About 4 Years Later
Thought this could be interesting to see if we could chat some about what has changed in all of our lives over the past 4 years since the last post was made here...
Still think this is a gathering of some of the most amazing people I have ever met...
Basketball. And Stuff. Inside Stuff.
I hope this Oldie-Olson blog is in allaya'll's Google Readers because I have no other idea how to get the word out. P.S. The bird is the word. P.P.S. Name that bird!
It's NCAA-BB-birds this time of year, and if you want to play BB bracket madness on Sportsline/CBS Sports/Not ESPN then get in line!!!11!!1!
This is called a hypertext link:
http://midwestmindset.mayhem.cbssports.com/bracketsIt will take you to the bracket madness.
This will too. It is called an embedded link. This is a smiley: :)
If you haven't signed up in either of the past two years, you might need a password to get on. I think it was "midwest". Or possibly "mindset". Anyone remember?
So birds and dogs and crocs and uggs alike should join hands and hold hearts and sign up for this thrilling event. I swear to Jesu I'm going to tank this year
because I haven't watched a single minute of NCAA-BB since last March. Sweet Jesu is right, motherfrackers! Only one more ep of Battlestar left!
Can't w8!!!!!!!!!
Labels: jesus hearts my fantasy basketball team
some interesting debates out of HC
Don't know if any one else checks HC's website, but they recently did a conference on being a Christ centered institution. For this they held a symposium, online essay forum, and bible studies. Here I want to focus on the
essays and one in particular by
Del Doughty. The essay is interesting, but more interesting is what follows in the comments section where Mark Fairchild blasted him. I'm not even getting into who I agree with, but just am amazed at the open-aired response of Fairchild.
Also, given our experiences at HC, I was wondering what people here think it means for a college to be "Christ centered," and how HC did or did not fulfill that vision.
Finally, I'd like to point out in connection to Jake's post that CT has a big write up on
L'Abri recently.
Also, finally, also i really like Counting Crows, and, though most you probably find them to be a joke, they have a new album out call
Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings. Buy it.
Francis Schaeffer's son implies racism in response to Jeremiah Wright comments
If you're not reading the Huffington Post at this point, I highly recommend you do so. It features the widest range of commentary on everything going on in the world, often including people that aren't normally writing about the news. With that endorsement out of the way,
here's what Frank Schaeffer, son of Christian culture commentary legend Francis Schaeffer, had to say about the criticism of Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama's relationship with him.
"Take Dad's words and put them in the mouth of Obama's preacher (or in the mouth of any black American preacher) and people would be accusing that preacher of treason. Yet when we of the white Religious Right denounced America white conservative Americans and top political leaders, called our words "godly" and "prophetic" and a "call to repentance.""What words of his dad was he talking about? Specifically he quotes the comparison of the US government to the USSR and Hitler. Specifically, he quotes his claim about overthrowing the government in response to abortion:
"There does come a time when force, even physical force, is appropriate... A true Christian in Hitler's Germany and in the occupied countries should have defied the false and counterfeit state. This brings us to a current issue that is crucial for the future of the church in the United States, the issue of abortion... It is time we consciously realize that when any office commands what is contrary to God's law it abrogates it's authority. And our loyalty to the God who gave this law then requires that we make the appropriate response in that situation..."Frank goes on to point out that he and his dad were celebrated by the Republican party for saying these things and for calling for the downfall of corrupt America. His criticism is that these same Republicans are calling for Obama to denounce the statements of Wright calling for God to damn America for racism amongst other more controversial actions. While in general I find Schaeffer's comments to be clearly stated and revealing about the fact that in the eighties and nineties conservative calls of anti-American culture were embraced by Republicans, I believe that his comments prove to be a little naive. He points to Falwell and Robertson and their use of more extreme statements of anti-Americanism being poorly received after 9/11. I would go so far as to say that very few politically connected religions folks get to say anything controversial anymore. The media criticism comes down strong on these leaders of the religious right when they criticize gays and lesbians, amongst other issues. In this sense, then, I imagine that if Francis was saying the same things today that he did twenty or thirty years ago that he would not be receiving White House invitations.
On the other hand, I think Frank rightly points out the implicit racism in the response to Wright.
"Every Sunday thousands of right wing white preachers (following in my father's footsteps) rail against America's sins from tens of thousands of pulpits. They tell us that America is complicit in the "murder of the unborn," has become "Sodom" by coddling gays, and that our public schools are sinful places full of evolutionists and sex educators hell-bent on corrupting children. They say, as my dad often did, that we are, "under the judgment of God." They call America evil and warn of immanent destruction. By comparison Obama's minister's shouted "controversial" comments were mild. All he said was that God should damn America for our racism and violence and that no one had ever used the N-word about Hillary Clinton."While I believe that if John McCain's pastor gave a charismatic sermon against gays and lesbians we'd see the same response, Frank's comparison does show the racist reaction in strongly renouncing the racism that has permeated America from its founding. Further, suggesting that experiencing the persecution of sexism pails in comparison to the suffering of racism is debatable but far from treason. What Frank doesn't get into are the other Wright comments that are garnering criticism, including a sarcastic rendition of America the Beautiful and a general diatribe against the evils of white America. I believe that a quiet, academic presentation that makes similar comments would be received differently, if at all. Does the charismatic presentation of Jeremiah Wright elevate the ire of his critics? Does the religious position that he holds, a leader of one of Chicago's largest African American congregations, create fear and intimidation in his critics? The black church experience is a mysterious unknown for most of white America. The style of presentation, including the use of certain forms of rhetoric, taken out of context and viewed in isolation doesn't help the reception of Jeremiah Wright's comments. Further, they may be an implicit fear of "radical blacks" having the ear of the President that wants to see Obama break from these influences immediately. And while I do believe that a white conservative politically connected pastor would receive a similar treatment if he called for American damnation because of gays and lesbians, can we not say that condemning racism is condemning an agreed upon evil amongst both conservatives and liberals? Specifically, if a white academic theologian who supported Obama said that Obama's experience of racism lead to a tougher road to the White House than what Clinton experienced as a white woman and that the racism throughout American history was damnable, would the media and conservatives be calling for a rebuke from Obama? Would they even care? I don't really think so.
Something to actually be proud of about HC
HUNTINGTON, IN—Huntington University’s efforts to create a more ethnically and racially diverse campus have resulted in a partnership with Youth for Christ and the joint hiring of the director for the Urban Scholarship and Mentoring Program, Amber Brown.
“On the Huntington side, this program will create access for students from underrepresented populations who already are being shaped and molded and prepared for higher education,” Brown said. “On the YFC side, it gives the organization access to higher education. The students will have the opportunity to volunteer part-time or even full-time with YFC.”
In the fall of 2008, the first cohort of six students will enroll as part of the Urban Scholarship and Mentoring Program. Brown is in the process of recruiting students, traveling to cities such as Fort Wayne, Ind.; Peoria, Ill.; Detroit, Mich.; and Columbus, Ohio. Students admitted to the program will receive the Horizon Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship.
Brown first heard about the director position for the Urban Scholarship and Mentoring Program through her pastor, Luther Whitfield, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees for Huntington University and the national community ministries consultant for Youth for Christ.
“Everything – the job description and the title caught my attention, managing an urban scholarship and mentoring program, working with students who have a similar background to mine, creating my position as I go along,” Brown said. “Giving someone else an opportunity and helping to shape their experience on campus – it’s a great feeling.”
Brown was a first-generation college student, having graduated from the University of Illinois and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in southern California. Her employment background includes management, admissions, counseling, mentoring, training and developing, skills she believes will benefit her in this new position.
“My background is diverse in itself,” she said. “I’m drawing from every experience, both personal and professional.”
Brown began her role in September, and one of her goals was to create a task force comprised of faculty as well as staff from the university and Youth for Christ. The purposes of the task force include defining the admissions process for the Urban Scholarship and Mentoring Program, choosing a selection committee for interviewing prospective students, planning leadership activities for students, creating programming activities, and developing a leadership program for the summer. The leadership program likely will be a week-long retreat.
“The goal of the leadership program would be to keep those students connected over the summer and make sure they’re still excited about coming to Huntington,” Brown said.
Each student in the Urban Scholarship and Mentoring Program will receive personal attention from Brown. She plans to meet with each student weekly during the academic year.
“This also will help students integrate into the existing fabric of Huntington,” Brown said. “It’s important that these students have a very well-rounded experience because we’re shaping and molding leaders and launching them back into the community after graduation.”
Brown wants to ensure that the students commit to a four-year program and understand that one of their roles is to become campus leaders. She believes in the holistic development of these student leaders, an idea she has outlined through the acronym “CAPSS” – community service, academics, professional/leadership development, spiritual and social.
Students interested in the program will need to fill out an application. Then, 15 semi-finalists will be selected to come to campus for a dinner, team-building exercises, a team debate, and an interview. From that point, six students will be selected. Brown believes having the students on campus and in person during the selection process will give insight into who they are and whether Huntington would be a good fit for them.
“We’ll be able to see them and their leadership skills shine in a different way,” she said.
The Urban Scholarship and Mentoring Program is modeled after Act Six, a program headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., and implemented at George Fox University in Oregon, Whitworth University and Pacific Lutheran University in Washington as well as Crichton College in Tennessee.
Miss the Old Days...
When Robertson endorsing Giuliani would have created a fury of postings here...
I think the internet is dead.
the [dot] com
Two years ago I purchased midwestmindset.com so that we could get more professional around here. This of course never really happened... which is totally cool, but the web domain is up for renewal. I probably won't be renewing it on my own, but I could let anyone who is interested know how we can get it done and they can take on ownership.
If you are interested you can get a hold of me at asikora@gmail.com.
