Opinion

Connelly: Can secular Seattle accept new UW president?

The UW's soon-to-be president Michael Young clerked for conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, worked as a trade expert under the first President Bush and is descended from Latter Day Saints pioneers.



Does this make him such a bad guy?

Nope, but it'll be a test of whether Seattle really is a bastion of "diversity" and "inclusiveness." Face it: Secular liberalism is orthodoxy here. The Young appointment has a set of ripples if not yet rumbles.

Why? Because the city's vaunted "inclusivity" seems to tolerate mockery and stereotyping of people who hold traditional religious belief, believing conservatives, and -- nowadays -- capital "r" Republicans.

"The UW's New Mormon President: Will This Utah Republican Run the UW Like a Business?" reads a headline this week in The Stranger, where religion is equated with priest pedophilia, homophobia and hyprocrisy.

The lead says it all: Young is identified by his religious and (presumed) political affilations.

The article makes qualifications, but author David Goldstein raises the requisite eyebrow: "Still, considering his background, it's hard not to view Young as a curious choice to lead a liberal Northwest university."

We've seen typecasting in these parts of late.

Two recent candidates, Seattle City Councilman Tim Burgess (2007) and King County Executive hopeful Susan Hutchison (2009), were attacked as not sharing "Seattle values" due to past associations. A Christian right group once employed Burgess' business. Hutchison had given to Republicans and was active with the Discovery Institute. Both were (gasp) Presbyterians.

Bill Bryant (2007) and Tom Albro (2009) set out to win Seattle Port Commission seats with records of success in business, knowledge of the waterfront, and conservation credentials. The left's attack dogs bit into both for having backed Republicans.

A cursory look at Michael Young's background puts a lie to stereotyping. He was given a legal adviser job at the State Department in 1989, not as patronage but because of past exposure to Japan and expertise in trade law. But he found himself working on Germany's reunification, and being schooled in the human rights movement.

The Mormon who would "Run the UW Like a Business" organized (with an observant Jew) the Columbia University Project on Religion, Human Rights and Religious Freedom. Young later served as a member and chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Herein, the rub: Young believes that Freedom of Religion does not mean freedom FROM religion. He has argued that religious freedom is "the first freedom," and that upholding and respecting it "must be the first thing that governments do."

The new man at Montlake has challenged secularists to shake off their stereotypes about believers and their motives. In turn, he has argued that religious folk need to be "among the most passionate civil libertarians in the world."

Last month, Young told the LDS International Society that "we all ought to be members of the ACLU."

The American Civil Liberties Union would find itself challenged with Young in its ranks. Speaking at Brigham Young University -- Idaho not long ago, Young talked about America's "vibrant human rights community," but added:

"Honestly speaking, this community has historically mistrusted the notion of freedom of religion. There exists among many in this community, a sense that those who propound the importance of freedom of religion are largely people who are trying to impose their religious beliefs on others."

On the other hand, Young told BYU students: "Religious liberties advocates, often coming from a faith-based pespective, believe and fear that the human rights community really mistrust religion and is trying to make the world safe FROM religion, not safe for religion."

The man from Salt Lake City sounds like a refreshing salt water breeze off Puget Sound. Seattle's secular dogmas need challenge. Even leading a secular university, Young can be a force for understanding between the human rights community and the religious liberty community.

"Societies intolerant of religion are similarly intolerant of pluralism," said Seattle writer Peter Jackson, son of a U.S. Senator who championed both human and religious rights.

What does Michael Young bring to Montlake? Real diversity.