her course. She lost the job because she did not sign a loyalty oath swearing to “defend” the U.S. and California constitutions “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

The loyalty oath was added to the state Constitution by voters in 1952 to root out communists in public jobs. Now, 16 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, its main effect is to weed out religious believers, particularly Quakers and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

As a Quaker from Pennsylvania and a lifelong pacifist, Gonaver objected to the California oath as an infringement of her rights of free speech and religious freedom. She offered to sign the pledge if she could attach a brief statement expressing her views, a practice allowed by other state institutions. But Cal State Fullerton rejected her statement and insisted that she sign the oath if she wanted the job.

I suppose I can at least feel a little better since they didn’t make her denounce the Quaker leadership–note the interesting bit here: both Quakers and the Dalai Lama are pacifists–Gonaver was rejected basically because of this, while China denounces the Dalai Lama because they claim he is for violence.

 

In other China news, it seems China still does not its duty to the world community seriously:

The death toll from the spread of an intestinal virus rose to 26, and all of the dead were children younger than 6, according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency. The virus, known as hand, foot and mouth disease, has also infected nearly 12,000 others, more than triple the number reported Friday, the news agency said. Health officials have recorded cases far beyond the central province of Anhui, where the outbreak began, with infections as far south as Guangzhou and as far north as Beijing. The virus is not usually fatal, and health officials are at a loss to explain why so many children have died. The outbreak began in early April, but was not reported by health officials until last week, provoking accusations of a cover-up.

 

Update: Here’s some follow up to Gonover’s story above.