Politics at the University of Alabama Wesley Foundation
I've noticed something since being back in school. There is a fair amount of political information being disseminated at Wesley Foundation, and it comes invariably from the left of center.
I have several examples:
Wesley has hosted at least two Sunday-evening forums on constitution reform in Alabama, and literature remains on the tables in the lobby for anyone to pick up. All of the literature comes from Alabama ARISE, a left-leaning group that seeks to influence the rewriting of the constitution in such a way that more money will be taken from income earners and given to low or non-earners. This is all well and good; but there is no information available from any other perspective.
If I'm not mistaken, there was a campaign sign in front of the building in 2003 favoring the Riley tax increase proposal. I do not believe political yard signs belong in the yard of Wesley Foundation, regardless of affiliation. I should have said something then, but I didn't have activist leanings yet.
Congressman Artur Davis has spoken at Wesley twice in 2006 alone. Davis is a left-leaning Democrat. (He's nowhere near as liberal as teddy kennedy, but still.) Why not invite Spencer Bachus, just for balance?
Then there are the magazines. On every table in the Not-So-Greatroom, as well as in the lobby, you can find copies of Sojourners, a self-described "progressive" Christian magazine. Many copies of Christian Century are also available; it's more moderate, but hardly conservative. I recently bought Wesley a subscription to the slightly right-leaning Christianity Today, just for balance.
Now for the latest. This Sunday afternoon, beginning at 4:00, two films on global warming will be screened: Davis Guggenheim's An Inconvenient Truth (the Al Gore vehicle), and the HBO documentary Too Hot Not to Handle. Now, I am not aware of any documentary films that attempt to debunk the global warming alarmists, but there is a significant portion of the scientific community that does not believe there is cause for such alarm--and furthermore, many of the claims Gore makes and statistics he uses in An Inconvenient Truth have been shown to be misleading if not false. I'm also willing to bet that the ensuing discussion will be centered around such things as the Bush administration's refusal to sign the Kyoto treaty, evil SUV drivers, and how the government should force us all to sacrifice for this fanatical hippie cause. You get the idea.
Is this appropriate for a campus ministry center? Wesley is supposed to be a welcoming, inclusive place...are conservatives supposed to be the exception to this?
I have several examples:
Wesley has hosted at least two Sunday-evening forums on constitution reform in Alabama, and literature remains on the tables in the lobby for anyone to pick up. All of the literature comes from Alabama ARISE, a left-leaning group that seeks to influence the rewriting of the constitution in such a way that more money will be taken from income earners and given to low or non-earners. This is all well and good; but there is no information available from any other perspective.
If I'm not mistaken, there was a campaign sign in front of the building in 2003 favoring the Riley tax increase proposal. I do not believe political yard signs belong in the yard of Wesley Foundation, regardless of affiliation. I should have said something then, but I didn't have activist leanings yet.
Congressman Artur Davis has spoken at Wesley twice in 2006 alone. Davis is a left-leaning Democrat. (He's nowhere near as liberal as teddy kennedy, but still.) Why not invite Spencer Bachus, just for balance?
Then there are the magazines. On every table in the Not-So-Greatroom, as well as in the lobby, you can find copies of Sojourners, a self-described "progressive" Christian magazine. Many copies of Christian Century are also available; it's more moderate, but hardly conservative. I recently bought Wesley a subscription to the slightly right-leaning Christianity Today, just for balance.
Now for the latest. This Sunday afternoon, beginning at 4:00, two films on global warming will be screened: Davis Guggenheim's An Inconvenient Truth (the Al Gore vehicle), and the HBO documentary Too Hot Not to Handle. Now, I am not aware of any documentary films that attempt to debunk the global warming alarmists, but there is a significant portion of the scientific community that does not believe there is cause for such alarm--and furthermore, many of the claims Gore makes and statistics he uses in An Inconvenient Truth have been shown to be misleading if not false. I'm also willing to bet that the ensuing discussion will be centered around such things as the Bush administration's refusal to sign the Kyoto treaty, evil SUV drivers, and how the government should force us all to sacrifice for this fanatical hippie cause. You get the idea.
Is this appropriate for a campus ministry center? Wesley is supposed to be a welcoming, inclusive place...are conservatives supposed to be the exception to this?
posted by -D. at 12:41 PM
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