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Eyes Right

The Public Eye Magazine - Winter 2006

A First for Women

In a first for women, the first full-time woman professor at Calvin Theological Seminary (CTS) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is now the first woman to leave under a cloud of controversy.

According to Christianity Today, the departing Dr. Ruth Tucker, author of seventeen books, has been in an almost constant struggle with the CTS administration since arriving as an associate professor in 2000. CTS is affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church, a "dominionist" denomination that believes America is (or should be) a Christian nation.

Tucker claims she is a victim of sexual discrimination, with her negative personnel evaluation conducted by a professor who, an investigating committee found, "display[ed] some evidence of gender and diversity insensitivity." What was Tucker's sin? She reportedly displayed "unspecified ungodliness" and a poor "faculty room ethos" that involved joking "inappropriately." A true path breaker, indeed.

Sources: Sarah Zylstra, "Public Grievance," Christianity Today. October 12, 2006. http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2006/november/2.26.html and "Calvin's Seminary's first female professor quits, charging bias," Christian Century. October 17, 2006. http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=2426

A Lie or Wishful Thinking?

When the libertarian magazine Reason recently sat down with Grover Norquist and asked him about civil liberties, it prompted a lively debate about the line between personal freedoms and national security. In true Norquist fashion, the head of Americans for Tax Reform responded that it is Republicans-not ACLU-loving Democrats- who are responsible for resisting some of the PATRIOT Act's most pernicious parts.

"Everything that was in the PATRIOT Act that was a problem was asked for by Clinton, and the Republicans stopped it...it was the Republicans who fought most competently against the imposition of the first PATRIOT Act unamended."

Oh that it were so, Grover. If only there were more Republicans filling out the slim ranks of Democrats resisting the law then maybe the peep of Congressional opposition would at least have become a howl.

Source: Katherine Mangu-Ward and David Weigel, "Who Deserves the Libertarian Vote?" Reason, December 2006, 21-28.

Exodus from School

Every Southern Baptist Convention state affiliate is considering whether to develop a public school exit strategy for their kids, inspired by theologian Albert Mohler's belief that the schools foster moral decay.

By training children to have a "secular mindset," leaders fear that public schools "exclude the acknowledgement of God and the Word of God at every point."

"The experiment with government schooling has failed," says resolution coauthor Bruce Moran. "An affordable, effective Christian education alternative to the government schools....would truly be the most important and effective domestic evangelistic initiative in the history of the SBC."

So union organizers take note: America's 16 million Southern Baptists may need a lot of new teachers for their children. Good luck bringing them into the fold!

Source: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/65796 1228.html

Some of My Best Friends Are...

The cofounder of the anti-immigrant Minuteman Project, Jim Gilchrist, brought along an African American colleague to his October talk sponsored by the Columbia University Republicans. Gilchrist, who is White, took the stage, wrapped an arm around colleague Marvin Stewart and declared, "Who's a racist now?!"

Stewart, who sits on the Minuteman board of directors, said demonstrators called him racial epithets, and that he is going to sue the university for how it responded to a tussle between college Republicans and protestors. So if a Black man is a member, does that mean the group's program and rhetoric can't be racist?

Source: http://www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/ paper865/news/2006/10/06/Opinion/The-Riot.Act2335572.shtml?norewrite200611031539&sourcedomain =www.columbiaspectator.com