The View From Here

There's so much happening that it's hard to start, as it has been two years since I've written. From March 2020 to June 2020, much of the US (and the world) was shut down to the COVID-19 pandemic. It's strange to read my past postings and to find myself here - isolated most of the time and hesitant to leave the confines of my home due to this highly contagious virus which to date has killed over 500,000 and has infected over 14 million , and disproportionately impacted BIPOC . Then in May, our nation was roiled once again in racial violence with the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minnesota. As a result, many companies, organizations, and institutions published statements of support and a commitment to change. What's disheartening is that the murders of Black men, women, boys and girls have been happening for time out of mind, and in recent memory have been viewed and heard in social media for at least a decade. Four years ago I walked i...

Simply put, how can a conference on the liberal arts and social transformation not address the #BlackLivesMatter movement on college campuses across the United States? This is the case at Westmont College with their annual conversation on the liberal arts. This year the theme is " From Inquiry to Impact: Social Transformation through Liberal Learning ." The list of speakers are all White (no surprise). Even though one speaker has diversity and inclusion as an area of expertise, there is no direct reference in the program on addressing how college students of color are part of a social transformation towards what some believe is the second wave of the Civil Rights Movement. In some ways it's sad for me to say that I'm not surprised although always disappointed. It's a reminder of how evangelical Christian colleges are behind the curve when it comes to diversity and social justice.

The other day a friend of mine posted on social media about all that’s happening at Wheaton College in IL . If you haven’t heard by now, it’s about the supposed conflation of Islam and Christianity by a tenured professor seeking solidarity with Muslims . Although I’m disappointed with the college's response, I’m hardly surprised considering how the institution has gotten into hot water about birth control and having fired a professor who converted to the Catholic faith . Add to it is their football team dressed up in KKK robes for a skit and a LGBT student leader who was attacked with an apple . So, frankly, even as Wheaton College has attempted to address the issues of racism, it is hardly the place for acceptance, understanding or empathy when it comes to diversity of any kind (except to evangelize them into the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ). On the same posting, I wrote about how I, as an alum of the graduate school, decided over a year ago to remove myself from th...