After taking the controversial step to sue the federal government over the Affordable Care Act's requirement that certain religious institutions cover contraceptives in their group health insurance plans, one might think OBU would lay low in the culture wars for a while.
Instead, administrators have upped the ante with a move that's sure to shock and offend many faculty, students, and alumni.
Today in Broken Arrow, President David Whitlock boasted in his report to the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma's annual meeting that OBU has invited Dr. Ben Carson to keynote next year's Green & Gold Gala, a fundraiser for student scholarships.
For those outside the religious right political movement who may not know of him, Ben Carson is a retired neurosurgeon who catapulted to fame for delivering a speech slamming many of President Obama's policies to his face at the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this year. After disrespecting the president in the most obnoxious and defiant way possible, Dr. Carson became a Tea Party celebrity. The Wall Street Journal editorial page urged him to run for president.
At last month's Values Voter Summit in Washington (the premier political convention of the most far-right elements of the Republican Party -- even the SBC considers the event too extreme to endorse), Carson was the runner-up in the straw poll for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He tied former Senator Rick Santorum with 13% apiece. Senator Ted Cruz won with 42% of the vote.
In his speech to the Values Voter Summit, Carson made a particularly offensive statement: the health insurance reform law is "the worst thing to happen in this country since slavery." Translation: The Affordable Care Act is worse than poverty, natural disasters, the Great Depression, segregation, child abuse, and tens of millions of abortions. To Dr. Carson, the Affordable Care Act is even worse than 9/11. What an insult!
However much money OBU raises for scholarships, it will pay a hefty fee to Carson. According to his booking agent, his speaking fee is "over $40,000." It's probably significantly more than that. Carson has a remarkable personal story of rising from poverty to become chief of pediatric neurosurgery at one of the world's finest hospitals. He is a highly sought after speaker. Even so, Carson's calendar has opened up a bit as he has had to withdraw from several engagements in the wake of offensive comments.
Earlier this year, he withdrew from giving the commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University and from another speech to a medial industry group. Petitions against Carson circulated after he equated homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality. Does this reflect the views and values of OBU administrators? Compared to Dr. Carson, last April's controversial "ex gay" evangelist chapel speaker Christopher Yuan seems downright compassionate!
Last year's inaugural Green & Gold Gala speaker, Tony Dungy, also holds traditional views. But Dungy has a much more humble and modest persona, and I saw no need to protest his selection.
This year, I hope the OBU community will have a robust discussion about whether a figure as controversial as Dr. Carson truly reflects the consensus values of the OBU community.
When I was at OBU and Bill Clinton was president, I was taught that no matter how much I disliked him or disapproved of his actions, I should respect him and his office. If a liberal had so openly and shockingly denounced President George W. Bush to his face, do you think OBU would invite that person to speak?
To try to speak to Tea Partiers who will be glad to hear about Carson speaking at an OBU event and who say, "What's the big deal?" I asked a few liberal friends who the liberal counterpart to Ben Carson would be. They said, "Imagine a person with political views left of Nancy Pelosi and who is as obnoxious as Michael Moore." Think about how you would feel if OBU administrators invited such a person to headline the Green & Gold Gala.
Last year's event, by all accounts, avoided culture war politics. Big sponsors of the gala included businesses, churches, BGCO organizations and affiliates, and a few wealthy individuals. Next year's gala is sure to be highly politicized. Aside from whatever comments Dr. Carson makes, it seems likely that Oklahoma political insiders will gobble up tickets and sponsorships for a chance to meet their anti-Obama hero.
I truly don't think they could have come up with a more partisan or divisive speaker if they tried.
At a minimum, whoever selected Carson should be asked whether they agree with his implication that homosexuality is tantamount to pedophilia and bestiality and that Obamacare is worse than 9/11, though I'm a little afraid of the answer.
The event is scheduled for next spring, assuming the keynoter does not make any extremely offensive remarks in the meantime. Although, it's hard to imagine what comments would disqualify Carson if the things he has already said are acceptable.
In the future, we probably shouldn't let the College Republicans run the university. Or the College Democrats (if such a thing is even allowed to exist). I declined to criticize the trustees for acquiescing to President Whitlock's desire to join in a lawsuit against the federal government, since I thought they were simply trying to protect OBU's autonomy and prerogative even though the suit is harmful and offensive to all female employees on the group health insurance plan. But after this Ben Carson debacle, it would be nice for the trustees to reassure OBU students, employees, and alumni that there are actually some grown-ups in charge on Bison Hill.
[Ed. I am still in complete disbelief that the reports I heard today from Oklahoma Baptist pastors are true. If any mistakes in reporting were made, I will immediately withdraw this post.]
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
OBU Doubles Down on Far-Right Ideology in Spring 2013 Chapel Lineup
Thankfully, things have been quieter on the fundamentalist encroachment front at OBU than at any time in the past 4 or 5 years. It's hard to undo the harm that has already been done, but perhaps the administration has scaled back its ambitions -- or at least its timetable -- in this regard.
Chapel: An Important Symbol of Where OBU Stands
Unfortunately, one area of campus life that remains as controversial and polarizing as ever is the roster of speakers invited to Raley Chapel. The Wednesday chapel hour is an important representation, in symbol and in fact, of where OBU stands.
For many years, great care was taken to make chapel a unifying experience. Administrators invited speakers who would not tack strongly to the far left or far right. During the SBC's Fundamentalist Takeover years, President Bob Agee avoided embroiling OBU in the controversy. Yet both fundamentalists and moderates regularly gave invited lectures and sermons at OBU. On the rare occasions when politicians were invited to campus, OBU welcomed both Democrats and Republicans.
Those days are over. More than ever before, OBU's religion administrators are dividing the campus community, offending students and faculty, and pushing down a fundamentalist and political agenda with their choice of chapel speakers.
At least some of the time, there has been a student committee to suggest chapel invitees. I don't know if that's still the case, but even if it is, it is completely devoid of moderate representation and/or vetoed altogether.
Given the wide availability of moderate preachers, theologians, historians, evangelists, and other speakers in Baptist life, OBU's wholesale exclusion of them is inexcusable. The BGCO's outsized control over what OBU does is scarcely as evident as in the chapel lineup. Can you imagine the flack President Whitlock would get if OBU had a chapel speaker Anthony Jordan didn't like?
To further prove this point, we may examine past semesters' chapel preachers in the weeks to come. But since a controversial "ex gay" evangelist is speaking in Raley Chapel today, let's take a moment to look at this spring's lineup.
Jackson Dunn
Earlier this spring, Focus on the Family staffer Jackson Dunn came and promoted the idea that Christian college students should get married very young. While there is currently an encouraging public debate about the economic, social, and relational advantages and supposed costs of later marriage, OBU does not need someone pushing early marriage so explicitly. Can't we agree that this idea is already prevalent enough in OBU culture?!
T.W. Shannon
On the political extremism front, OBU welcomed Tea Party politician T.W. Shannon, Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. While a number of staunchly conservative politicians have spoken at OBU in recent years, I cannot even think of the last time a politician with moderate or liberal political views -- Democrat or Republican, fundamentalist or moderate -- spoke at OBU. Gov. Brad Henry, a moderate Democrat, spoke in chapel in 2006.
Tulian Tchividjian
In March, the Rev. Tulian Tchividjian, grandson of Billy Graham, brought his book tour to OBU. Tchividjian is a noted Calvinist affiliated with a fundamentalist Presbyterian split-off denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America. He followed the Rev. Dr. D. James Kennedy in the pulpit of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida. While somewhat less overtly political than his predecessor, Kennedy and Coral Ridge were long influenced by the most extreme form of Christian theocratic politics, dominionism. Tchividian's sermon was, I'm sure, well received. But it does seem curious that OBU so actively promotes Calvinists' book projects.
Christopher Yuan
Today, an "ex gay" evangelist named Christopher Yuan is speaking. Yuan holds a M.A. in biblical exegesis from Wheaton, an identical credential to many 23 year-old OBU alumni/ae. Yet Yuan is on faculty of the Moody Bible Institute. He has a compelling personal story about how God saved him from his unwanted same-sex attraction. Promoting the "ex gay" movement is now extremely controversial, even among evangelicals. Yuan's invitation is perhaps most alarming off all, given how angry many students, faculty, and alumni will be. While Dunn, Shannon, and Tchividian may come from the far right fringes of evangelical culture and Republican politics, at least their sermons could do no harm. The same may not be true for Yuan, given how many OBU students are gay and struggle mightily with how to come to terms with it, given their church, family, and community background.
Fred Luter
Later this month, SBC President Rev. Fred Luter will speak. In retrospect, OBU might rather have invited the Rev. Dr. Russell Moore, president-elect of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Moore, as with Richard Land before him, will be the public face of the SBC even more prominently than the convention presidents who come and go every two years.
Summary
Ideally, the Wednesday chapel hour would be a uniting experience for OBU students and faculty. But the current lineup, as with recent ones, indicates a conscious decision to double down on far-right ideology in terms of theology, culture, and politics. It would be one thing if there was some balance. But there is very little. (Tom Terry's address this winter is a notable exception to the complaints registered above.) Instead, chapel is an ever-more divisive and disappointing experience for a large plurality, if not an outright majority, of OBU students and professors.
Chapel: An Important Symbol of Where OBU Stands
Unfortunately, one area of campus life that remains as controversial and polarizing as ever is the roster of speakers invited to Raley Chapel. The Wednesday chapel hour is an important representation, in symbol and in fact, of where OBU stands.
For many years, great care was taken to make chapel a unifying experience. Administrators invited speakers who would not tack strongly to the far left or far right. During the SBC's Fundamentalist Takeover years, President Bob Agee avoided embroiling OBU in the controversy. Yet both fundamentalists and moderates regularly gave invited lectures and sermons at OBU. On the rare occasions when politicians were invited to campus, OBU welcomed both Democrats and Republicans.
Those days are over. More than ever before, OBU's religion administrators are dividing the campus community, offending students and faculty, and pushing down a fundamentalist and political agenda with their choice of chapel speakers.
At least some of the time, there has been a student committee to suggest chapel invitees. I don't know if that's still the case, but even if it is, it is completely devoid of moderate representation and/or vetoed altogether.
Given the wide availability of moderate preachers, theologians, historians, evangelists, and other speakers in Baptist life, OBU's wholesale exclusion of them is inexcusable. The BGCO's outsized control over what OBU does is scarcely as evident as in the chapel lineup. Can you imagine the flack President Whitlock would get if OBU had a chapel speaker Anthony Jordan didn't like?
To further prove this point, we may examine past semesters' chapel preachers in the weeks to come. But since a controversial "ex gay" evangelist is speaking in Raley Chapel today, let's take a moment to look at this spring's lineup.
Jackson Dunn
Earlier this spring, Focus on the Family staffer Jackson Dunn came and promoted the idea that Christian college students should get married very young. While there is currently an encouraging public debate about the economic, social, and relational advantages and supposed costs of later marriage, OBU does not need someone pushing early marriage so explicitly. Can't we agree that this idea is already prevalent enough in OBU culture?!
T.W. Shannon
On the political extremism front, OBU welcomed Tea Party politician T.W. Shannon, Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. While a number of staunchly conservative politicians have spoken at OBU in recent years, I cannot even think of the last time a politician with moderate or liberal political views -- Democrat or Republican, fundamentalist or moderate -- spoke at OBU. Gov. Brad Henry, a moderate Democrat, spoke in chapel in 2006.
Tulian Tchividjian
In March, the Rev. Tulian Tchividjian, grandson of Billy Graham, brought his book tour to OBU. Tchividjian is a noted Calvinist affiliated with a fundamentalist Presbyterian split-off denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America. He followed the Rev. Dr. D. James Kennedy in the pulpit of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida. While somewhat less overtly political than his predecessor, Kennedy and Coral Ridge were long influenced by the most extreme form of Christian theocratic politics, dominionism. Tchividian's sermon was, I'm sure, well received. But it does seem curious that OBU so actively promotes Calvinists' book projects.
Christopher Yuan
Today, an "ex gay" evangelist named Christopher Yuan is speaking. Yuan holds a M.A. in biblical exegesis from Wheaton, an identical credential to many 23 year-old OBU alumni/ae. Yet Yuan is on faculty of the Moody Bible Institute. He has a compelling personal story about how God saved him from his unwanted same-sex attraction. Promoting the "ex gay" movement is now extremely controversial, even among evangelicals. Yuan's invitation is perhaps most alarming off all, given how angry many students, faculty, and alumni will be. While Dunn, Shannon, and Tchividian may come from the far right fringes of evangelical culture and Republican politics, at least their sermons could do no harm. The same may not be true for Yuan, given how many OBU students are gay and struggle mightily with how to come to terms with it, given their church, family, and community background.
Fred Luter
Later this month, SBC President Rev. Fred Luter will speak. In retrospect, OBU might rather have invited the Rev. Dr. Russell Moore, president-elect of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Moore, as with Richard Land before him, will be the public face of the SBC even more prominently than the convention presidents who come and go every two years.
Summary
Ideally, the Wednesday chapel hour would be a uniting experience for OBU students and faculty. But the current lineup, as with recent ones, indicates a conscious decision to double down on far-right ideology in terms of theology, culture, and politics. It would be one thing if there was some balance. But there is very little. (Tom Terry's address this winter is a notable exception to the complaints registered above.) Instead, chapel is an ever-more divisive and disappointing experience for a large plurality, if not an outright majority, of OBU students and professors.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
The SBC's Decline
By now, many of you will have seen the data reported in advance of next week's SBC Annual Meeting: the downward trend in membership continues. For the first time since 2000, the nation's largest Protestant denomination dipped below 16 million members. When you look at the decline in relative terms (as a percentage of the U.S. population), the trendlines look even worse, as Baptist historian and blogger Aaron Weaver pointed out in a blog post this time last year. Weaver shows that from the 1950s to 1980, the SBC saw a 30% increase in its share of the U.S. population. During and since the Takeover years, SBC membership as a share of total U.S. population has declined 15%:
You are probably thinking that I'm going to blame the continuing decline on the resurgence of authoritarianism and doctrinal absolutism in the SBC. But there's definitely much more going on. When you look at the broader context of American denominationalism in particular and voluntary associations in general, there is a clear sea change that has taken place. A lot of this story is summarized in Robert D. Putnam's 2000 book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. (Incidentally, I first learned about this book when OBU President Mark Brister referenced it in a guest presentation he gave to my senior ministry seminar in 2002.)
The SBC is not unique in its membership challenges. Other religious groups have suffered the same fate -- many far worse. Demographic shifts go a long way toward accounting for these trends. Another key difference is that people are increasingly comfortable with having "none" as their religious affiliation. Years ago, even if someone had not been to church in years, Americans felt a strong pressure to give some answer when pollsters asked about their religious affiliation. Today it's much more socially acceptable to be unaffiliated, even in the Bible-Belt South.
The lack of brand/institutional/denominational loyalty among the younger age cohorts is also striking. Given increased competition from nondenominational churches in places where likely SBC constituents live (e.g., white suburbs), it's no surprise that the SBC has lost ground.
I would love to blame this all on fundamentalism, but I think it's more important to be intellectually honest. To that end, I think it's vital to point out that there is a growing body of survey data and scholarly research that points to a big reason for why young people are abandoning conservative Protestantism in droves. Hout and Fischer (2002) suggest that politics is a likely culprit. While the proportion of Americans who expressed no religious preferences was unchanged from 1974-1991, it doubled in the decade after 1991 (from 7% to 14%, and continues to skyrocket). Though Americans maintained roughly stable levels of conventional religious beliefs, the increasing politicization (i.e., Republicanization) of evangelicalism has undoubtedly turned many young people away. More recent studies point to the increasing identification of evangelicalism with anti-gay politics as absolutely toxic for retaining younger cohorts in the church. A great deal of recent research bears this out, including Putnam's most recent book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (coauthored with fellow political scientist David Campbell).
A few evangelical leaders who are slightly less reflexively pro-Republican have spoken out about the need to liberate the church from partisan politics (Jonathan Merritt and Rachel Held Evans come to mind, and both have taken intense criticism from older evangelical leaders who made their careers, reputations, and fortunes off the culture wars.)
When I put on my Save OBU hat, it's tempting to use the data above to slam the Takeover as driving the SBC's decline. We can blame the Takeover for a lot of problems, but probably not for this one. Since I wear my social scientist hat the other 23 hours every day, I have to refrain from the temptation to let correlation imply causality.
Image credit: Aaron Weaver at thebigdaddyweave.com.
You are probably thinking that I'm going to blame the continuing decline on the resurgence of authoritarianism and doctrinal absolutism in the SBC. But there's definitely much more going on. When you look at the broader context of American denominationalism in particular and voluntary associations in general, there is a clear sea change that has taken place. A lot of this story is summarized in Robert D. Putnam's 2000 book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. (Incidentally, I first learned about this book when OBU President Mark Brister referenced it in a guest presentation he gave to my senior ministry seminar in 2002.)
The SBC is not unique in its membership challenges. Other religious groups have suffered the same fate -- many far worse. Demographic shifts go a long way toward accounting for these trends. Another key difference is that people are increasingly comfortable with having "none" as their religious affiliation. Years ago, even if someone had not been to church in years, Americans felt a strong pressure to give some answer when pollsters asked about their religious affiliation. Today it's much more socially acceptable to be unaffiliated, even in the Bible-Belt South.
The lack of brand/institutional/denominational loyalty among the younger age cohorts is also striking. Given increased competition from nondenominational churches in places where likely SBC constituents live (e.g., white suburbs), it's no surprise that the SBC has lost ground.
I would love to blame this all on fundamentalism, but I think it's more important to be intellectually honest. To that end, I think it's vital to point out that there is a growing body of survey data and scholarly research that points to a big reason for why young people are abandoning conservative Protestantism in droves. Hout and Fischer (2002) suggest that politics is a likely culprit. While the proportion of Americans who expressed no religious preferences was unchanged from 1974-1991, it doubled in the decade after 1991 (from 7% to 14%, and continues to skyrocket). Though Americans maintained roughly stable levels of conventional religious beliefs, the increasing politicization (i.e., Republicanization) of evangelicalism has undoubtedly turned many young people away. More recent studies point to the increasing identification of evangelicalism with anti-gay politics as absolutely toxic for retaining younger cohorts in the church. A great deal of recent research bears this out, including Putnam's most recent book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (coauthored with fellow political scientist David Campbell).
A few evangelical leaders who are slightly less reflexively pro-Republican have spoken out about the need to liberate the church from partisan politics (Jonathan Merritt and Rachel Held Evans come to mind, and both have taken intense criticism from older evangelical leaders who made their careers, reputations, and fortunes off the culture wars.)
When I put on my Save OBU hat, it's tempting to use the data above to slam the Takeover as driving the SBC's decline. We can blame the Takeover for a lot of problems, but probably not for this one. Since I wear my social scientist hat the other 23 hours every day, I have to refrain from the temptation to let correlation imply causality.
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