i read a blog semi-regularly by a professor at Swarthmore and Yale. He has recently written a paper on the necessary rebuilding of the Presbyterian Church (USA). i'll warn you, if you're not a Presbyterian, or you're not the academic type at all, don't bother with this article. In true Presbyterian fashion (and in true scholarly professor fashion for that matter), the Witherspoon Society (see: self-proclaimed ultra-liberal scholars of the PC(USA)) wrote a rebuttle and they all signed it.
As this blogger points out, one little girl wrote: "I'm not sure what the 'Witherspoon Society' is, but I can only hope that one day I write something that gets that many teachers cranky enough to sign something like that..."
In his paper, this blogger/professor wrote that he believed the original affirmative action appartus of the PC(USA) for hiring and establishing church structure was wise and beneficial, but that that system had become corrupt and unhelpful and no longer served the original and intended purposes of bringing God's people together. The response paper by the Witherspoon Society quoted Galations ("there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, neither male nor female") in defense of that system. The point of his paper though was to point out that the intent was honorable and laudable, but that the goal was no longer being met.
The Witherspoon Society also pointed to Neibuhr and his idea that even good manmade structures can become corrupt or ineffective. "Exactly my point!" was the reply of the blogger/professor. The Witherspoon Society is made up of those academics who rallied for affirmative action in the sixties and have become blind to the fact that their system now is the corrupt system that defends the status quo.
Many responses to his blog post were well-articulated. There is still much work to be done in a denomination that is so woefully non-diverse. However, i would challenge the idea that we could ever be as diverse as we would like to be. The Presbyterian church has many wonderful traditions, among them are scholarship and debate and social justice, but we also have traditions of tradition and solemnity and worship that puts people to sleep. We'll have to change a lot more than how open and tolerant people are before we'll ever be anything that resembles a diverse body of believers...
As this blogger points out, one little girl wrote: "I'm not sure what the 'Witherspoon Society' is, but I can only hope that one day I write something that gets that many teachers cranky enough to sign something like that..."
In his paper, this blogger/professor wrote that he believed the original affirmative action appartus of the PC(USA) for hiring and establishing church structure was wise and beneficial, but that that system had become corrupt and unhelpful and no longer served the original and intended purposes of bringing God's people together. The response paper by the Witherspoon Society quoted Galations ("there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, neither male nor female") in defense of that system. The point of his paper though was to point out that the intent was honorable and laudable, but that the goal was no longer being met.
The Witherspoon Society also pointed to Neibuhr and his idea that even good manmade structures can become corrupt or ineffective. "Exactly my point!" was the reply of the blogger/professor. The Witherspoon Society is made up of those academics who rallied for affirmative action in the sixties and have become blind to the fact that their system now is the corrupt system that defends the status quo.
Many responses to his blog post were well-articulated. There is still much work to be done in a denomination that is so woefully non-diverse. However, i would challenge the idea that we could ever be as diverse as we would like to be. The Presbyterian church has many wonderful traditions, among them are scholarship and debate and social justice, but we also have traditions of tradition and solemnity and worship that puts people to sleep. We'll have to change a lot more than how open and tolerant people are before we'll ever be anything that resembles a diverse body of believers...
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