Augusta State University: “Change your beliefs or don’t graduate!”

How I missed this one in the Christian Post, Wall Watchers, I have no idea… but back in later July, an esteemed junior college or remedial high school Augusta State University threatened one student, “Change your Christian beliefs or you won’t graduate.”

Jennifer Keeton, 24, has been pursuing a master's degree in school counseling at Augusta State University since last year, but school officials have informed her that she'll be dismissed from the program unless she alters her "central religious beliefs on human nature and conduct," according to a civil complaint filed last week.

Seriously… any more questions about my theory on Christianity being the only legalized and unprotected prejudice?! So, there has to be a catch for a school to go Orwellian in the middle of a semester, right?

Jennifer Keeton, 24, has been enrolled in the College of Education’s School Counselor masters degree program since fall 2009. She has expressed her Christian beliefs in class discussions and written assignments, but it was her views regarding gender and sexuality that irked faculty.

And there’s the rub. Talk Jesus and we will tolerate your inane blather. Debate gay rights and off with your head!

So, here’s this post-grad student – who incidentally is PAYING MONEY to attend this institution of higher education – that stated in a regular class she believes that “sexual behavior is the result of accountable personal choice rather than an inevitability deriving from deterministic forces.”

Ostensibly, the whole “Homosexuality is a lifestyle, not a state of being” thing.

Then, the school administration channels Harvey Milk and hurls the book at her… the pink one laced in nice chiffon.

Keeton was notified that she would be asked to participate in a remediation plan. Mary Jane Anderson-Wiley, an associate professor who also oversees student education and discipline, explained that the faculty wanted to see Keeton’s writing skills improve and that they are concerned with some of her beliefs and views pertaining to GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender) issues.

Has anyone cared to tell Ms. Anderson-Wiley that they are concerned with her blatant anti-Christian attitude? Of course not, because that would unconstitutional and unethical. But tell a student to go to summer school for gay sensitivity training and it’s just another dutiful day at Augusta State.

Americans have free speech and freedom of religion, unless that American is Christian and then your speech is subject by any idiot with a weed against God and your religion is held under a magnifying glass thanks to the public sins of a misdirected few.

What’s more aggravating is… you guessed it… where are all the Christians to say anything about it?!

Is there nothing that will unite us?

Say what you will about the GLBTQABCDEFG community but they are amalgamated and refuse to let anyone talk noise about them. Name a sociological group of people and nine times out of ten, they stick together like a family should.

However, welcome to the Church where we eat our young and treat the accosted members of our group like bastard children at a family reunion.

Anyone see a problem with this? Pastors? Body of Christ? Is this thing on? [Crickets].

“A public university student shouldn’t be threatened with expulsion for being a Christian and refusing to publicly renounce her faith, but that’s exactly what’s happening here,” said David French, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. “Simply put, the university is imposing thought reform.”

Yes indeed.

This story is national news. It is a clear attack against Christianity. And an egregious attempt to side step the U.S. Constitution. So, let’s try this again… do you care? If so, contact William A. Bloodworth, school president through his office at:

Judy Cooke ,
Assistant to the President
Rains Hall
706-737-1440
jnmorris@aug.edu

Or, for starters, tell your pastor. I double dog dare you because trust me, folks. And for the hate mongers, save your innocuous, non-sequitur comments. I don’t have a problem with gay people having equal rights. Everyone in this country is protected by the same freedom as I am. Only show people that disagree with you the same friggin’ courtesy! And Christians are the hypocritical ones?!

This is just the beginning and if you don’t learn to say something now, you will get trampled upon in the future. If I am going to get smashed, I am doing it swinging for Christ.

The Bible says, “With God all things are possible.” It’s such a shame that these days without God’s people, that’s hard to come by.

Holy Crap! College students want “Our Lord” off diplomas

First, it was prayer in schools. Next, it was gripe at the U.S. Treasury for all that “In God We Trust” mess.

Now, a concentrated group of collegiate nimrods have decided to take on the student body of their Texas institutions demanding “in the year of our Lord” be removed from their diplomas, according to WOW News’ Houston Belief (from the Chronicle).

The catch – and I can’t make this stuff up – the students attend a faith-based institution called Trinity University.

“A diploma is a very personal item, and people want to proudly display it in their offices and homes,” said Sidra Qureshi, president of Trinity Diversity Connection [and resident Muslim]. “By having the phrase ‘In the Year of Our Lord,’ it is directly referencing Jesus Christ, and not everyone believes in Jesus Christ.”

Hey, uh, Sid. When you were a senior in high school messing with your lovely hijab for graduation pictures, you were thinking about colleges to attend, right? Did Allah hip you to the fact that “TRINITY” was a big clue as to where this particular institution had some allegiance?

Courtesy: Trinity University

Still, nothing, eh? How about this…

“Any cultural reference, even if it is religious, our first instinct should not be to remove it, but to accept it and tolerate it,” said Brendan McNamara, president of the College Republicans. McNamara pointed out that Trinity displays other signs of its Christian heritage, including a chapel on campus, a chaplain, Christmas vespers and a Bible etching on the Trinity seal. “Once you remove that phrase, where do you draw the line?” McNamara asked.

Hello? McFly? Does air get underneath your head covering because you may be getting dizzy.

This story reeks of some tool with the ACLU calling her up and saying, “Yeah. I know you have been going there for a few years already, but have you ever thought about the whole B.C. versus A.D. conundrum?”

Granted, this girl has gone almost 16 years studying some fashion of history where the years were annotated with either B.C. or A.D. Also, she has attended a college in heavily Catholic San Antonio named after the three facets of the triune Godhead. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until now that a sanctimonious weed has sprouted in her staunch Muslim behind.

Seriously?

And prior to what she thinks or has been told in her local Mosque, A.D. does not mean “After Death”. If that were the case, then Jesus’ 33 years on this earth would be the gray zone. A.D. is Latin for Anno Domini Nostri Iesu (Jesu) Christi. And, like it or not, the ministry of Christ is the “turning point of civilization,” which makes 2010 not the year of our Allah.

Sorry, but Neener, Neener, Neener!

Some do not like it, but deal with it in solace because the money in their pocket – although adorned with God’s grace – gets the hippie lettuce from the town’s half-baked loser.

And, despite the dastardly reminder of what year this is, said diploma helps folk get a job outside of waiting for the fry guy to retire so you can stop making those friggin’ shakes all day.

Nonetheless, the PC kowtow express is taking off according to a Trinity University press release:

In the interest of free and open exchange of ideas and thoughts, the University has held a forum to examine the request from a range of viewpoints… in May, the Board of Trustees is expected to consider the question of changing the language of diplomas.

I have a viewpoint, and it’s not all together sanctified but what the hey… hand the scattered few who have a problem with it to graduate and split. If they aren’t happy with it, how about attend Muhammad’s Campus of the Performing Arts or The University of Freethought.

Sorry? Those don’t exist? Then shut up.

Every college diploma in the U.S. has that because it’s called time. It’s not a religious statement; it’s a chronological one. And for both the Julian and Gregorian calendar, so cuss out a Christian and a Pagan if you would like. This is a Presbyterian college, lady and you should have known that attending your first class of English 101.

They aren’t changing… so I suppose you should. Sure, you got your 15 minutes of dumbfounded fame. Sure, you scared the school’s PR flack Susie Gonzalez into writing that shameful press release. But Kushite, please. “Our Lord” isn’t going anywhere. You may however.

Or better yet, ask your nearest campus counselor where the bookstore is located. No, not to purchase a Qu’ran but liquid paper. I hear that stuff will wipe out anything, including that light-headed issue you are currently battling.

Meet a college professor who compares the cross to swastikas

So, I had a fabulous Christmas (and I pray you did as well). Stockings are down. The fridge is replenished. My family is content. And then I read this crap.

According to WOW News’ World Net Daily and Dallas‘ WFAA-TV, Liberty Legal Institute sent a Dec. 15 demand letter on behalf of Joe Mitchell, a retired General Motors employee, Dallas resident and student, to Eastfield College in the Dallas County Community College District.

This is actually a Navy Seal training center in Coronado, Calif. Nice architecture, das dunderheads.

The complaint accuses the school of an “unconstitutional attack on religious expression in the classroom.”

This story is painstakingly lodged itself in my blessed assurance for many reasons, but here’s the once-over.

Mitchell adores to make ceramic crosses as gifts. It’s more than a hobby for the guy; it’s a business in his twilight years. He’s in ceramics class for the third year where he encounters a tool professor named James Watral, chair of the ceramic department at Eastfield College.

Yeah, “CHAIR of CERAMICS!?”

Isn’t that like… well, I just don’t have an apt analogy for this.

“As Mr. Watral was giving students a tour of the pottery department, he took them to a shelving area where ceramics pieces are stored prior to being fired in the kiln,” the complaint states. “Mr. Watral then pointed to a cross and stated in front of the entire class with contempt: ‘I don’t like that.'”

To which, I say, “Big. Deal.” But wait, there’s more.

During the fall 2009 semester, Mitchell said he was constantly asked by his instructor whether he would be creating religious projects. He created a ceramic Israeli Coat of Arms, including a Menorah, to give to a Jewish friend. After the piece had been fired, he said his instructor, Chris Blackburst, asked if she could take a look at it.

“She then proceeded to compare the cross to a swastika,” his complaint states. “She stated that many individuals view the cross as an offensive symbol in the same was that many people are offended by swastikas, and that his crosses would therefore not be fired by the department.”

Ah, there’s the rub. Seriously?! A swastika. I get what our apparent devoid-of-a-heart nitwit is trying to say. The cross is offensive… to anyone with a death wish hating God for no apparent reason other than because of campy Christians they have encountered.

But to compare it with arguably the most recognized symbol in the world for hate, vitriol and bad facial hair is asinine.

What’s more daft is this guy is actually suing the college. Why? Because someone hurt his feelers?

There isn’t a week that goes by where I don’t get offended in some fashion because of some misguided comment, divisive statement or godless misanthrope just trying to get under my skin.

I call B.S. and here’s why: This whole law suit is over the fact dude is no longer allowed to fire his crosses – his merchandise – in the school’s kiln. He’s been doing this for three years and now the school is taking a harsh stance against his crosses – his meal ticket.

What the school said was completely out of line and at the very least, this “chair of ceramics” deserves a nice kick in his jingle bells. However, I’m sure the school said it at the beginning of the year.

Don’t stand in the shadow of the cross crying religious discrimination when you’re just too cheap to buy the cornerstone of the company business.

Dude has had ample time to deal with his grievances but not with his pocketbook. Orders are slow. The economy sucks. And Mr. Mitchell ain’t getting paid as he is accustomed, so he sues. You know, instead of buying his own kiln at the house.

My question is why does it take a lawyer to review the policy when this guy should have done before he took the class? Again?

My angst with anti-Jesus organizations like the ACLU are well-stated and numerous. However, what’s equally as multitudinous is my lack of empathy for folk who make Christians look worse than we already do.

This law suit is exhibit A because the amount of intelligence it takes to see through the paper-thin visage of what’s really behind this legal recourse can be found somewhere in between Tiger Woods’ belief he could ho around in private and one of those crooks in need of a disguise so instead of panty hose grabs a roll of duct tape. (Yeah, really happened.)

The chic who compared the cross with the swastika needs to have her blood stream hurled in the kiln for warmth. As for Mr. Mitchell, he just needs his law suit thrown in there… along with his tuition.

In the words of a few billion people who hate the swastika, “Oy Vey!”

Harvard paper denies the Holocaust. And I thought they were smart?

Times are tough these days, namely for newspapers. Advertising dollars are at an all-time low so many papers are trying to think “out-of-the-box” to capture revenue.

You know, going online… and offering editorials for advertising… and marketing in particular business spaces… oh, and denying the Holocaust, as in the case of the Harvard Crimson school newspaper.

Harvard is known for its rigorous scholarly standards and prestigious reputation… however, The Harvard Crimson, in what it said was an error, ran the Holocaust-questioning advertisement, which had been rejected by the paper over the summer.

An error? Ya’ think? Yeah, because giving a middle finger to the Jewish donor base in New England is always a good idea for the benefaction trust, right?

Courtesy: HarvardSucks.org (and Amen to that!)

This is the most egregious decision at the very least and surreptitious bigotry at the most. And probably a little of both.

The ad, paid for by Holocaust denier Bradley R. Smith and his Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust, primarily raises questions about then-Gen. Dwight Eisenhower’s account of World War II and the existence of Nazi gas chambers.

So, what of the Jewish community at Harvard? Meh. Or should I say ‘Bupkes.’

Harvard Hillel’s student president, Rebecca Gillette, circulated a letter saying she thought the situation was being appropriately addressed. “The fact that organizations and individuals like that publicized in this advertisement still exist today is frightening and disturbing, but unfortunately it seems that Holocaust denial will persist for years to come,” she said.

Ooooo-kay? Well, this should be good, because if I represented the Jewish community at this school and read that mess, I would be screaming from my synagogue and begging to kick someone square in the tuches. This “address” should be good. Take it away, Crimson president dude:

In response to the commotion created by the ad, Crimson President Maxwell L. Child released a statement Wednesday citing three weeks of summer vacation between the submission of the advertisement and the publication of the paper as the explanation for why the ad “fell through the cracks.”

That’s it?! Is it just me or does that explanation to the students… and the alums… just a skosh short? I think the only “crack” this guy should be worried about is the one he was sitting on when this advertisement was approved.

With that kind of complacency, it’s amazing prejudice and bigotry hasn’t been flourishing more in this country. What’s next?

The KKK takes out a front-page article in this esteemed publication looking for the “next generation of overweight, bull-headed segregationists.”

Maybe the Black Panthers can do a cover shoot, and with fists clutching AR-15s like back-in-the-day can exclaim, “Beat the crap out of Yale… by any means necessary!”

Whatever the case for bawdiness and indecorum, I’m sure the mighty Crimson will continue publishing the standards of excellence and applying additional schmutz to those ubiquitous cracks.

Who knows, maybe one of those will be in the president’s blessed assurance.

Oy vey!

Top 100 Movies for Christians… so to speak

It’s been a while, and since summer ir looming, why not? Time for another list. Huzzah!

Only this one may surprise you a skosh. No thanks to ChristianColleges.com, we discover the “100 All-time Best Movies for Christians.”

(Yes… no thanks. You’ll see.)

So, you would think big players would be overtly Jesus-esque films like “The Passion of the Christ.” And then there’s the movies about God’s generals like “The 10 Commandments” and its sister film “The Prince of Egypt.” Biblical tenet flicks have to make the list for those who enjoyed the recent “Fireproof” and perhaps the not-so-recent “End of the Spear.”

However, I’ll give you a blank check if you can name the #1 Christian movie of all time. G’head, I’ll wait. Time’s wasting. Tick-tock.

Thank God for this movie, I guess.

That sound you hear is the pervasiveness of crickets… in a church, no less.

Survey Says: Iron Will. HUH?!

I mean any flick about puppies has to be cute. Use the uh, challenged kid from the Facts of Life and I’ll give you a straight-to-DVD adventure.

So, immediately I would venture to say the validity of this cockamamie list is in question if Mackenzie Astin can whoop up on Sir Charlton Heston and any fart-and-fall-down movie TBN has cranked out.

But, this collection of misfit flicks is, if anything, diverse. Evidently, Rudy’s kid brother needs to challenge the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences about getting duped on all those “Best Actors” awards they hand out annually.You see, the Dog Whisperer here has beat out some of Hollywood’s elite.

Now, I love Jesus but this is ridiculous. Those slammed by the acting savvy of this entertainment wunderkind are:

• #4 – Chariots of Fire. Followed by…
• #5 – Woman, Thou Art Loosed. Um, I’m pretty sure “Chariots” soundtrack outsold this epic
• #13 – Dead Man Walking. Because riding a dog slams what Sean Penn did in this dopey movie
• #21 – The Matrix. Sounds like the authors of this list took the blue pill
• #41 – Ben-Hur. Astin was an Iditarod gladiator, somewhat
• #46 – Schindler’s List. Holocaust. Sad Puppies. Sure, I would sway one way over the other for sure
• #51 – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Which beat out…
• #54 – The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Well, it was a golden ticket. Come on.
• #59 – The Passion of the Christ. Yeah, I thought this cheeseball movie sucked too.
• #95 – It’s a Wonderful Life. You realize, my eyes are full of tears of laughter now
• #100 – The Muppet Christmas Carol. Blasphemous, ain’t it?

You know, I am anonymous for legal reasons but suffice to say, my name is not Roger Ebert, Leonard Maltin or some ne’er-do-well staffer from Rotten Tomatoes. But even I would have done a better job than this half-baked, without sleep and possibly illiterate. I’m just saying.