Are you going to hell?: Campus Crusade for Christ might say you are! (contributor post)

I saved this contributor post till after Christmas...you'll see why...
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I was wondering what people thought about this:

I’m uncomfortable with some of our “faith-based” student organizations.  The one I’m thinking of in particular and one that I attended a few times (and quickly got out of) is Campus Crusade for Christ.  I’m uncomfortable because they believe that anyone who does not believe the way they do is going to hell.  I’m a Christian btw.  But I do not think that everyone is going to hell because of some ultra-conservative reading of the Bible. 

They have a very particular reading of the Bible and they are not afraid to share it.  This is from their tract called, “Heaven or Hell: Which will you choose?”

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Hell

Jesus and the New Testament writers use every image in their power to tell us that Hell is real, terrible, something to be feared and avoided at all costs. Never forget that the talk about outer darkness and the lake of fire came from Jesus, who died to save us.

In His parable of the last judgment Jesus taught that some would go to eternal punishment, some to eternal life (Matthew 25:46). In other words, Hell will be as real and lasting as Heaven.

The most frightening thing about Hell is that it is spiritual separation from God, moral remorse, the consciousness that one deserves what he is getting. Hell is total separation from the love, joy, and peace that come from God.

Are you going?

“He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42).

Which will you choose?

You must decide where you will spend eternity. Jesus Christ has paid the full penalty for your sins on the cross. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Now you must come to Him just as you are—a guilty sinner unable to save yourself. Commit your life to Christ today! You can pray something like this:

God, thank You for sending Jesus to take the punishment for my sins that I might spend eternity in Heaven with You. I turn from my sin and invite You into my life to be my Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Portions of this text were written by Leighton Ford. ©1974 Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

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What I’m uncomfortable about is that Campus Crusade for Christ and their view that many on campus are going to hell is supported in some way by our university.  Our university allows them to be a student organization, and doesn’t that in some way mean that the university is ok with their viewpoint?  Doesn’t that mean that the university is in some way supporting their viewpoint?  I would think that our university wouldn’t allow the KKK to start a student organization here because of the kind of views they have.  So why allow Campus Crusade for Christ?  They don’t belong here at our university.

And since our university is a state university, what happened to the separation between church and state?  Freedom of speech is one thing, but making Campus Crusade for Christ an actual student organization is another.  Right?

Yea or Nay on diversity courses?

It's holiday time, and though many of you are busy with holiday festivities, some of you are gorging your faces in front of the computer just waiting for more blog stimulation.

Here goes then for those few wanting stimulation...someone emailed me this question, "What about those damn diversity classes? I think they are a bunch of crap, but I am curious to hear what others think of the diversity classes." 

For some the diversity requirement is a sham.
For some it is a necessity that needs to be esteemed more.
For some there needs to be a more substantial diversity requirement.
And for others, the diversity requirement needs to be reconceived to fulfill its intended purpose.

What are your thoughts?

The Great Gen Ed "Reformation?"

So the Gen Ed discussions have yielded fun insights (tongue in cheek):

1. Gen Ed classes suck.  No critical thinking.  No practical relevance.

2. Students suck.  They can't get their heads out of their asses to read a book, and they blame the faculty.

3. Faculty suck. They're drinking the "whiny-poo" kool-aid, and they blame the students and admin.

4. This blog sucks because what's a bunch of bitchin' going to do?

Well golly jeepers...where did I put that bat-signal because, damn it!, Gotham's in trouble!

But hold on.  Let me let you in on a little secret.  This blog is getting some good traffic, and I happen to know that some onlookers are the ones at the helm of the Gen Ed curriculum.  In other words, very interested eyes are reading what you are saying - interested eyes that have power to change things...

Psst.  Psst!  Yeah you.  That's your cue to take advantage and try to make a real difference here.  Let's hear your good ideas on reforming Gen Ed, if that is really what you want to do.  Be concrete, be practical.  Have ideas about students, about the faculty, about the admin.  Tell them what works and what doesn't work.  This may be your chance to make your talking really matter.  Of course nothing is guaranteed, but "if" UWW is a place of great education, let's hear your great educated ideas.

If you make the case, you might see the change.

"UW-Whitewater = bullshit education?"

This morning an interesting pair of comments appeared in response to the Gen Ed classes post.  I didn’t want them to be buried in comments, so here they are.  Any thoughts?

Anonymous said...

So what are we going to do about it except complain and whine instead of making the best of the situation and then moving on to the next level. Do not lose sight of the fact that you attend Whitewater, not Harvard, Yale, or some other prestigious and selective institution. If some of the core courses are crummy then reach out and pick up a book and read on your own, or is this too difficult? With all of the information out there now you can just about educate yourself on any subject!

December 16, 2010 3:28 AM

Anonymous said...

Ok, so what does "Do not lose sight of the fact that you attend Whitewater, not Harvard, Yale, or some other prestigious and selective institution" mean?

I mean, seriously, what does that mean?!?!?!? Are you implying that the faculty here are just schmucks? Are you implying that the workload is so high here that we shouldn't expect excellence in our teaching and courses? In fact, the more I think about that last comment, the more offended I am.

Does UW-Whitewater = bullshit education?!?!?!?

If so, I might have to look elsewhere to teach instead of at this loser institution.

December 16, 2010 7:28 AM

WikiLeaks is Wrong (contributor post)

To all you defending Assange because of “free speech” and “now we can find out what our secretive government is really up to,” I say what the fuck are you smoking?  You are such double-standard hypocrites!

I can’t say that WikiLeaks is wrong because of some high touting ethical theory or some major legal violation, but I can say that if the tables were turned on me, there is no way in hell I’d want that.  WikiLeaks is all about revealing classified government “cables” (in other words, memos) which appears to be mostly candid comments from some country’s diplomats about another country and its officials.  These secret assessments contain some good but a lot of disparaging comments, and there have been some interesting comments about spies and the like.  But the upshot is that these leaks reek of dirty laundry, and that is why many diplomats are turning red and doing a round of apologies to other nations.

Now think about what would happen if the tables were turned and this happened to you.  If this happened to me, it would be like all of my “secret” comments about friends, students, faculty, employers, and family would be all out in the open.  If I thought a faculty member was a shithead, well then he’d know about it.  If I had the hots for my boss, then she’d know about it.  If all of my “honest” opinions at particular times [because opinions do change] about all the people I know and care about were made public, it would destroy a lot of my relationships needlessly.  Everyone has criticisms about everyone else, but we don’t air those out because of the needless hurt they cause.  We know that many of our bad impressions of people are just fleeting bad impressions that would probably change for the better if I had another coffee.  Our opinions are usually really fickle, but even fickle impressions can really hurt.  I wouldn’t want my “secret” opinions made public.  Sugar coating our relationships and explicit opinions of others has its good function.  It’s what keeps relationships together many times.

“But this is different!  Freedom of Speech!!  Transparency of gov’t!!!”  Should your friends reveal what you say in private to all the world?!  Freedom of speech, right?  Transparency, right?  Your friends are really in the same position as Assange, but you would be mad as fuck if your private conversations were leaked.  That is why I say that WikiLeaks is wrong.

Maybe someone will say that this is so much more complicated than what I am saying.  Whatever.  I just don’t want you to defend WikiLeaks by freedom of speech.  My guess is that you are being a double-standard hypocrite.  You just want your gossip fix, especially the kind everyone is upset about.  So why don’t you shut up and turn on your favorite episode of “Gossip Girl” instead.

Damn it! What's the point of these Gen Ed classes? (contributor post)

Some ideas regarding UW-Whitewater's required General Education CORE classes....

It seems like the CORE classes to a lot of people are bullshit (and I'm not even just talking about students) and it wouldn't surprise me if most students walk away from them with little, if anything, gained. In a way, I think this is because of the students' lack of imagination and motivation to learn. In another way, I think it is the professors' inability to effectively convey messages and motivate students to think critically about the material brought forward.

A general education professor recently expressed personally to me a concern that the messages of what he teaches in his class get lost for some students. I might be reading too much into that or I might not really know what that message is supposed to be, but regardless, it sounds like a problem, one in which students aren't getting what they are intended to get out of the CORE classes. I mean, those classes are required for a reason, right?? They do serve a purpose by being required, don't they?? I want to get at what that purpose is and remind people of it.

So I think it's time to motivate not only students, but professors as well, to start seeking out the deeper messages behind material taught in these courses, and see these messages as important for all students to receive and understand. I want professors to encourage both a deeper analysis of and a striving to understand course content by getting students to evaluate that content and think about it in the "big picture", and in addition, bring the material back down to the students as individuals and get them involved. This could be doing something as simple as having students relate the events that occurred in Iran in 1953 with events going on now, and discuss leading values held at that time, and how those compare to the values held today, not only of other people in the world, but of the students themselves as well. This type of reflection and building of the self by relating personally to what is being taught is vital to students' understanding of who they are and what they are going to stand for/against not only at UW-Whitewater, but in the world in general.

I want to target the CORE classes because I know every student at Whitewater will be taking them (for the most part). I think the CORE classes should be able to affect the student's world positively by delivering relate-able, applicable, and meaningful messages that can be carried through the rest of his/her college career, if not life in general. When CORE classes are seen as bullshit and pointless, and are just hurried through, graded, and filed away, they become meaningless, for both the professors and the students, and that's pretty sad.

If these CORE classes are going to be a requirement, the students might as well be get something out of them that will remain long-term. And what I want students to get out of them is not just a "well-rounded" education, which is what a lot of people would say students should be getting, but more deeply, an understanding of oneself through the various topics taught/discussed in the CORE classes. I think building students' understanding of themselves through the CORE general education courses will lead students to reflect on themselves and the actions/decisions they make throughout their lives, which will help them develop stable goals for their future and figure out who they want to be in this world.

So now the question is how can this all be done? Well some sort of plan has to be made and I want to get instructors of the general education courses involved. I think most instructors really do care about the students and want the best learning experience for them, so to get instructors to unite and work together on the critical thinking aspect of their courses shouldn't be too much too ask for, but I'm not sure what ways this should be done, and how to get the attention of the professors in a courteous, non-imposing way. The main goal I guess is to reinstate the purpose of these CORE classes by identifying the meanings and overall messages of what is taught. I know they exist!!

Maybe I'm getting in way over my head here or something, but I really believe that if we want to build some credibility for this crummy little university, we need to start at the core... sooo maybe the CORE classes would be a good start? hehe. But seriously, I think if we want to strengthen the overall UW-Whitewater academic community, we need to see the community as a group of individuals, and do something to help better the general education of those individuals, and give them all a reason to want to learn, so they can leave UW-Whitewater with more than just a piece of paper.

This is something I'm really concerned about... I don't want future generations of UWW students coming in feeling that any of their classes, let alone the CORE required classes, are bullshit. I felt this way, and it just made me angry... but now I want to do something about it. So yeah... that's my spiel. Am I crazy or what??

Contributors Wanted!!!!!!!

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE “CRITICALLY PISSED” BLOG WANTED!

The “Critically Pissed” blog is a forum for any UWW student or faculty to air a frustration/criticism/argument about any issue that matters to him or her.  For instance, it could be about diversity issues on our UWW campus, critical issues in classes, problems with students, problems with faculty, problems with the administration, issues with the media, state politics, national politics, any “ism,” or any other issue you find important and want people to hear what you have to say about it.

The only requirement is that each post be a “reasoned” post.  No bald rants.  We want reasoned rants so that your views can persuade others and not sink to the level of many politicians and pundits.

The hope is that this kind of “critically pissed” forum can be another mouthpiece, a collective mouthpiece, to effect change.  Change is hard, but to say nothing means that change is impossible.  This forum is meant to run alongside all the efforts many of you are already doing.

SO, SEND YOUR POSTS TO: criticallypissed@gmail.com

- All posts will be anonymous, but you can create a catchy alias if you want =)

- Word limit: 100-800 words

- Come up with a title for your post (or else I will).

- Leave particular people’s names out of your posts, unless you believe they are really needed.

- Make sure you are giving REASONS for your view.

People want to hear what you have to say!

Expressing ourselves, for nothing??

Here's Ross' comment on a previous post:

"The events listed here are connected to the current pursuit of global hegemony by the US empire. Unfortunately, mere blogging and wild raging at the system will not be enough to persuade the globalists way from their pursuit of world domination. The goal of the reactionary forces now stronger in the US since the end of Roosevelt administration has been to reverse the New Deal. Politicians for the most part are a group of spineless motherfuckers who represent the interests of the banksters and corporations. Yes we can Obama, selected by the corporate class, is no different from the rest of these motherfuckers. Second, the media serves as a tool of the corporate class. If it bleeds it leads is their motto! Instead of searching for the truth they served collectively as the mouth piece of Bush and the neocons. Next, the oppression of minority groups in the US is nothing new. For example, since the Atlantic Slave Trade, blacks have been kicked in the proverbial arse, and women continued to be exploited and oppressed. Ditto for the other groups listed on this list. Finally, many colleges are bastions of racism and intolerance. How many faculty of color have you had as professors in your classes at Whitewater, and why don't we have more?" 

Now let's just assume that all we will do is express ourselves (which is debatable, but let's go with the flow).  Will this expression be mere expression like Ross says, falling on deaf ears of the powerful, the wealthy, the evil?  Is there no real point then to our criticisms?  Are such blogs and forums appeasement mechanisms the very powerful, wealthy, and evil set up so that we feel self-satisfied in the hope we really are saying something and being relevant?

HOLY CRAP!  I SURE HOPE NOT!  SOMEONE SAVE US FROM THIS IMPENDING IRRELEVANCY!!

(or else I'm reaching for my flask...)

Critically Pissed on Facebook!

Wanna place to rant using good reasons to support your view?  Wanna view others rationally spewing their thoughts?  Join the critical conversation on Facebook too!

Hey, the only way WE are going to make our world a better, rational place, is for US to SAY something about it.  No more whiny pants couch potatoes!

The time is right. The time is now.

As we witness acts of hate violence on our own campuses bred from ingrained stupidity,
as we watch politicians and pundits spew bullshit and lies,
as we incredulously stare at the selfish, greedy ways of our politicians, bankers, and CEOs,
as we consume media that gives crazy impressions about body image and gender-appropriate behavior,
as we live in a country where you already have strikes against you if you are LGBTQ, black, hispanic, muslim, woman, disabled, old, poor, and/or atheist,
and as many of our fellow Americans question the worth of rationality and a good education...

WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS.

We can no longer sit idly by as many of today's loud voices are not the right voices.  They are not the voices of reason.

In the ongoing war by many well-reasoned people against the irrational, I hereby announce another front, The Critically Pissed.  The hope is that many of the students and faculty at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater will rise up to make our mark against the rising irrationality of our country.


We are going to think critically, write critically, and be pissed critically on those issues that matter to us (and should matter to you).