FYI – We just posted a new article on UrbanFaith.com about some of the recent racial incidents on Christian college campuses. One of the themes of the article: How will the emergence of an African American president influence matters of race and diversity on Christian college campuses?
Also, if you haven’t seen it yet, Newsweek has a poignant and thought-provoking piece about Doug Paul. A former Wheaton College student, Paul, according to the article, typifies the Joshua Generation — the young white evangelicals who are more progressive in their politics than earlier generations of evangelical Christians. Reaching out to the Joshua Generation, says Newsweek, was one of Barack Obama’s keys to making headway with evangelical voters.
Reconciliation Blog 
Unfortunately most evangelical students fail to rely on the Bible for their political opinions–that’s why they support Obama.
http://www.smellytourist.worpress.com
Ed,
I just read the NW article this morning. It will be itneresting to see what happens to White evangelical voters post Obama (be it four or eight years). Will Evangelicalism be non-partisan, split between the parties, democrat, return to republican? As of now, it looks like there will be a non-partisan split, but that could change as policies and legislation being to take root.
Good articles, Ed. Glad to read on UrbanFaith that my alma mater, Eastern Mennonite University is ahead of the curve. It was already that way back in the early 1980s when I was a student there.
I found it interesting that even the Newsweek article, which is obviously not Christian, seemed to paint this young man as rebelious in nature. Stealing from his employer, kicked out of college, etc.
My fear is that the younger generation of evangelicals in reaction to the hard fundamentalism of their parents are over reacting and making some decisions out of rebellion and spite rather than out of clear conviction. This is an easy thing to do when you are young.
My prayer is that this generation of Christ followers with begin to make right the things that have been wrong with how our faith is represented, but to do this without giving up the things that should remain the same.
You can’t through out the baby with the bath water. It is foolish to think that everything that the generation before us has done is wrong. Just because Christians were on the wrong side of things in some cases in the past does not mean that everything that they did was wrong.
How ’bout picking ONE day next week and write something FUNNY and light…
Life is getting to all of us… and I think we need a LITE-day…
A (white) friend of mine recently asked me “why are you so concerned about race relations in the body of Christ?” Obviously, he does not see any need for such a task. These particular incidents outlined at the Urbanfaith website simply confirm that race relations among Christian is an enduring matter that needs to be exercised in practical terms and taking in great consideration. Yes, there’s an urgent need to pursue racial harmony and reconciliation.
KG, I didn’t read the Newsweek piece that way. Having had a child at the same school, the attitude of the parents doesn’t surprise me however. My son used to complain all the time about the “bubble children.” Glad some are breaking out.
I was teaching nearby a prominent Christian campus that made headlines with a recent racial incident directed towards our now-president; I’ve observed that there are other dimensions during my time there. Oftentimes these kids are homeschooled in intensely conservative homes, coming from very small, rural communities. There is no speaking to this worldview for it is inherently resistant. It’s a sort of ghettoization – no – that’s exactly what it is.
I was talking about a theology of the kingdom and was told it was “social gospel”. Seems to me there is a fear of anything that is outside / larger than this small-town mentality.
I’m attending Wheaton (Ed spoke here this past week), and I’m slowly seeing the significance of this issue on campus. I suppose I’ve noticed these minor forms of segregation on campus (for instance, I can almost always assume that every black student knows every other black student, at least in passing; a similar thing holds true for Asian students, etc.), but I’ve never considered it a huge issue — just a quirk of being in a place with such a large majority of white students. This recent election and, even more significantly, inauguration has brought me to thinking about this much more. And while I don’t know of any extreme situations at Wheaton like those discussed in the first article, there is definitely much room for improvement.