Thank you very much for sharing this update! It is nice to see a letter like this though I can't help but add that this man is quite late to rise to the occasion. Is this going to be the new virtue signaling we will see from people who were silent and in some cases even smug while their colleagues were ushered out the door??? It's pretty easy for him to do the right thing now when the embarrassing truth that he was dead wrong in his original position of accepting the injection is too obvious for anyone but the most deeply committed to their ignorance to see.
I am observing what is happening in my community now, completely flabbergasted that the people virtue signaling with gold and blue flags for strangers they have never met in another country are THE SAME people who said nothing while their colleagues, neighbors, family members - people they actually know - were unceremoniously and unlawfully terminated for committing the crime of acting with intelligence in declining an EXPERIMENTAL injection which NEVER, FROM DAY 1 HAD ANY LEGITIMATE LEGAL GROUNDS FOR USE IN HUMANS SINCE FROM DAY 1, THERAPEUTICS WERE AVAILABLE.
I have had enough of the pleas for reason and sanity. It is clear at this point that the decision makers behind these actions, including your termination, are CRIMINALS who conspired to participate in government sponsored democide. I am ready to see some trials and some consequences administered to the many guilty parties.
The letter is both eloquent and well-argued. That the author is a Humanities professor strikes me as both good news and other news. Good: he and many, many others understand what is at stake. Other: too many academics in STEM and particularly Medicine are still keeping to their unofficial vow of silence. Open, honest discussion and debate would serve us all far better here. That said, I am thankful you received this formal letter of support. My best wishes for you and your family in these trying times.
He makes excellent points. I have a couple of observations. He states he has been recently tenured. Could he have written this letter before being tenured? I doubt it. It would have meant the end of his university career. The next observation is about the obligatory mention he supports LGBTQ. It is my profound hope that a day will come when reasonable people will not have to hang that flag to prove they are not bigoted. Someday we will be able to view each person as an individual with individual rights and not group rights.
Let us hope his letter in support of you will give courage to others to come forward out of the shadows and show their support as well.
It was mind blowing that the university would summarily dismiss you for upholding your ethical and moral responsibilities. It should be patently clear it is unethical to force anyone to be injected against their will. What ever happened to informed consent?
Aaron, he wrote more eloquently than many of us, both from the heart and the head. As a humanities prof, this was likely a while coming to him in terms of all its significance. But the courageous deserve all our praise, and he and you are in that category.
I expect there will just be crickets from UCI, but where there is smoke there is fire, and if this random English prof is thinking these things, others are as well. I hope there is a smoldering group of incensed people that will continue to be bothered by this and will eventually act.
One of the real problems with all evil political problems is that the damage is done swiftly -- the hope is that no one will be left to uncover it. When the demise of the "opposition" is not complete, the response takes far, far too long -- but if it is the right response it is the best for which we can hope.
Thanks for taking one of the most principled stands in the medical and ethical community on this. It is a crying shame that frauds like Caplan get all the press and you get fired. If there is justice, this will right itself. Fingers crossed and doing all I personally can.
I'm so glad he wrote directly to them his thoughts, reflections and grief. For him to tell them that this has shaken him to the core is palpable and powerful. They went against the foundation of their principles, glaringly so and since he is part of that family (so to speak), he is shaken to the core, much as I think we all feel about being American citizens. I think professionally and politically, they may take what he says one way, but as he also writes human to human, I would think it would have to reach their hearts and give them pause and cause for reflection. Please look in the mirror, please see what you are doing--that is what I hear. And I agree with him, when one of us who stands for and teaches everything that is good and right, takes a hit, we are all hit. All of us.
This letter pushes slightly into territory that has been swirling in my brain regarding this situation. Nagging at my soul. Absent hypocrisy, you (Aaron) had no choice but to proceed in the manner that you did. It was your very subject matter; the values you espoused and were hired to teach. Your firing was not just retribution for daring to challenge the authoritarian mandate (regardless of the potential harm of that mandate). Rather, it sent a message not just about your personal decision, but about the values you dared to teach. An ushering in of a dark time, and a new regime change. Lip service ethics, at best, is our future, if we don’t push back.
A powerful and courageous testimony and support for the courageous Dr Kheriaty and his stand that we all stand with and support.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if UC decides to reverse and rescind their political, clearly unethical - not to mention unscientific (now that we know), firing decision that violated their so-called academic freedom (once protected by tenure - but now no longer) - and attempt to reinstate Professor Kheriaty. Not that he would accept such a repentance. I wonder whether some other major medical school or university would seek to hire him now that he has between so unfairly, probably illegally, unethically (and unrighteously) tainted. Seems fitting - and righteous - especially for a Christian institution to do so - especially since the university was originally and primarily a Christian idea and creation, if I have that right. Freedom and Liberty, upholding knowledge, wisdom and expression. What a concept.
An excellent letter, which if reviewed by your former employer, should cause them deep concern about what they have done. It is on public display now that CDC admitted having alpha was better at preventing delta than the vax. They have a chance to do the right thing. .but if not the courts must provide a strong rebuke.. "I regret to say that Dr. Kheriaty’s firing strikes me as stemming from swift retaliation rather than calm reflection. While this is my personal view, it does impact our profession and undermines the collective vision of our University as a place where we can come together as a community of scholars willing to engage rather than expel dissent and, just as significantly, willing to debate rather than dismiss dissenting academics."
Interesting letter. I would acknowledge that given that no one compelled professor Thomas to write this correspondence, he deserves some credit for speaking out. However, I must agree that he includes elements of “virtue signaling” which are a bit off topic, really.
Specifically, what does his support of LGBTQ have to do with why Dr. K was fired? That issue has nothing to do with the reasons for his termination, so why even mention it?! As an English professor he should be adept at a properly written essay or letter. What is the necessity to include that, as well as mentioning that he is in full support of the university’s stance on vaccinations. How is that relevant to his main point? It just smacks of tooting his own horn.
So it begs the question- is this REALLY in defense of Dr. K - or is this just a way to shine a spotlight on himself while still treading only in “safe” territory - unlike Dr.K’s true bravery.
Thank you very much for sharing this update! It is nice to see a letter like this though I can't help but add that this man is quite late to rise to the occasion. Is this going to be the new virtue signaling we will see from people who were silent and in some cases even smug while their colleagues were ushered out the door??? It's pretty easy for him to do the right thing now when the embarrassing truth that he was dead wrong in his original position of accepting the injection is too obvious for anyone but the most deeply committed to their ignorance to see.
I am observing what is happening in my community now, completely flabbergasted that the people virtue signaling with gold and blue flags for strangers they have never met in another country are THE SAME people who said nothing while their colleagues, neighbors, family members - people they actually know - were unceremoniously and unlawfully terminated for committing the crime of acting with intelligence in declining an EXPERIMENTAL injection which NEVER, FROM DAY 1 HAD ANY LEGITIMATE LEGAL GROUNDS FOR USE IN HUMANS SINCE FROM DAY 1, THERAPEUTICS WERE AVAILABLE.
I have had enough of the pleas for reason and sanity. It is clear at this point that the decision makers behind these actions, including your termination, are CRIMINALS who conspired to participate in government sponsored democide. I am ready to see some trials and some consequences administered to the many guilty parties.
The letter is both eloquent and well-argued. That the author is a Humanities professor strikes me as both good news and other news. Good: he and many, many others understand what is at stake. Other: too many academics in STEM and particularly Medicine are still keeping to their unofficial vow of silence. Open, honest discussion and debate would serve us all far better here. That said, I am thankful you received this formal letter of support. My best wishes for you and your family in these trying times.
He makes excellent points. I have a couple of observations. He states he has been recently tenured. Could he have written this letter before being tenured? I doubt it. It would have meant the end of his university career. The next observation is about the obligatory mention he supports LGBTQ. It is my profound hope that a day will come when reasonable people will not have to hang that flag to prove they are not bigoted. Someday we will be able to view each person as an individual with individual rights and not group rights.
Let us hope his letter in support of you will give courage to others to come forward out of the shadows and show their support as well.
It was mind blowing that the university would summarily dismiss you for upholding your ethical and moral responsibilities. It should be patently clear it is unethical to force anyone to be injected against their will. What ever happened to informed consent?
Aaron, he wrote more eloquently than many of us, both from the heart and the head. As a humanities prof, this was likely a while coming to him in terms of all its significance. But the courageous deserve all our praise, and he and you are in that category.
I expect there will just be crickets from UCI, but where there is smoke there is fire, and if this random English prof is thinking these things, others are as well. I hope there is a smoldering group of incensed people that will continue to be bothered by this and will eventually act.
One of the real problems with all evil political problems is that the damage is done swiftly -- the hope is that no one will be left to uncover it. When the demise of the "opposition" is not complete, the response takes far, far too long -- but if it is the right response it is the best for which we can hope.
Thanks for taking one of the most principled stands in the medical and ethical community on this. It is a crying shame that frauds like Caplan get all the press and you get fired. If there is justice, this will right itself. Fingers crossed and doing all I personally can.
I'm so glad he wrote directly to them his thoughts, reflections and grief. For him to tell them that this has shaken him to the core is palpable and powerful. They went against the foundation of their principles, glaringly so and since he is part of that family (so to speak), he is shaken to the core, much as I think we all feel about being American citizens. I think professionally and politically, they may take what he says one way, but as he also writes human to human, I would think it would have to reach their hearts and give them pause and cause for reflection. Please look in the mirror, please see what you are doing--that is what I hear. And I agree with him, when one of us who stands for and teaches everything that is good and right, takes a hit, we are all hit. All of us.
Encouraging. There are still a few good men.
God bless you, Aaron.
This letter pushes slightly into territory that has been swirling in my brain regarding this situation. Nagging at my soul. Absent hypocrisy, you (Aaron) had no choice but to proceed in the manner that you did. It was your very subject matter; the values you espoused and were hired to teach. Your firing was not just retribution for daring to challenge the authoritarian mandate (regardless of the potential harm of that mandate). Rather, it sent a message not just about your personal decision, but about the values you dared to teach. An ushering in of a dark time, and a new regime change. Lip service ethics, at best, is our future, if we don’t push back.
A powerful and courageous testimony and support for the courageous Dr Kheriaty and his stand that we all stand with and support.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if UC decides to reverse and rescind their political, clearly unethical - not to mention unscientific (now that we know), firing decision that violated their so-called academic freedom (once protected by tenure - but now no longer) - and attempt to reinstate Professor Kheriaty. Not that he would accept such a repentance. I wonder whether some other major medical school or university would seek to hire him now that he has between so unfairly, probably illegally, unethically (and unrighteously) tainted. Seems fitting - and righteous - especially for a Christian institution to do so - especially since the university was originally and primarily a Christian idea and creation, if I have that right. Freedom and Liberty, upholding knowledge, wisdom and expression. What a concept.
Bravo, bravo!
An excellent letter, which if reviewed by your former employer, should cause them deep concern about what they have done. It is on public display now that CDC admitted having alpha was better at preventing delta than the vax. They have a chance to do the right thing. .but if not the courts must provide a strong rebuke.. "I regret to say that Dr. Kheriaty’s firing strikes me as stemming from swift retaliation rather than calm reflection. While this is my personal view, it does impact our profession and undermines the collective vision of our University as a place where we can come together as a community of scholars willing to engage rather than expel dissent and, just as significantly, willing to debate rather than dismiss dissenting academics."
Thank you for sharing. It gives those of us less eloquent an approach and example.
Interesting letter. I would acknowledge that given that no one compelled professor Thomas to write this correspondence, he deserves some credit for speaking out. However, I must agree that he includes elements of “virtue signaling” which are a bit off topic, really.
Specifically, what does his support of LGBTQ have to do with why Dr. K was fired? That issue has nothing to do with the reasons for his termination, so why even mention it?! As an English professor he should be adept at a properly written essay or letter. What is the necessity to include that, as well as mentioning that he is in full support of the university’s stance on vaccinations. How is that relevant to his main point? It just smacks of tooting his own horn.
So it begs the question- is this REALLY in defense of Dr. K - or is this just a way to shine a spotlight on himself while still treading only in “safe” territory - unlike Dr.K’s true bravery.
What a beautiful letter. Good for your colleague for being brave enough to speak up! I am sure there are many more who feel the same.