Again- the blogging action is not currently happening here. I'm leading a Taylor World Outreach Spring Break trip to Russia next week. I've been chronicling the preparations on my missions blog and hopefully will be able to transcribe some journals afterwards. Check it out: gollerinmissions.blogspot.com
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Book Review: The Unlikely Disciple
Being a student of Christian higher education and personally very curious about how people of other worldviews think and operate, I decided to pick up The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose. In short, it is the recounting of a semester in his sophomore year when he went from Brown University (described as a liberal bastion) to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University (a real haven of ultra-conservative Christianity). What makes this book so interesting to me is the similarities between the Christian education at Liberty and the one I received and am working in at Taylor. I would, of course, say that there are vast differences between LU and TU, but from the eyes of a non-Christian student from Brown, it makes for an eye-opening experience of some very similar things. Also, Roose is the same age as me. I was a sophomore as well when he engaged in this experience.
The first thing that I appreciate about Roose is his open-mindedness. He enters into Liberty pretending to be a Christian but encounters some very alien worldviews. But instead of shutting down and spouting typical rhetoric that is used to combat it in the political arena he is constantly giving it a chance and waiting to see what his peers at LU really think of truth. One example that is very hard for Roose is his class on "The History of Life". The class is housed in neither the history nor Bible department because it is a class that teaches the student how to defend young earth creationism and thus is more in the old style of rhetoric or philosophy. This certain class really bothers the author and he spends much of his time compartmentalizing his secular thoughts so as to not go crazy but he remains willing to be taught and I appreciate that.
Another thing that strikes me about Roose's experience is how worried his family is for him. They way his parents and friends exhibit concern would be similar if I were to suddenly become a fan of Charles Manson or decide to spend four months in war-torn Africa (wait, I've done that last one). His parents are legitimately afraid of him becoming indoctrinated by the school of the man who blamed 9/11 on liberal behavior like homosexuality. His lesbian aunts are aghast that he would spend time among the people who have caused their community such great hurt.
In fact, the homosexuality issue is a big one in the book. Roose has some gay friends back at Brown and doesn't personally see anything wrong with it. As he learns more about the Bible and Christianity he admits that he sees a disconnect with the lifestyle and morality, but he is even more appalled at the flagrant and often profane homophobia that he sees on Liberty's campus. The hate he sees and hears directed at homosexuals is his greatest stumbling block because the love that his Christian peers preach and often seem to ooze is nowhere to be seen when it comes to interacting with those with whom they disagree.
Despite his strong resistance to the social issues promoted on campus, Roose becomes surprisingly open to Christian theology. At one point, he admits his ability to give intellectual assent to Christ's death and Resurrection. He sees a bona fide difference between his Liberty friends and his Brown friends and he labels this (through his careful observation) as something spiritual. He has a hallmate who invites him to prayer most nights and as he gets into the idea of becoming concerned for one another's issues and giving that concern to a higher being, Roose finds himself suddenly growing in spiritual maturity.
I don't want to spoil too much more for you, but it is so interesting to watch him wrestle with the ideological differences, to get around prejudices, and to embrace a well thought out view of people so different from him. His interview with Jerry Falwell (weeks before Falwell's death) shows how he is able to humanize a man that he and many of his friends have seen as a terrible influence in politics.
I recommend this book for anyone in Christian higher education (whether working or studying in it) for it's ability to see our worldview with an honest outside opinion that will cause you to check some of your own prejudices when thinking about your own ideological opponents.
The first thing that I appreciate about Roose is his open-mindedness. He enters into Liberty pretending to be a Christian but encounters some very alien worldviews. But instead of shutting down and spouting typical rhetoric that is used to combat it in the political arena he is constantly giving it a chance and waiting to see what his peers at LU really think of truth. One example that is very hard for Roose is his class on "The History of Life". The class is housed in neither the history nor Bible department because it is a class that teaches the student how to defend young earth creationism and thus is more in the old style of rhetoric or philosophy. This certain class really bothers the author and he spends much of his time compartmentalizing his secular thoughts so as to not go crazy but he remains willing to be taught and I appreciate that.
Another thing that strikes me about Roose's experience is how worried his family is for him. They way his parents and friends exhibit concern would be similar if I were to suddenly become a fan of Charles Manson or decide to spend four months in war-torn Africa (wait, I've done that last one). His parents are legitimately afraid of him becoming indoctrinated by the school of the man who blamed 9/11 on liberal behavior like homosexuality. His lesbian aunts are aghast that he would spend time among the people who have caused their community such great hurt.
In fact, the homosexuality issue is a big one in the book. Roose has some gay friends back at Brown and doesn't personally see anything wrong with it. As he learns more about the Bible and Christianity he admits that he sees a disconnect with the lifestyle and morality, but he is even more appalled at the flagrant and often profane homophobia that he sees on Liberty's campus. The hate he sees and hears directed at homosexuals is his greatest stumbling block because the love that his Christian peers preach and often seem to ooze is nowhere to be seen when it comes to interacting with those with whom they disagree.
Despite his strong resistance to the social issues promoted on campus, Roose becomes surprisingly open to Christian theology. At one point, he admits his ability to give intellectual assent to Christ's death and Resurrection. He sees a bona fide difference between his Liberty friends and his Brown friends and he labels this (through his careful observation) as something spiritual. He has a hallmate who invites him to prayer most nights and as he gets into the idea of becoming concerned for one another's issues and giving that concern to a higher being, Roose finds himself suddenly growing in spiritual maturity.
I don't want to spoil too much more for you, but it is so interesting to watch him wrestle with the ideological differences, to get around prejudices, and to embrace a well thought out view of people so different from him. His interview with Jerry Falwell (weeks before Falwell's death) shows how he is able to humanize a man that he and many of his friends have seen as a terrible influence in politics.
I recommend this book for anyone in Christian higher education (whether working or studying in it) for it's ability to see our worldview with an honest outside opinion that will cause you to check some of your own prejudices when thinking about your own ideological opponents.
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