I work at a private liberal arts school in Oregon and we had an incident last week where someone scrawled anti abortion/anti gay/pro McCain messages on the sidewalks all over campus, but most prominently in front of the library. Not anywhere near as bad as this, of course but, yeah, the tensions this election cycle are bringing out in people is just weird and a little scary.

Surely, George Fox is looking down from heaven and crying.

...the administration calmly tells them that if their kids don’t want to learn evolution, they’re more than welcome to stay as far away from the science building as their conscience dicates, thank you very much. Of course, this throws a wrench into the plans of a few pre-med creationists.

OK, I never took a biology course, but isn’t natural selection a core principle in microbiology? I don’t think I’d like to be treated by a doctor who let his or her religious beliefs intrude in things like that. Or maybe they think natural selection applies to microorganisms but not animals. Or something.

As for the Obama cutout thing, there’s nothing to say, except to hope that maybe it’ll make some people realize what sheer assholery is at the core of a lot of the opposition to him.

Strange that a college named after George Fox would have an overwhelmingly conservative student body.  The man and the Quakers who have followed him have been some of the most active and outspoken liberals in recent history.

Caelius, I was too busy to add the photo I planned to add (which is now up) but I want it on the record that a) great minds think alike and b) I didn’t steal the idea from you.

Well, if you’re an Oregon fundie who wants to go to college in Oregon, there aren’t that many choices.
There’s that weird school next to the UofO, George Fox…I think that’s it. Univ of Portland is Catholic, and not the culture wars/First Things type of Catholic.

I do think your description of Oregon fundie culture is spot on.

Not unexpectedly, the comments on the linked article as often disturbing: a lot of right-wingers either a) attacking affirmative action or b) claiming it’s a “democrat false-flag” to win sympathy for Obama..

typo—

It’s been a long time since high skool, so I could easily be wrong, but I think it’s “n’est-ce pas”

Not in Augustench!

[Edit: I probably could have chosen that name a little more advisedly…]

Amanda needs to cruise up to the 4400 block of Speedway with her camera for some of the most ridiculous/scariest political statement in town. I can’t decide if it’s a joke or not (but I suspect not). They add more everyday, but so far there’s a confederate battle flag, a sign reading “I’m a maverik [sic], how about you?” and signs the red circle with a slash over “Obama” and “Socialests [sic]”.

I’m just waiting for the noose to appear.

Woodrowfan: “Not unexpectedly” is right. If William F. Buckley Jr. could “speculate” that the Birmingham church bombing was carried out by “a crazed Negro,” and go on to earn the mantle of elder statesman of the Right (or whatever he was supposed to be), nothing surprises me.

Stuff like this really makes me wonder: why are people such assholes?

And why can’t they keep their assholery out of our political dialogue?

My high school experience sounds like Auguste’s George Fox experiences in some ways. We’re talking Catholic, so it’s a different brand of religion, but the principle is the same. The faculty were generally liberal, tending towards the liberation theology, love thy neighbor but don’t be afraid to raise a ruckus, be active beyond cloister walls, argue points of law like a hippy Jewish carpenter and occasionally get yourself thrown in jail school of Catholicism. The student body was more divided, but many of them came from either moneyed Republican families or poorer, conservative Catholic families. No one ever argued against teaching evolution in biology, but there was a strong slant of vote for Bush, vote for McCain politics.

And if something like this happened, there would be holy hell.

My sympathies to all George Fox students and alumni who feel this sort of thing is a disgrace to their institution. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go glare moodily at newspapers and possibly find a rightwinger to argue with.

Oregon, sadly has a long history of hate and racial politics, whether it was the strong presence of the KKK in politics all over the state in the 20’s, The the beating death of an Ethiopian by skinheads in the 80’s, the firebombing of the home of a lesbian and a gay man in the early 90’s, or all the hate-fulled anti-LBGT legislation referendums that have been on the ballot every few years since 1992 to name just a few instances.

Saddened, but somehow not surprised.

Noting the attention, over at Loaded Orygun, Oregon’s Progressive Community…not a whole lot of my own editorializing; just gathering some of the early reactions around the net. Maybe Obama should suspend his campaign in order to deal with this…?

TJ

Could we please refrain from using the word homeschooled as a slur? I realize their are crazy homeschoolers. god knows I had to deal with them. But not all homeschoolers are bible-thumping crazy retards, and I’m sick of seeing the two terms used interchangeably.

I peer-counseled a transgender student (I believe) there a decade ago.  The faculty were understanding, but other students’ parents less so.

It was sad.

Tolerance, unfortunately, does not stop bigots from thinking they’re the majority.

But not all homeschoolers are bible-thumping crazy retards, and I’m sick of seeing the two terms used interchangeably.

Once we stop talking about the dynamics on the GFU campus, I’ll consider the proposition.

One of the saddest aspects of this to me is that this cowardly hate-mongering from the shadows isn’t just an issue in conservative private schools in Oregon. I attended an extremely liberal college in Portland and found numerous examples of otherwise progressive liberal students acting out and making asses of themselves because they felt a sense of entitlement that completely overrode whatever decency-towards-others they’d had instilled in them. Several years ago there was an incident where hate speach targeting and threatening one of the few African American professors appeared in several bathrooms. During the ensuing uproar and community discussion of race and minority students’ feelings I heard the same lame “you/they are taking this WAY to seriously, it was just a joke!” or better “its a commentary on the lack of dialog about race in our community… maybe it was in poor taste but at least it got people thinking”. All this was coming from (allegedly) intelligent kids who would absolutely reject the possibility that their own role in dismissing the seriousness of the incident was, in and of itself, bigoted. Ultimately many of my fellow student’s attitudes towards (denial of, really) their own privlege drove me to cut almost all my social ties with the student body. Basically I think its got more to do with the sense of entitlement the kids at George Fox feel rather than their political orientations per se.

GFU alumnus, class of ‘99.  *sigh*  Your take is spot-on.  The students used to drive me insane.  Oh, the debates I would get into on the school intranet.

Did I know you?  I was a biology major, lived in Winters and Lewis apartments, tall white guy, name of John S.

I knew someone who taught at GFU around the time you were there - he had to sign a statement promising to not drink (not just on campus, but anywhere) and to not have unchaperoned women in his own home (not on campus either) or to go into the homes of single women without a chaperone. If that sort of bullshit is imposed on the faculty, I shudder to think what the students had to put up with and what sort of student that atmosphere attracts.

Glad to see that you recovered just fine, but I hope they gave you a sweet financial aid package for your patience.

Oh, the debates I would get into on the school intranet.

First Class! I was just wondering whether some of those old postings might not still be around.

tall white guy, name of John S.

At George Fox? You must be kidding!

You and I certainly attended during some of the same years, but I’m not instantly making the connection. Feel free to e-mail me (above left) if you want to get more specific.

Paris:  A very similar pledge is required of the students.  There is also a “statement of faith” as part of the application, and a “letter from your pastor” (nice assumptions) is suggested but not required.  What could get you disciplined or kicked out includes but is not limited too: drinking, gambling, smoking, pornography, sexx0rs, or not attending enough chapel programs.  All of those included everywhere, not just on campus.  Local business owners were in collusion with the University and would report anyone they saw as a GFU student buying booze or engaging in any forbidden behaviors.  Not that that stopped a lot of us.

Disclaimer: the last time I was there was in ‘99.  Things may have changed.

re: the liberal school with the bigoted thing, just a few comments above this one:  i’m totally betting it was reed, too.

can’t believe how narrowly i escaped attending geo fox.  ‘course, that was the only kind of college my parents were willing to pay for (local *and* xtian) so it was either that or multnomah.  i chose… psu.  and, scene.  guess what?  no degree, full-on liberal.  my parents’ worst nightmare come to fleshy, boring life.

the bigotry thing is sickening, but whaddya expect from a place that allowed lon mabon to create something that actually made it onto the ballot in—what, ‘92?  if there are two things i hate, it’s bigots, and people like lon mabon.  (yes.  that’s my snark for the day.)

i knew kids who went to G fox, but it was before your time - they would’ve been graduating around twelve or thirteen years ago.

glad to know you’re a fellow survivor of all that rot.  makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about our, uh, mutual non-saved souls.

Let me clarify a few things.

I have strong family ties to GFU. The education there is, as might be expected from a committed (and non-batshit) faculty, very good. There’s a large element of crazy people that go there, a complaint I maintained publicly at the time as well as now but there is good to be find.

If you’re not Christian or christian-friendly I wouldn’t advise attending the school, no. But liberal Christians will always find friends, opportunities, and mentors who care as much about other people of all types as they/we do. One of my professors, Ron Mock, wrote a really fantastic book about responses to terrorism; it’s a Christian-focused book, obviously, but still worth reading.

I’m pleased to have a degree from GFU (although slightly less today, even though the school’s response has seemed constructive) and wouldn’t want to give the impression that I’m leaving no room for the positives that emerge even from an undergrad student body that could stand a little decrazifying.

lildb, if the people you know graduated in 95-96, I might know them. I spent five years there, so given the way attendances overlap, I was there at the same time as damn near everyone who graduated in the 90s. Feel free to drop me their names if you’re curious.

Ron Mock was a very good professor, I had him for the Honors Colloquium.