What happened to academic freedom?
I’m sad about this. Thanks, Mark, for your thoughtful posts. The point wasn’t to make everyone agree with you; the point was to make everyone think. You did. That’s not always appreciated. Sad day.
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I’ve been reading The Early Christians in Ephesus from Paul to Ignatius
So much of the New Testament centers on faith in Asia Minor, and in Ephesus in particular. To begin with, there are portions of Acts (chapters 18-20) and of Revelation (the letter to the church in Ephesus). There is 1 Corinthians, written from Ephesus — as well as 2 Corinthians and Romans, written just after Paul left Ephesus on his third missionary journey. Add to that Ephesians (which may not have been written to Ephesus — check the footnotes of your Bible in Ephesians 1 to see that many manuscripts don’t say “in Ephesus” — but was likely a circular letter to many churches of Asia Minor, including the prominent one in Ephesus.) Then pile on 1 & 2 Timothy and the tradition that John spent his final years there.
This city, third or fourth largest in the Roman Empire at the time and home of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (the temple of Artemis, was a critical location for the advancement of the good news.
It always makes me upset to see the amount of “followers” that GKB and ME have. If you read many of their comments they actually seem to really enjoy making people angry and picking fights. Not at all respectfully diagreeing at the beginning of a conversation then getting to something new to avoid an argument, but saying things like”this is fun”, when clearly the other party is upset. Very disappointing and a HORRIABLE example to younger Christians or non-Christians.
Just for the record: Harding has a number of faculty, staff, and contributors who are strong Democrats. I believe if a poll were taken, you would find most people affiliated with Harding are NEITHER major political party but independents who study each candidate’s qualifications. I have been here over 50 years, worked in various fields on campus, and there is harmony among most people here regarding politics. Most people on campus are more interested in following Christ than a political party, and their lives show it.
I have followers? Wow, that’s cool.
I find it interesting that on blogs all opinions are created equal. Academia, informed knowledge, call it what you want. All credentials are democritized on account of being human and adult. A person can argue with another individual who has a doctorate in Political Science, about politics, and scoff at the flagrant incoherence in their thinking. Why? Because they watch the evening news and they’re smart. I don’t think you see this type of things in the hard sciences. Guys that read Men’s Health aren’t decrying reports that antioxidants really don’t protect against cancer and point out ‘the obvious inconsistencies’ in researched findings. In politics and religion, the fact that you’ve spent years plumbing thousands of pages of literature on one topic means nothing. Except, perhaps, that you’re more unsettling.
GKB…You just made my point. I think it is impossible for you to read something and just let it go. Or, God forbid, examine yourself and maybe change an opinion based on what someone else says. For example, maybe read what I wrote and think “gee, maybe I am always on the defensive and making passive agressive comments. Maybe this isn’t the kind of attitude I should portray.” Instead, you just see it as an opprotunity for attention. Such a shame.
What got Mark in trouble was his outspoken support of homosexual marriages—nothing more nothing less!
John, you are absolutely correct that it was his public support of same-sex marriage that caused the problem. You would think such would also cause a problem on this blog, but instead this incident was portrayed as a horrible case of Harding restricting academic freedom and it was portrayed by others as Harding persecuting poor Mark Elrod simply because he was a Democrat. We were all supposed to ignore the fact that he has been an outspoken Democrat ever since he has been at Harding. We were supposed to believe that all of a sudden, because of his “Hussein is my middle name” idea, that Harding had decided to silence him because he was for Obama. What nonsense! Yesterday, this same free-speech supressing school issued a press release about Mark’s upcoming trip to the Democratic National Convention. Hardly the behavior you would expect from an institution accused of trying to stifle someone for being a Democrat. GKB and Mark’s supporters have tried to portray this as someone being told to shut up because he is a Democrat. That is simply not the case.
M.W. said, “In politics and religion, the fact that you’ve spent years plumbing thousands of pages of literature on one topic means nothing.”
Yes, it sort of does seem to mean nothing when you have done all of that and then, as a Christian educator say, I am for same-sex marriage. It makes you wonder just what a person has learned from all that study.
Donald,
Don’t expect any backtracking from too many people here in regards to their condemnation of Harding. There is an obvious dislike for the school among many here for a number of reasons.
GT, why do you believe that HU has almost 7000 students? Keep running them down…we must stop so many students from going there. They are turning out a bunch of highly able graduates who are making a difference in education, industry, medicine, law, ministry, finance, etc and they must be stopped. With your leadership and the help of your friends we can stop them!! You are the man to do this GT! John
I think you misunderstood my tongue in cheek remark. I think. As a Harding grad and the father of a recent graduate I’m very proud of the school.
Around here you can’t always tell where people are coming from.
AvaP:
I can, too, pass up a comment and let it go!
I have followers? Wow, that’s cool.