Comments on: Harding’s Black History

By: My De-Conversion « Free Thoughts

My De-Conversion « Free Thoughts — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 11:41:44 +0000

[...] Cartel, a blog where we wrote many critical articles about Harding (like these on paternalism, racism, and authoritarianism). Despite Harding’s undeniable faults, I did receive an education [...]

By: Intellectual Nuremberg Defense of Homophobia « Free Thoughts

Intellectual Nuremberg Defense of Homophobia « Free Thoughts — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:14:41 +0000

[...] Christians used religious rhetoric to justify segregation and discrimination, saying things like “God made some blue birds and some black birds and that they were not intended to mix.” Although this type of thing was accepted for a long time, we eventually got to the point where we [...]

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:42:17 +0000

Actually, yes! That’s EXACTLY what he said. He said that he was not a person to talk to about such things; that it was a job for the Harding counseling office. I guess he figured his ignorance of the situation absolved him of responsibility.

By: Heather McIntosh

Heather McIntosh — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:25:21 +0000

Whom did he encourage you to speak with? The esteemed Harding counseling office?

Your description of him sounds like a conservative coC Stepford wife. As long as the cleaning gets done, nothing else really matters.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:19:44 +0000

He didn’t directly defend the RA. He just totally side-stepped the fact I was talking about a sexual assault. He completely disengaged himself from the situation, saying I needed to be talking to someone else (NOT the police, btw) and that he didn’t need to hear any more. He all but told me not to let the door hit me on the way out. There was no interest, humanity or even a hint of sadness shown. He seemed irritated that I would bring it to him. It seemed like he was looking for a reason not to believe me, in fact. It was bizarre; not what I expected, actually. Looking back, it seems a lot like how the Catholic Church has been found to handle things of this nature. I don’t think Burks is a horrible person. I just think he was just running his business…errrr, “ministry”. I can get really confused between the two. Man, money really clouds judgment.

By: Stephanie E.

Stephanie E. — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:56:44 +0000

Just last weekend I spoke at the WINGS conference on the subject of Tolerance. I stressed the need for humility and the idea that we should recognize the dignity of every human being and treat them with respect, irregardless of “who” or “what” they are. One example I used was Abilene Christian’s Christ-like reception of Soulforce in 2006.

After the lesson, (which was well-received overall) an older lady came up to me and said, “You know what one lady in our church said about those homos?” “Those homos?” I thought. Didn’t I just spend 45 minutes talking about tolerance?

By: David M. Manes

David M. Manes — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:20:46 +0000

Did Burks defend the RA?

By: Josh

Josh — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:28:19 +0000

I’m a white male who attended Harding from ’94-’98 and can attest, at least anecdotally, to the continuation of the previously stated racial and ethical misconduct of the university. As an institution which openly leverages Christianity to market itself, I found it reprehensible at the time, as I do now. I didn’t criticize from afar, either. For example, I personally met with Dr. Burks, in his office, to share with him an instance of sexual assault by a male RA. His words and response to me were shocking and indefensible. Harding was, in my experience, concerned people only to the point where it is financially advantageous. I wish Harding would issue a formal apology to African Americans for the wrongs that it committed. When I do something wrong, an apology is the first place I start. Oh…and it’s Biblical.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:05:10 +0000

Hi. I attended Harding for the 2002-2003 year. I was amazed at how much went on that this university is supossed to be against. I witnessed drug and alcohol abuse, and a lot of sexual behavior. Both hetero and homosexual. I know that these things happen in the’real world’ and you can’t live in a bubble forever, but when that is what you’re paying money to get away from and get a good education, it seems like a waste of time. I went to the dean and couselors about this and was basically told that they were aware that there were some problems but they couldn’t really do anything about it, basically unless they caught them.

By: Tiffany J.

Tiffany J. — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:52:52 +0000

David, my mom read this and adored it. She now adores you.