Posted on 03/05/2005 1:08:23 PM PST by NYer
In the first class of the semester, a Georgetown professor called the crucifixes that hang upon the walls in every classroom weaknesses that look down upon us. He said this during class, before all his students. No one said a word to him, not even after class. All were silent as Christ was mocked and Christianity denigrated.
Crucifixes are not weaknesses. The crucifixion is a sign of strength. For a man to stand up for what he believes, even to the point of a brutal death, is remarkable and deserving of the highest praise.
Professors can very easily get up in front of students beholden to them for a grade and mock Christianity. But, can they do the same if it means that they will be crucified? No, the cannot, for then they would be like Christ, and they would become weaknesses.
Christianity is the easiest religion to bash in academia because there are no repercussions. It is little wonder university professors do not bash Islam or Judaism. Radical Muslims would kill in the name of Allah for a comment against their faith. Perhaps they would no do so in the United States, for there are laws against such actions. But, if they could, they would. Look at any nation that has an Islamic majority. Even being non-Islamic there is dangerous, never mind the insult to their faith. The Jewish people, in a more peaceful way, would also rise up in anger and rightfully so. If an anti-Semitic comment were made by a professor, he could say goodbye to his future in academia. The Jews would unite and see to it that he would not be allowed to teach such bigotry.
What is occurring in academia is occurring in America at large. Anti-Christian bigotry is permitted because nothing is being done. Christians either have no faith or have become weak in an effort to be meek. Christians are not taking up the cross. They are turning a blind eye and lending a deaf ear to the insults and mockery. No one is standing up for Christ, just as when He was crucified.
Wishy-washy Christianity is pervasive. Jesus has been reduced to a warm and fuzzy teddy-bear god. Christians have forgotten that He was a man in every sense of the word. He was tough, a construction worker by trade. He was beaten, scourged at a pillar, crowned with thorns, spat on and crucified. He did not give up. They could not break His spirit. The blows upon His face, the whip upon His back, the nails slammed through His hands were not enough to break Him. He finished the race, and, three days later, He rose again to continue His reign as the King of kings.
What Christ wen through for His friends did not feel good. Feel-good Christianity is not Christianity. Being a Christian always means taking hits for the Truth. That is why St. Stephen was stoned, St. Paul beheaded, St. Peter crucified upside down, St. John boiled in oil, St. Maximillian Kolbe starved in solitary confinement at Auschwitz, and countless more put to a brutal death for the faith.
Christians need to look to the weaknesses, the crucifixes, and see what theyare called to by faith. Theyare called to be strong, supernaturally strong. They are called not to be signs of weakness but signs of contradiction. They may mean being ridiculed, losing a job, getting a lower grade, suffering torture, or, if they are called, martyrdom.
DISCLAIMER: Read what I say carefully before flames.
I can speak for Boston College, a Jesuit university with perhaps half of its buildings named for Jewish alums (and donors.) A product of a Jesuit high school, I have no problem with this academic relationship, nor with comparative theology being studied up there.
However, when other religious groups begin blackmailing schools like Georgetown protesting crucifixes, my ecumenism stops and I say to these people, 'you know why this school is here, and it's not to go out of its way to make everyone feel included.'
As if crucifixes on walls were a form of pressing religious indoctrination.
I read about the students wanting to reinstall the crucifixs at Georgetown. Gives me hope for the future. I realy think the generation that is now in college and their younger peers are going to be dynamic for our country and for the world.
"God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism." Romans 2:6-11
You forgot the "/sarcasm"
"Founded in 1789, the same year the U.S. Constitution took effect, Georgetown University is the nation's oldest Catholic and Jesuit university. Today, Georgetown is a major international research university that embodies its founding principles in the diversity of our students, faculty, and staff, our commitment to justice and the common good, our intellectual openness, and our international character."
This is quoted from the Georgetown U website. It seems to me they are allowing way too much "diversity" of their faculty. Where is the Cardinal when you most need him to kick some "diverse" @$$?
Georgetown is an embarassment, and so is it's most famous alum, Bill Clinton.
Non - P.R.O.P. article Ping! of interest. Elitist, left- wing, God-hating , Christ-bashing, uber-liberal college professors on the loose...
1) "O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2) Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are sore vexed."
{Psalms VI,v 1 & 2}
___________________________________________________________
9) "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.
10) Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong."
{Joel III, v 9 & 10}
___________________________________________________________
9) "And he said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: For my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then I am strong."
{2 Corinthians II, v 9 & 10}
___________________________________________________________
3) "Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.
4) For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you."
{2 Corinthians XIII, v 3 & 4}
___________________________________________________________
17) "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18) For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
19) For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
25) Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26) For ye see your calling, brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called:
27) But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28) And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29) That no flesh should glory in his presence."
{1 Corinthians I, v 17 - 19, & 25 - 29}
Weakness vs. strength. God's word vs. man's wisdom.
The quotations from the Holy Bible speak more clearly than I could ever hope to. They uniformly contradict the self absorbed, pseudo-intellectual rantings of educated men who are their own gods within their own universes.
We who dwell in Christ will not be mocked forever, nor remain in silence.
A.A.C.
"Qui verbum Dei contempserunt, eis auferetur etiam verbum hominis."
Thanks for the ping!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.