Faith

Faith

Religious Minorities at JBU

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According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, federal laws are currently in place which “prohibit schools, colleges, and universities from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age. These laws protect students who are or perceived to be members of a religious group.” While students are not openly protected from religious discrimination in Title VI laws, measures are still taken to safeguard students who are members of a religious minority. This protection extends even to religious minorities at openly religiously affiliated colleges, including John Brown University. The institution acknowledges this in the Student Handbook, but unapologetically holds to its faith-informed code of conduct: “In describing the university standard, JBU recognizes that its students are emerging adults and must have ample opportunity to make decisions, which will aid their development and growth. At the same time, JBU has a distinctive Christian nature and has certain standards that identify JBU as a Christian community.”

Faith

How Different are Christianity and Islam, Really?

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Of the five largest world religions, three were born out of the Abrahamic tradition. Islam, Christianity and Judaism each hold to a monotheistic faith that takes some origin or lays claim to the religious figure and ancient near-Eastern patriarch, Abraham. However, despite their similar origin, these religions disagree on many […]

Faith

Southern Baptist Convention faces scandal due to mishandling of sexual abuse

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After nearly three years of pressure and outrage, the summer of 2022 revealed the darkest and best-kept secrets of the United States’ largest Protestant denomination. On February 10, 2019, speculation heightened regarding the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) upon the release of an investigation by the Houston Chronicle titled “Abuse of Faith.” The report claimed that, within 20 years, 380 leaders within the denomination have left over 700 victims of sexual abuse. According to the Washington Post, “A wave of outrage in response to the series rocked the Southern Baptist Convention, prompting its Executive Committee to hire an outside firm to investigate.”

lent
Faith

What is the meaning and purpose of Lent?

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Lent is the 40-day observance before Easter that marks a time of sacrificing luxuries and worshiping Christ. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Maundy Thursday. However, Lent does not include Sundays until Holy Thursday as every Sunday should be a time to pause and fast. For many, Lent is a wonderful time of self-sacrifice and returning to God what is rightfully His. This practice is never explicitly mentioned in the Bible, yet it remains a core tenet of Christianity. 

How much did christ really suffer
Faith

How much did Christ suffer?

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The Savior Jesus Christ, according to Christian doctrine, died to save the world from sin and death. The baseline of what separates Christianity from other religions is the celebration of Easter—God Himself erases the debt of those who believe in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. Christians profess this to the world. Yet even Christians need a reminder of all Jesus endured for the world’s sake. From His arrest to His death, Jesus suffered every category of evil.

Christ Represented in Media
Faith

Jesus represented in media

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Holy Week is the most popular season for watching movies featuring Jesus Christ, such as “Passion of the Christ,” on Good Friday. When a Hollywood studio takes it upon itself to recreate the Gospel, Christians would often be weary and hesitant as to how others would interpret their God. However, Christian media has gained itself a bad reputation for being poorly made.

Faith

Christianity in North Korea

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Sarah Yoon was born in Los Angeles to an American mother and a South Korean father of Northern descent. At the age of five, she and her family moved to South Korea, and later to Yanbian, China. “It’s a city where a lot of Christians who work in North Korea were before China started cracking down on their foreign Christians,” she said, “They’ve kicked out a lot of people and it hasn’t been the safest environment, so a lot of people have moved away but before a lot of our base was in that specific city. When you work in North Korea, you don’t stay there 24/7…you build relationships. You go in maybe for a day, and then they’ll invite you back for three days, and they’ll invite you back for a week … you get the picture.” Yoon made it very clear the relationship between the government and other people. “[T]he government there works very closely with everyone. It’s very much on a relationship basis … it’s more about who you know rather than what you do,” she said.

faith and self care
Faith

Self-care: A Christian outlook

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The term “self-care” has been a buzzword since 2016 when it hit the mainstream. Previously, the medical community coined self-care for institutionalized patients in the 1950s to help cultivate self-worth. In her article on Slate “A History of Self Care,” Aisha Harris said, “Self-care originally caught on as a medical concept. Doctors have long discussed it as a way for patients to treat themselves and exercise healthy habits, most often under the guidance of a health professional.” The definition of self-care, Harris continued, shifts from medical patients to those in extremely stressful occupations, including therapists, emergency medical technicians and social workers. “The belief driving this work was that one cannot adequately take on the problems of others without taking care of oneself,” Harris explained.