“WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THE KAVANAUGH HEARINGS AND CONFIRMATION?”

Wel­come back to the Nut­shell! Each week, the Bea­con staff poses a ques­tion to you, the Bethel stu­dent body and faculty, and pub­lishes your an­swers.  

This week, we asked you:    WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THE KAVANAUGH HEARINGS AND CONFIRMATION?  Jaime Rayburn – Senior, “I’m terrible at watching news or listening to news, so I literally have no idea what’s going on.”  Keith Koteskey – Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries, “The Brett Kavanaugh hearings and his appointment to the Supreme Court... were a manifestation of the political polarization that our country is facing and that continues to get worse rather than less.”  “For me, it’s evidence that long term hope for our country is going to have to come from someone or something that is able to transcend the polarization that we’ve experienced... and offer a solution or a hope that goes beyond partisanship, that seeks genuine resolution and reconciliation. I’m a bit pessimistic, and I don’t see that happening in the near future, but I’m hoping that there will come a time when there are governmental leaders who can ... lead our nation in that.”  Eli Hanes – Junior, “It’s a complicated issue so I don’t believe there is a simple answer to it. But I don’t think #believeallwomen is necessarily the answer. I say this because both men and women are capable of doing great evil to others; just as there are terrible men out there who commit rape, there are terrible women out there who would lie about being raped.”  “I believe women should be encouraged and supported to speak up about these terrible crimes being done to them, especially in a timely manner so that an actual investigation can be done (which is one of the biggest problems with the Kavanaugh thing, it had been so long since the alleged sexual assault that there could be no real investigation done to determine Kavanaugh’s innocence or guilt).”  Dr. Terry Chi – Assistant Professor of Psychology, “ I believe... that more time could have helped the situation. Now, I’m probably one of the few people that believe both of them, actually. I believe she was telling the truth, that she was assaulted, and I believe that he truly believed, notice the two believes there, I believe he truly believed that he didn’t do it. Now... the issue is of course, who assaulted her, and the issue is did he do it.   “I guess the nomination now, being seated at the Supreme Court... brings an extra level of complication that I think will be part of every single major case that he hears, especially anything related to women’s issues, or sexual issues, or anything related to the #MeToo movement.”  Joy Rivera – Senior, “Honestly I haven’t kept up with it, so I don’t have any opinions.”  Dr. Elizabeth McLaughlin – Associate Professor of Communication, “That’s a broad question, I would say it is a circus, and I would also say that this topic of sexual assault is very tender. Frankly, when Dianne Feinstein withheld the letter it became political.”   Spencer Murphy – Senior, “I am not going to say anything about that to answer your question, I believe everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but when it comes to politics, I’m not so eager to share. I think, if you have your opinion, please, you’re entitled to it, I just don’t want to hear it. I mean, whatever happened, happened, and it was the court’s decision, so what’s done is done, leave it, let it die.”  Dr. David McCabe – Associate Professor of New Testament, “I think it was a very unfortunate time in this country. I think all around it was unfortunate, I think both sides abused power and abused people.”  Dr. John Haas - Associate Professor of History, “I think that, first of all, you know, there’s a fair amount of history of these kinds of things, and a lot of it is very real, but I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Clarence Thomas v. Anita Hill hearings, which were very similar, also Clarence Thomas went on to be confirmed.   “So it was a mess; you know, in these situations, you’ve got accusations and you’ve got denial, and then everything else is swirling around: gender, race, the #MeToo movement, Republicans versus Democrats, you name it, you know, everything about it.”  “For the Democrats, Christine Blasey Ford became emblematic of all the women that have ever been harassed and assaulted out there, and if you were against her or even if you just doubted her, you were somehow insensitive to women’s issues. For the Republicans, Kavanaugh became a symbol of, I don’t know, unjustly accused males, white males, reverse racism, all these kinds of things, maybe even abortion, the unfairness of the liberal media, et cetera.”