Opinion

private christian education
Opinion

Count it all joy, brothers… but discount any sorrow

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If I were a visitor to one of my local evangelical churches, knowing nothing about Christians or their faith, I would be likely to conclude that this group of the population does not experience the all-too-frequent emotion of sadness. There is no hint of it anywhere. Everyone arrives in their nicest clothes with their happiest faces, presenting the best version of themselves. Greetings are all smiles, pleasantries are exchanged, laughter ensues and donuts are consumed. Within the sanctuary, lights flash a variety of bright colors, and the worship band plays music that hardly stays in a minor key for more than two measures. They praise God in light-hearted and repetitive song, then listen to a sermon which, depending on the congregation, will end with nothing but warm feelings. Regardless of the genocide discussed in that Biblical passage, God is still good, and you should feel that way too!

Opinion

Letter to the Editor

The following is a letter to the editor from Becky Weimer, Dean of Academic Services and Registrar. I am writing in response to the news article published by the Three-Fold Advocate on January 27 entitled “Student Expresses Rising Frustration, Says Accommodations Office Falls Short.” While I appreciate that the writer […]

Opinions- POC Jesus
Opinion

Yeshua, not Josh: Why Americans need a Jesus of color

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What’s wrong with “white Jesus,” you might ask? Christianity is a global religion! Is it not best expressed in an artistic sense through a multicultural lens? In fact, if you were to step into the office of John Brown University’s intercultural studies professor, you might see on her walls art representing Bible stories in a Picasso-esque style with a Chinese flair. This is the work of He Qi, a Chinese artist and theologian who has sought to combine his culture with his training and understanding of Scripture. For generations, as formerly colonized countries have come forth in claiming Christianity as their very own, their artists have similarly taken ownership of Biblical narratives by portraying them as appropriate to their cultural contexts. As early as the 1970s, Christian artistry has arisen from Malawi, Puerto Rico, native New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, portraying the Madonna and Child, Nativity scenes, Adoration of the Magi and more.

Opinion

The 21st century diet: A choice, or a condition?

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In my biology class, we have finally reached the “nutrition” unit. Like a pastor unto his pulpit, my professor stands at the front of the laboratory, preaching to us poor pagans trapped in the culture of obesity about the saving grace of healthy eating. We are enslaved to the sin of processed foods, wasting away through our carbs and sugars. But the newfound knowledge of the human body has now provided us with the choice to leave the chains of our unhealthy eating habits for the life-giving qualities of raw food, which will allow our cells to function at their fullest capacity and enable us to change our lives for the better. Without fail, my professor has painted the picture of eating habits as a dualistic choice: to eat processed foods or unprocessed. However, as a college student with a meal plan and limited money to spend on her own, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the choice was really so black and white.

Opinion

Religious disaffiliation in the United States of America

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One of the biggest questions in social science research stems from the following fact: Christianity is on the decline in the United States. In 2009, 77% of American adults identified as Christian as opposed to 65% today. Meanwhile, those who identify as nothing in particular (the “nones”) are on the rise, jumping from 17% to 26% over the same period according to the Pew Research Center. The numbers are staggering considering the size of the American population. A report by the CIA World Factbook indicates that, at 26%, the nones encompass 87,099,583 people, outnumbering the entire population of Germany by over 7 million. So, the question is, why are people leaving religion, and why aren’t they coming back? This question bears interest to Christians and other religious affiliates alike, as the only way to bring people back is to understand why they are leaving. The nones are defined as the group of people who identify as either atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” In other words, they are either mostly or entirely disaffiliated religiously. The group is primarily comprised of young people: 36% of people between the ages of 24 and 30 (born 1990-1996) identify as nones. Older generations are still disaffiliating but at lower rates than young people. Pew Research Center statistics suggest that 34% of older Millennials (b. 1981-1989), 23% of Gen X (b. 1965-1980), 17% of Baby Boomers (b. 1946-1964) and 11% of the Silent Generation (b. 1928-1945) identified as nones in 2015. According to the latest data, the numbers have only gone up since then.