Speaking Wednesday at the University of Utah's "Free Speech and Democracy on Campus" symposium, McConnell suggested the absence of respectful civil discussions among politically diverse people contributes to the president's being labeled a "liar and compared to Hitler and the Nazis."
These are "signs that democracy is not working very well," McConnell said, noting that conservatives are turning to Fox News and The Wall Street Journal for their news while liberals are reading The New York Times and watching PBS.
Churches, labor unions and civic organizations also are dividing along political fault lines. They are not providing the ideological context that they did in the past, said McConnell, whose name routinely comes up as a potential U.S. Supreme Court nominee.
"My own Presbyterian Church is virtually on the verge of a split because of political differences over such issues as gay pastors," McConnell said.
The former U. law professor noted research that shows professors across disciplines at the nation's top private and public secular universities vote for Democrats. He called it a "lack of political diversity," adding that conservative students perceive their schools as hostile environments and have learned to keep their mouths shut.
McConnell wasn't alone in expressing concerns about the nation's growing political divisiveness. Joining him at the symposium were former U.S. Rep. Karen Shepherd, D-Utah, filmmaker Steven Greenstreet, Weber State University President F. Ann Millner and U. President Michael Young.
Shepherd pointed to what she sees as an erosion of academic freedom on college campuses. She noted large conservative organizations are funding campus groups such as Students for Academic Freedom to report professors with perceived liberal biases.
There now is a "great need for objective truth" because language is used more to advance political objectives than to inform, Shepherd said, noting that "global warming" - a call to action - has been replaced with an inactive "climate change."
"We need universities more than ever. . . . We're living in a time when truth has been replaced by spin," she said. "Universities must be havens for free thoughts and expressions."
That message was the foundation for Greenstreet's documentary "This Divided State." The Brigham Young University student captured the fallout over liberal filmmaker Michael Moore's acceptance of an invitation to speak at Utah Valley State College just weeks before the 2004 presidential election.
Amid protests, petitions and death threats, Moore's Utah visit became a good-vs.-evil battle, Greenstreet said.
WSU President Millner said the U.S. Constitution consists of numerous compromises.
"Democracy is not based on a single point of view," she said.
"We have a nation capable of righting itself in challenging times," said U. President Young.
The symposium was sponsored by the Tanner Humanities Center and the U. College of Humanities.
sykes@sltrib.com
