I’m considering writing a group of posts about controversial or interesting topics. Listed below are topics I’m considering.
Romantic Love
Writing
Aliens
The Unity of the Church
Sasquatch
Wartime Censorship
Dragons
Here’s the punchline: I want YOU to choose my topics. Just list the topic in a comment. And if you want me to write about a topic that isn’t listed … then tell me about it.
Per Sanguis 
David
/ April 5, 2010I definitely think you should write a series about the future of Christianity in America…. that could potentially fit into your “Unity Of The Church” classification. Topics could include:
Is the church no longer a viable form of communication between Christians and the Lost?
How should the church respond to hypocrisy, especially when so many church leaders are embroiled in allegations of marital sin, child abuse, finacial mismanagement, and absolutions?
“How then should we live?” in our current culture- one that is distrustful at best of the intentions of Christians?
And anything else you can think of. There’s a lot of substantial, “meaty” theology you could incorporate and argue in those topics.
jonathan
/ April 8, 2010Here is my first post about your topic.
Hopefully, I’ll address the other topics sometime soon. Thanks for the good topics.
Kells
/ April 5, 2010as far as a deep one goes i want to hear your views on romantic love (must be the chick in me)
as far as just an awesome topic i wanna read about dragons 😀
jonathan
/ April 8, 2010Romantic Love will be the next topic. Should be interesting. 🙂
Zachary L
/ April 8, 2010lol, so i figured out what i was going to say and then went to comments and some one already said them 😛
Romantic Love and Dragons
Andy
/ May 4, 2010One thing I’ve always wanted to know more about is the controversial topic of Homosexuality. There are various viewpoints on the matter, and I’ve seen various Christians who condone, some who condemn….both sides manipulate things to make it work for their side…it’d be interesting to see your viewpoint on the issue.
jonathan
/ May 5, 2010I agree, homosexuality is a tough and explosive issue. I’m saddened by how it’s been addressed by parts of the “Christian” culture. I’ll post about it soon.
Patrick
/ May 7, 2010I’d like you to write about unity in diversity among Christians if you don’t mind. Coming from Cedarville, we obviously hear a lot about how we need to be thinking about and embracing diversity more. But I know for a fact there there is a HUGE opposition to that view among the students. Many have come to me specifically to their share their opinions on it just because I’m black, and it usually isn’t pretty.
Just interested in hearing your thoughts on it. 🙂
Apryl
/ May 19, 2010Patty, it’s not an aversion to diversity, it’s an aversion to Cedarville pushing it so much. Eventually, it’s like, “Okay, we get it, stop shoving diversity down our throats.” Yes, we need to embrace diversity; no, everything at Cedarville does not need to involve or encourage that.
Patrick
/ June 4, 2010Haha, the cup has been spilled!
The thing is though, Apryl, it really is an important issue. People many times will say stuff like, “Ok, we get it. We get that it’s important, now leave us alone,” and I understand how it might seem annoying that Cedarville is constantly pushing it, but if you were to put yourself in the shoes of minorities and truly get a sense of how we feel at Cedarville, you would understand a little better. That’s not to say that the only way you’ll really get it is to be a minority. There are a lot of white people at Cedarville who do get it and try really hard to make things for minorities easier (transitions at semester beginnings, classes, orgs, and even meals). Not “everything at Cedarville” is “diversified” as some might say, though. There are WAY more events that have absolutely nothing to do with diversity at Cedarville than there are that do focus on it.
I think I may have told you this before, but one of the main reasons I stayed at Cedarville after my first week at the school is because I got to go to the diversity dinner (which is one of the things most people tend to hate about the whole thing) and other events for minorities. I was just overwhelmed by ENORMOUS amount of white people, and even though I had grown up with white people in my school and was already used to being a minority, it was still almost too much for me. People have said stuff like, “It’s not fair that they single out minorities. We’re just as important as they are. It’s just Cedarville trying to be diverse again.” In actuality, it’s Cedarville saying, “Hey guys, we’re aware of the fact that there aren’t many of you here, but we do care about you. This is an opportunity for you to connect with other minorities, maybe share struggles you’re going through with each other, get a real sense of BELONGING, etc.” Going to events like those helped me see that I wasn’t the only one who was having a hard time, and we got to bond through them.
Being a minority really is a whole different world than what the majority culture might think. It might seem like Cedarville tries to make it more of a big deal than it actually is, but there really are good reasons behind that thinking, and I respect Cedarville for it.
……sorry for such a long post. 😛
Apryl
/ June 8, 2010The thing is I DO understand where you’re coming from. I went to a primarily black and Hispanic school. In fact, in my elementary and high schools, I was the minority. But my school didn’t stress diversity as much as CU.
And I do agree with Cedarville’s actions in trying to encourage and increase the minority population, but they tend to do that at the risk of alienating the rest of the Cedarville student body, and making people annoyed and sick of the issue. There is a line between helping the students adjust to the change and seeming to treat the minority students “better.” (I’m not saying I agree with that, just stating a viewpoint.) For example, tuition–touchy subject. Because you, for example, went to Crossroads before Cedarville, you pay less. A lot less. Again, let me repeat: I AGREE with CU trying to increase the minority population in the student body and with churches trying to increase the minorities in their congregations–my home church is yet another prime example–but to some of the Cedarville student body, it does seem like overkill.
Patrick
/ July 8, 2010I see where you’re coming from. I would say, though, that high school is very different from college. At the end of the day in high school, you can go home. You can choose to be friends with people who go to school with you or those who don’t go to school with you. There’s more to life than just your high school and the people there. In college (Cedarville specifically), the people you have classes with, you go to chapel with, you eat lunch with, etc. are the people you spend ALL your time with. There’s really almost no escape. If you’re desperate, sure you can make friends off-campus and spend time with them, but you spend the majority of each and every day with people from school. That’s where I would say you might not understand to the same extent what’s it like to be a minority. It’s really a whole different world than high school.
I would also say that sometimes you have to make sacrifices to make situations better. I know it sounds really horrible to say it that way, but look back at the days of slavery (I’m just speaking on blacks’ experiences because they’re what I’m familiar with). Because of stuff that went down then (plus other things that don’t involve race), the way society works today is completely jacked up. Blacks don’t get the same opportunities in lots of different facets of society as the majority culture does. When it comes to universities, due to the fact that blacks generally make less money than whites do (not because they’re not qualified either), which in turn means not many can even afford to send their children to a college like Cedarville, scholarships are offered to us that don’t get offered to whites. In some cases, the scholarships put the minorities at extreme advantages like the Crossroads scholarship (which doesn’t exist anymore, by the way). I realize that there are whites who also can’t afford to come to Cedarville, and a scholarship like that would be absolutely amazing for them to be able to get, but since blacks really just don’t always get the same opportunities, resources, education, etc. as whites do, scholarships like that and other things are put into place to sort “even things out.” It really pains me to think that I get “special privileges” for being black that others don’t get, but if things hadn’t gone the way they had in the past resulting in our jacked up society today, they would probably be very different now. If nothing’s done to take care of the problems that exist because of the past, then nothing would improve for blacks and other minorities. Obviously, society is never going to be perfect. As Christians, we know this world is just going to get worse and worse. That doesn’t mean, though, that we should keep on allowing those with disadvantages to stay disadvantaged (I’m not accusing you of having this mindset, just stating a viewpoint).
To be honest, I saw the Crossroads scholarship thing as a blessing from God. As soon as I heard about the opportunity, I knew God put it in place for me. It came at just the right time, and I really would’ve been stupid to not utilize it. It wouldn’t have made sense to refuse something that God clearly had offered to me.
Lastly, I don’t think Cedarville goes “overkill” with diversity. There are a whole lot of things mentioned at Cedarville WAY more than diversity is, but people always seem to notice it and comment on it. As Christians, we should care about it no matter how many times it’s mentioned, and even though there might not be that many opportunities for people to do something about it at school (which, I think, is one thing people get so upset about. “Ok, we know minorities are important, but what do you want us to do about it?!”), I think just listening and trying to understand the issue and supporting those behind it would be the most helpful to those who actually can do something.