Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Obama Hanging in Effigy: Christian University's Robust Response

I am impressed by George Fox University's response to the "hanging" of a cardboard cutout of Senator Barack Obama on their campus. There's not a lot more to say about this incident, and I note it only to remark on the school's solid example of a Christlike response.

4 comments:

Jed Carosaari said...

This school is tied to my Yearly Meeting. I was so surprised to hear about the incident, so out of character for the school, the town, and definitely our Yearly Meeting. A simple majority of the faculty are Quakers, and only about 10% of the student body, but still... I know so many in my Yearly Meeting who are strong supporters of Obama, and many others who support McCain but would *never* countenance such an act. I can't think of anyway someone could stand up and claim to be a Quaker in any way, no matter how much leeway we give to the Spirit, and support this action.

ahswan said...

The incident had much more to do with GF internal politics than with anything else. A friend of mine is one of the professors who were the first to see it - actually, only 4 or 5 people saw it, as it was removed before any students were around.

They could have deflated the whole thing by simply taking it down and forgetting about it; instead, they gave the perps more press than they could have hoped for.

Jon Trott said...

ahswan,

All due respect, but "taking it down and forgetting about it" would have been the wrong move here. By immediately taking this seriously, the school signaled it has zero tolerance for racism... and the act's "in house" nature didn't make it any less so... in fact, I suspect most of the minority students there took the whole thing *very* personally. Good stance by George Fox U.

Anonymous said...

The Hanging of Sarah Palin in Effigy: Rudolph did it!

For Details Read the Following Story

http://www.gaysofla.com/content/view/415/56/