A question...

[myfourwalls]

I met the east bus equality riders this week at baylor university. i love and support what you guys are doing.

in conversations with several people i've heard stories i don't know anything about so i thought i would ask. my stance has been that dialogue can only be beneficial and that it seems the institutions bring the conflict on themselves.

one response referred to an incident at abilene christian university. the story was that soulforce was invited on campus and there was a forum and that afterwards soulforce releaed a media statement saying, "ACU embraces homosexuality". ACU obviously does not embrace homosexuality and felt they had been tricked. this type of story has been repeated several times to me.

so i was just wanting to hear what soulforce had to say about either a specific incident or in general how it has gone when universities invited you on.

[Alecto]

I feel bad no one's answering your thread, so I just wanted to throw out there that a lot of us (I'm fairly new, so I have no idea just how many) aren't necessarily involved directly with the organization. I like the work they do, so I hang out here. Other people may have been on the other end of it, like yourself, or they might have varying degrees of involvement. It sounds like the best answers would come from either current or past riders themselves, and I don't know how often they drop by here. Thought I'd at least address WHY no one's really said much.

[Daniel]

Like other posters here who do not serve is some official capacity, I do not have knowledge of the events you allude to, but would like to point about that, without actual evidence, the assertion by those who told you their 'stories' amounts to nothing more than 'heresay'.

That said, I don't mean to dismiss your concern. I hope that others who have actual knowledge- evidence- and the facts of the case- will speak up.

[nmwolfboy]

i've searched and searched for info relating to the Equality Ride visit to ACU in 2006, and have only found positive references. Such as this one from ACU itself.

There are several articles still available on the Internet that portray the Riders' visit to ACU as being a positive experience, expecially following several less than welcoming experiences at other schools that year. Here's one in which the Riders clearly recognize that they felt welcomed at ACU, but there's no mention of anyone from Soulforce saying that "ACU embraces homosexuality."

Here's another article, focusing on ACU students' perceptions of the visit; there is an official Soulforce press release about the ACU visit on this site.

i'm not sure what the folks you've spoken with are referring to, since i find no reference to anyone from SF saying the ACU embraces homosexuality. i wonder if it's just an instance of varying perceptions about what was said duing and after the ACU visit???

One thought - you might consider contacting Jacob Reitan, the Equality Ride founder. He was at the ACU visit in 2006, and could give a personal account. i believe he's on the 2007 ride currently, so may not be able to respond right away, but here's his EQ Ride bio page.

Pax

scott

[myfourwalls]

makes sense that a lot of people wouldn't know the answer... i really appreciate the links and help pointing me in the write direction. i knew the "stories" were hearsay and wanted some more concrete evidence about this. it seemed to be the biggest negative about soulforce's visits that might stick and i was concerned about it.

so i'm not sure where the perception is coming from that soulforce is trying to"dupe" or "trick" universities, but it seems to be bogus as i thought. thanks for your help.

[dsdrane]

My4 --

After I read this thread, I followed your link to your blog and read the exchange you had with Ritchie.

Wow.

It really got to the meat of things before meandering off-topic. I'd like to personally thank you for your even-keeled thoughts and arguments. You obviously "get it" and are a wonderful reminder to folks who get disheartened and begin to think everyone is hostile.

I look forward to checking out your blog more in the future.

All the best,

David

[kara speltz]

Originally Posted by myfourwalls

I met the east bus equality riders this week at baylor university. i love and support what you guys are doing.

in conversations with several people i've heard stories i don't know anything about so i thought i would ask. my stance has been that dialogue can only be beneficial and that it seems the institutions bring the conflict on themselves.

one response referred to an incident at abilene christian university. the story was that soulforce was invited on campus and there was a forum and that afterwards soulforce releaed a media statement saying, "ACU embraces homosexuality". ACU obviously does not embrace homosexuality and felt they had been tricked. this type of story has been repeated several times to me.

so i was just wanting to hear what soulforce had to say about either a specific incident or in general how it has gone when universities invited you on.

I was at Abilene Christian with the Equality Ride and the experience was totally awesome. The school gave the Riders a real opportunity to speak to the students, to worship with them and to teach about religion-based oppression.

I do not believe we ever suggested that ACU embraced homosexuality. But ACU did follow through with a number of changes, including making the counseling office a safe space. In addition, Soulforce sent ACU a list of recommended books to be added to their library and all but one of them, are on the library shelves today.

I'm glad I was at ACU, because I'm not sure I would have really believed the reports of welcome unless I had personally experienced them.

ACU is one of those Christian Colleges leading the way, and I salute them.

Kara

[Diane Vera]

Originally Posted by kara speltz

I do not believe we ever suggested that ACU embraced homosexuality. But ACU did follow through with a number of changes, including making the counseling office a safe space. In addition, Soulforce sent ACU a list of recommended books to be added to their library and all but one of them, are on the library shelves today.

Of course, in the eyes of the more fanatical, all of the above changes are tantamount to "embracing homosexuality." (So too, in the eyes of the most fanatical, is anything short of endorsing a sodomy law with a death penalty.) That's my guess as to how the rumor got started.

[myfourwalls]

Originally Posted by dsdrane

My4 --

After I read this thread, I followed your link to your blog and read the exchange you had with Ritchie.

Wow.

It really got to the meat of things before meandering off-topic. I'd like to personally thank you for your even-keeled thoughts and arguments. You obviously "get it" and are a wonderful reminder to folks who get disheartened and begin to think everyone is hostile.

hey thanks for the kind words. richie is actually a really close friend of mine. he listens to a lot of rush and is very conservative. i often think he's reacting more to the propaganda put out by rush and others than the actual conversation. i think this is often the case when attempting to engage in dialogue. fortunately richie is not the way he often comes off on the blog.

please jump in the comments anytime. i usually defend anyone getting hammered on almost any position. i like to fight for the little guy, the underdog.

peace,
lucas