Bartholomew's Notes

Agape Press recounts a recent survey on higher education in the USA:

USA Today highlighted a recent study by researcher Daniel Klein of Santa Clara University in California. He found that, nationwide, Democrats outnumber Republicans 7-1 among university faculty members in the social science and humanities departments. In departments like anthropology, the disparity grew to 30-1.

This is of course, important to Agape, since Democrats are all going to hell. But it’s hardly news – it was reported back in December, and the study itself, which was actually co-written with Charlotta Stern of Stockholm University, came out a month before. The survey question in fact concerned voting patterns rather than party membership (although voter registration studies are also considered, and are used by Klein and Andrew Western in another paper). It should also be noted (rather than taken for granted) that these ratios accounted for the majority of the academic responders, and that non-voters and third-party voters were in the minority. By “departments like anthropology” Agape means just anthropology, with sociology coming in at 28-1, and both departments far above any other. Klein and Stern state that they themselves have never “supported or voted for a conservative party, and both authors are strongly opposed to aspects of Republican politics—for example, U.S. military intervention.”

But the question is: why do these ratios exist? There are no surprises as Klein and Stern allege discriminatory hiring practices and “groupthink”. But what about other possibilities? Could it not simply be that, as with conservatives in the military, certain jobs attract certain kinds of people? Or even that the nature of certain subjects naturally inspires the majority of academics in those fields to adopt progressive attitudes? Agape, however, unwittingly provides another possible partial explanation, as it quotes a Wall Street Journal article:

Another option for Christians: foregoing the secular campus altogether. In the WSJ, author Charlotte Allen said, “America’s 700-plus religiously affiliated colleges and universities are enjoying an unprecedented surge of growth and a revival of interest.”

So should we really be surprised that so many university departments in the USA apparently lean to the left when there is this huge parallel universe of religious institutions attracting, one strongly suspects, a larger proportion of conservative scholars and students?

Many of these colleges and universities are, of course, well-respected, world-class institutions. But, as we all know, a number are rather different. Just a few days ago I read the latest column from conservative talk-show pastor Doug Giles, in which he urged college students to be “rebels” – and then gave them a list of conservative positions they have to believe in order to qualify as such (it’s not what you think, it’s how you think, Doug). But where did Giles do his recent MA? At Knox Theological Seminary – a Calvinist institution founded by D James Kennedy that prides itself on its website as being “#1 for Doctrinal Soundness”. How can faculty or students be free to express whatever they think, or expect to encounter a range of views, when their institution’s first concern is being DC (Doctrinally Correct)? How could a student dare to raise the topic of human origins, for instance, when Kennedy recently declared at a conference at Knox that evolutionary theory is “communistic” and responsible for 135 million deaths? A person who chooses to associate themselves with a place like Knox knows what they are getting into – but why would anyone who values intellectual enquiry have any respect for the ideas that emanate from such an academic ghetto?

There was a bit of controversy a few years ago when Heythrop College, a Jesuit institution based in London, hired a Wiccan priestess to teach psychology of religion. The complaints missed the mark: the college hires its plumbers and cooks for their professional abilities and qualifications rather than for their religious or political beliefs, and it seems only obvious that it should appoint academic staff on the same basis. As PZ Myers recently recounted on Pharyngula, responding to David Horowitz’s crusade for “academic freedom”:

I’ve sat through a couple of tenure review meetings now, and not once has a candidate’s political position come up. We look at papers and teaching and service.

How many of the institutions that Agape wants Christian students to patronise can say the same thing?

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

The Glasgow Herald has a piece on the Cursing Stone of Carlisle, a work of modern art that features a 1525 religious curse made by the Archbishop of Glasgow against families of raiders who lived on the Scottish-English border. The stone has been blamed for recent flooding in the town and an outbreak of foot-and-mouth, as well as job losses and defeat for the local football team. Christians have lobbied the local council to destroy it, and the Bishop of Carlisle has asked the present Archbishop of Glasgow to lift the curse, resulting in global media interest.

The Herald interviews Sandy Hobbs, University of Paisley psychologist:

Obviously (the stone) is important in that it’s a way of people focusing their belief, but the curse is supposed to be an old curse,” he says. “I don’t see how the object is supposed to be logically connected to [C16 Archbishop] Gavin Dunbar. It’s certainly the case that having something physical to latch on to is going to make it easier for people to believe in what I would think would be a superstition.”

Hobbs has spotted a further lapse in logic on the part of the Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Rev Graham Dow, who has asked the Archbishop of Glasgow to visit Carlisle and lift the curse. “It struck me that some people have been talking in terms of belief in the possibility of an effective curse while considering themselves to be religious, but I’m not sure you can draw a line between a religious claim about a curse and calling something superstition,” he says. “It seems to me the only way a curse can work is if people know they are cursed and start acting accordingly, as a self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s the only rational way to offer a justification for believing in a curse.”

But what the media appears to have forgotten is that this sort of thing is part of Graham Dow’s religious worldview. For Dow is the most high-ranking member of the Charismatic wing of the Church of England, with strong beliefs in the demonic. As Cumbria Online noted in 2003:

Bishop Dow has hit the headlines on several occasions this year after joining the row over homosexuality within the Church of England and after it was revealed he believes evil spirits can be introduced into the world through miscarriages, abortions, oral and anal sex.

In 1990 Bishop Dow, a close friend on [sic] the Prime Minister Tony Blair, wrote a booklet, Explaining Deliverance, in which his views on evil spirits were revealed. He said the spirits could also cause untreatable diseases.

He also wrote that people who repeatedly wear black or always purchase a black car may be possessed by evil spirits. He says clear signs of evil spirits at work are “sexual lust and deviant sexual practice”.

Dow was Blair’s university chaplain; he is also on the UK Support and Advisory Group for Ellel Grange, a training centre for Christians who want to battle the demonic (an organisation which has been accused of promoting false memories of Satanic abuse). I have heard stories that while he was Bishop of Willesden he was in the habit of performing impromptu exorcisms on teenagers up for confirmation.

(Thanks to Christianity Today for some of the links)

Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

The New Humanist links to a new blog, MediaWatchWatch, which

was set up in January 2005 in reaction to the religious campaign against the BBC’s broadcasting of Jerry Springer: the Opera.

We are trying to keep an eye on those groups and individuals who seek to limit our freedoms in order to protect their beliefs from offense.

The emphasis appears to be on the British Christian Right, with attention given to groups such as Christian Voice and Mediawatch-UK. Their latest entry includes a piece on Peniel Pentecostal Church, which operates under Bishop Michael Reid in Brentwood, Essex:

Values espoused by Michael Reid reportedly include: unemployed Christians should be allowed to starve, homosexuals are “filthy perverts”, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists are “vile” and “foul heathens”. They have been in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority over their adverts claiming miracle cures, and even resurrections. Members were accused of infiltrating the local Brentwood and Ongar Conservative Party, prompting Martin Bell to contest the seat in 2001.

Reid is an interesting character. A member of the Evangelical Alliance, he was ordained as a Bishop by the late Nigerian religious leader Benson Idahosa, and, alongside Earl Paulk, is part of the International Communion of Charismatic Churches (1). His church also runs a college which is affiliated with Oral Roberts University.

Unfortunately, all the newspaper coverage of Reid ignores perhaps his weirdest exploit, which involved hiring an actor as part of a ploy to stop Channel 4 making a documentary about him in 1998. The actor claimed to be from MI5 and asked the documentary makers to abandon their project in the interests of national security. The programme was part of a strand called Joe Public and this Channel 4 page features an interview with the director, Joe Layburn. Layburn and his colleagues secretly filmed all their meetings with the actor (a well-spoken, oldish gent) and eventually challenged him about his identity – resulting in a far more dramatic and entertaining piece than would otherwise have been the case. And, of course, also providing far more evidence than could ever be hoped for that Reid is a rather dodgy character.

(Thanks to MediaWatchWatch for jogging my memory about which TV programme that actually was)

UPDATE: It seems that there were a couple of other documentaries on Reid back in 1998. One, which was shown on ITV, had a complaint partially upheld against it by TV regulator Ofcom:

The Commission has partly upheld a complaint of unfairness by Peniel Pentecostal Church and Bishop Michael Reid about Carlton’s London Today and London Tonight. The programmes, which featured reports about Peniel Pentecostal Church and Bishop Reid, were broadcast on 30 April 1998. The Commission considered that the implication that Bishop Reid had awarded himself the title of Bishop was unfair since would seem to have been consecrated as a Bishop by international group of non-conformist churches.

The Commission found that the programme-makers misrepresented the purpose of the programmes to Peniel Pentecostal Church and Bishop Reid. As there was no overriding public interest to justify the misrepresentation, this was unfair. It also found that the programmes’ failure to offer Peniel Pentecostal Church and Bishop Reid an opportunity to respond to allegations about them was unfair, as was the programmes’ undue reliance on known critics and former church members. With regard to the portrayal of Peniel Pentecostal Church as a “sect” or “cult”, the Commission found unfairness. It was not unfair to criticise Bishop Reid’s qualifications, nor was it unfair to describe him as advocating corporal punishment of children by “beating”. The Commission also noted that Bishop had made incorrect statements to the programme-makers about Peniel Pentecostal Church’s academic results.

Accordingly, the complaint was upheld in part.

There was also apparently a documentary on the BBC.

(1) For some reason, I could only find an Australian affiliate site to the ICCC. The similar-sounding International Communion of Christian Churches is another Pentecostal grouping that uses episcopal titles, but dates only from 1998. I don’t know how this new ICCC relates to the other ICCC.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

A very useful source of information about forthcoming books is Publishers Lunch, a free e-newsletter. The latest issue lists the following book deals that touch on religion:

LA Times Rome bureau chief Tracy Wilkinson’s untitled book about the chief exorcist for the Diocese of Rome, Father Gabriele Amorth, and the new generation of exorcists who are following him, along with tracing the history of exorcism from its roots in the early days of Christianity to its current revival.

…Rabbi Michael Lerner’s THE LEFT HAND OF GOD, an examination of the ways in which the Democratic Party has disregarded religion and subsequently lost touch with America’s ongoing values crisis, with a critique of the current state of faith in politics and a plan for a religiously-grounded progressive agenda.

And, er…

…Carl Denham and the Beast-God of Skull Island — The Amazing True Story of King Kong, a look at the real life events that inspired the classic film, “King Kong,”…

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

This entry has been expanded following helpful emails from various individuals. Many thanks!*

The North Carolina News Observer delves into Christian groups at the University of North Carolina (hyperlinks added):

CHAPEL HILL — “Slaves to Righteousness” reads the slogan on the cover of the handbook of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Alpha Iota Omega fraternity.

…The fraternity sued last year, claiming the university had violated members’ First Amendment rights. The fraternity had refused to sign UNC-CH’s anti-discrimination policy on grounds that it didn’t want to accept non-Christians or gay students.

This is all a bit odd from a British perspective – when I was an undergrad we had official societies that were subsidised, but which anyone could join, and unofficial ones that were self-supporting but made their own rules. I recall the Muslim Society took the former option, figuring that non-Muslims were unlikely to join en masse and take over; the evangelical Christian Union preferred autonomy and hired rooms on that basis. It’s not that difficult.

Back in August the fraternity incident inspired conservative UNC professor Mike Adams in one of his Townhall rants, in which he doled out the email addresses of administrators he felt had done wrong in the hope that a load of wingnut spam would make them mend their ways. But the News Observer has some extra details:

Last week, at a gathering of Victory Campus Ministries, about 50 UNC-CH students swayed, raised their arms and sang, “Sweep me away,” to guitar chords and bongo-drum beats. Two Alpha Iota Omega members were in the audience.

…Victory Campus Ministries and Alpha Iota Omega both have ties to King’s Park International Church in Durham, where many members and former members worship. One of the fraternity’s founding members is listed as a youth minister there.

King’s Park founder Ron Lewis said the church — originally called Triangle Christian Fellowship — grew out of his campus ministry at UNC-CH. Lewis, a UNC-CH graduate, says there is no formal relationship between Alpha Iota Omega and his church, and no effort to recruit students.

…Records of the N.C. Secretary of State’s Office show that Lewis incorporated the Maranatha Christian Church of the Triangle in 1986. In 1990, the documents were amended, changing the name to Triangle Christian Fellowship. In 1997, the name was changed to King’s Park International Church.

Lewis said he left Maranatha in the late 1980s because some of the church’s practices “weren’t the most healthy for Christians to live and grow by.”

Lewis is being coy. As I noted in this blog previously, Maranatha was a Charismatic campus organisation that disbanded in 1989 amidst claims of authoritarianism and “cultlike” activity. However, many of the leaders reformed into a Charismatic denomination named Morning Star International (now called Every Nation); in fact, MSI seems to be a re-branding of Maranatha, and Lewis appears to be among its leaders (I’ve been told that he’s a member of their International Apostolic Team). Also, although the News Observer refers to an NC Secretary of State document concerning his church’s name, it fails to note that in 1990 Lewis also registered another organisation, called…Maranatha Christian Ministries International. What’s more, Lewis’s church planted the Boston Morning Star Church, which in 1990 was known as the Maranatha Christian Church of Boston [SEE UPDATE 2 BELOW]

As it happens, this Boston site also tells us explicitly that Victory Campus Ministries is part of MSI, a detail not included on the VCM site. Also, a reference to Maranatha was actually removed from the MIT chapter of VCM after it came to attention (I was sent an email about this). It’s bizarre that such basic information has to be dug out and assembled like this – just why is there all this secrecy?

The Observer also notes another campus group, but fails to join the dots. We are introduced to Darrell Lucus (sic – the report spells his name wrongly), who tells us that:

“Being a part of a group that’s small and intimate makes you feel wanted,” said Darrell Lucas, a 2000 UNC-CH graduate who joined a group called Waymaker Christian Fellowship when he was a freshman. “I think that’s what sucked me in.”

…But the meetings, church services and Bible studies began to eat into his academic time. His grades dropped and he fell off the honor roll for the first time since fifth grade, Lucas said.

He left after six months, he said, because he began to feel that the group was trying to control him.

Darrell has told me by email that the UNC VCM is just Waymaker renamed, and on his site he explains the connection with King’s Park (hyperlink added):

Waymaker was one of the flagship ministries of an outfit called Campus Harvest, a national network of like-minded campus ministries run by the pastor of King’s Park. While digging for info on them, I saw King’s Park linked on a Web site of former members of Maranatha Campus Ministries, a group I’d read about in several of the spiritual abuse books I’d read over the summer.

Campus Harvest carries the VCM logo. Darrell is very upset with KPIC, Waymaker, and MSI, and writes about the group at length (see here, here, here, and here – and there’s probably more).

I also note that KPIC makes much of a “men’s ministry“, and links to the Men’s Fraternity, which is run by Robert M Lewis. One of Lewis’s books on manhood has been promoted by Doug Giles, whose Clash Church used to be affiliated with MSI through the His People denomination (see here). By happy chance, Giles has written his latest column on “The campus as a mission field“…

UPDATE 1: UNC’s student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, has a long article on the subject, containing interviews with all concerned.

UPDATE 2: Author Stephen Mansfield has now contacted me with more details about why Ron Lewis kept the Maranatha name for a while. See this entry.

(News Observer link snagged from Cult News Network)

Filed under: Uncategorized | 12 Comments »