Calling Dr. Brock (Cont'd)

Have you ever started the day with what appears to be a simple question, and the answer prompts another two or three additional questions, a greater need to research the matter, which again prompts another round of questions and before you realize it has become an all day event?

That is what has happened today. After my discussion yesterday with my friend ( we will call her Martha - not her real name) I began to ponder the issue of divorce and religious service. As we all know our civil (government) courts in almost every state permit no fault divorce; which in essence allows one party to seek a termination of the marital status without the other party needing to agree.

What we are left with is a college that much to my suprise, not only refuses to employ faculty members who are divorced or married to someone who is divorced, but they also will not allow a divorced student or a student who is married to someone who is divorced to attend the college. I have seen some extreme interpretations but this one is certainly farreaching. It begged the question, "Do other colleges and universities of the same religious background hold the same type of dogmatic policy?"

So my quest began. I contacted Baptist Bible College in Springfield, MO. I spoke with the Deans office and with the academic affairs office to determine their policy and position. BBC is by no means a liberal Baptist college and anyone claiming such is either lying or greatly misinformed. Their policy is to review the circumstances and make a decision based upon the individual and do so in a private and respectful manner. They do ** NOT ** outright reject anyone on the basis of a divorce alone.

I then contacted Bob Jones University which took the same approach as BBC. Pilsbury Baptist Bible College again does not outright reject either faculty or students on the basis of divorce alone.

I have several other colleges that I plan to contact as well so that I can fairly evaluate this issue.

I still firmly believe that Dr. Brock and Maranatha have an obligation to disclose the basis for their policy. It is stated clearly on their website and in their applicaton process; therefore, it is a matter which is open to discussion - they made it that way by stating the policy openly.

I again call on Dr. Brock to provide the reasoning behind the policy openly and pubicly. No ridicule will come from me on the matter, and although I am sure I will have further comments to make afterwards (if he grants my wish) but I will in no way make it personal or attack the college directly. I may respectfully disagree and that will be that.

Calling Dr. Brock

Earlier today I was received a call from a close friend of mine who happens to be of the female persuasion, she is a fine upstanding member of her community, and has ** FIVE ** bachelor degrees not to mention two masters and a doctorate in microbiology. She is a atypical harvard graduate in that she is highly conservative and holds deeply rooted religious beliefs. She attends her local Baptist church regularly and for her that means about four trips a week. She teaches Sunday School, is the mother of four wonderful children all of whom attend the local Christian school.

When I sit back and think about her accomplishments, I cannot help but think that G-d has bestowed upon her a very large helping of blessings and abilities. She is one of the finest ladies I know. She has given very serious thought to moving to the upper midwest and would like to teach on the college level. Certainly she is more than qualified, and is, what I think most people would consider the quintessential definition of a moral and upstanding young lady (she is only 39). Yet, there is a problem.

One of the colleges she was considering applying to is Maranatha Baptist Bible College. When she was reviewing their website looking for information on any open positions and to whom she would need to forward her resume, she came across the following qualification:

• Faculty members must be fundamental Baptists by practice and conviction - Certainly meets this qualification
.

• Individual life styles must be in conformity to Biblical teaching related to morality and virtue - No issue on this one either
.

• The sanctity of the Christian home is guarded by never employing or retaining faculty or administrators who are or have ever been divorced - Here is the Problem!
.

She is divorced. Her husband left her and her children to fend for themselves and he initiated the divorce proceedings not her. She does not believe in divorce however her particular divorce was not of her own choosing, it was her husbands and with no fault divorce law she could not prevent the court from granting the divorce even if she had been so inclined.

I am saddened that a college of Maranantha's caliber which teaches forgiveness and that "sins" once forgiven are no more; can possibly conclude that she should be penalized for the rest ofher life for one singular mistake. It appears as though Maranantha believes that they are better than she is and that is something I truly detest.

Knowing that she would not be considered for a faculty position with them she gave up on the idea of actually presenting her credentials, she was hoping however, to gain an understanding why the college is so dogmatic on this particular issue. She sent a very polite and courteous email to Dr. John Brock, Vice President of Academic Affairs, for an explanation. Suprise suprise, no response. So she sent him a second email; again no response. She sent an email a third time and again after a week no response.

Dr. Brock will not even give her the courtesy of explaining the justification of the rule and on what biblical basis it was made.

It is this elitist attitude that makes my stomach churn. In absence of a response from Dr. Brock one can only make assumptions as to motives and I think everyone can agree that assumptions are generally incorrect, but as humans, we all make them.

Maranantha as a private college can set whatever standard they so desire for their faculty and students and I would never argue that they do not have that right - they do. I do believe that since they call themselves "Christians" and claim to to be forgiving and compassionate, they obligate themselves to at least explain their reasoning and allow someone to disagree as long as that disagreement is given politely and courteously.

Bob Jones University for many years prohibited their students from engaging in interracial dating; I disagreed completely with their standard, but I also acknowledged that as a private university where students attend by choice and with full knowledge ahead of time what the rules are, in regards to dating, they have the right to impose such a rule. in 2000, Dr. Bob Jones III, BJU Chancellor, acknowledged that the policy was not based upon any particular biblical principle and he was throwing the policy out. I applauded him for having the courage to take such action as it eliminated a contentious issue which took away from the universities excellent academic record.

So I call on Dr. Brock to step forward and explain the policy and what biblical basis it is supposedly based upon. If for no other purpose than to eliminate an issue which will take away from the Colleges excellent academic record.

Blagojevich's baby sitter sits on Civil Service Commission

Apparently Blago does not have enough legal and ethical questions on his plate, he now has the added issue of his babsitter sitting on the Civil Service Commission!

See the following Link for further details:

www.sj-r.com/extras/breaking/index.asp#1625

Madigan wins ruling

Lisa Madigan, who recently filed suit in federal court demanding that the Illinois Department of Transportation and an outside law firm turn over records regarding a pending suit won a ruling in court today.

Madigan who is the Attorney General for the State of Illinois, is the top attorney for the State of Illinois and its various agencies and who has the constitutional duty to represent them in any legal proceedings.

IDOT was wrong in their attempt to keep Madigan out of the matter. It was her office that hired the outside firm to start with, and it was her office that ultimately is responsible for the performance of that firm and the status of the case.

This really has more to do with the Governors office attempting to keep Madigan from discovering what appears as an illegal hiring practice implemented by the Governor. IDOT is being sued for wrongful terminations to allow room for politcal friends of the Governor to appointed in their positions.

There is no doubt that the hiring practices as they are currently implemented are in shambles and have become a disgrace to the State of Illinois. Blago ran on the issue of cleaning up state government yet, he has allowed the same illegal practices that he opposed under Ryan to continue unchecked for the past four years.

There is no doubt that with Lisa Madigan investigating the hiring practices she faces a potential conflict of interest here; and must tread lightly and carefully; but, considering her family I have no doubt that Lisa Madigan is well equipped to sidestep the various landmines she faces.

I am a Republican, and did not vote for Madigan. I probably would not vote for her in the future; that said, however, I do applaud her efforts her in seeing that the rule of law was upheld. It is now entirely her responsibility to properly defend the state and to ensure that nobody is wrongfully terminated.

Not an easy task to say the least, but it is one challenge that I truly believe Lisa Madigan is ready for.