Pepperdine University

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Friday Five: Astros blunder, Chick-fil-A, SBC women profs, Ugandan justice, Jesus (really) saves

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Before we dive into the Friday Five, a few updates to earlier posts:

• I followed up Thursday on my analysis last week of The Associated Press’ haunted obituary of Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland. Kudos to AP for a new piece that delves into the important role of the black church in Cummings’ life.

• Earlier this week, I highlighted the bush-league PR response by the Houston Astros to a foul-mouthed, female-sportswriter-bullying assistant general manager named Brandon Taubman. Welp, the Astros eventually did the right thing and fired Taubman, a Houston Chronicle sports columnist writes.

• Also this week, I asked “What’s the real story?” concerning plans to close the first-ever international Chick-fil-A? The location at British mall apparently will shut down after six months amid protests by gay-rights activists. In that post, I mentioned a lawsuit over the San Antonio airport refusing to allow a Chick-fil-A. Now, the San Antonio Express-News reports that the Chick-fil-A could wind up opening there after all.

Now, on to the Friday Five:

1. Religion story of the week: Here’s a “story of the week” that actually hasn’t hit the mainstream press yet, assuming my Google News search skills are adequate.

Separate stories emerged this week, both concerning female professors and Southern Baptist seminaries, but the only reports I’ve seen were in the religious press: One involves the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, voting to affirm women colleagues amid attacks from some critics.


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Friday Five: California massacre, religious voters, Catholic bishops, tiny clay seals, blogger lawsuit

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Between the election and yet another mass shooting — this one hitting especially close to home for my family — I’m ready for this weekend.

One of the victims of the massacre at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif., was Alaina Housley, a freshman at Pepperdine University in nearby Malibu. I can’t help but think of my own daughter, Kendall, a fellow Pepperdine student who went dancing at that same country music venue during her freshman year last year.

May God grant peace and comfort to Housley’s family and all those struggling with this latest senseless tragedy in America.

The Los Angeles Times reported on some of the prayer vigils for the victims.

Before we head into the weekend, let’s dive into the Friday Five:

1. Religion story of the week: Tuesday was Election Day. You might have heard about it. It was a sort of big deal.

In case you missed it, I highlighted five post-election religion storylines to watch. Terry Mattingly delved into what the midterm outcomes means for the culture wars over the U.S. Supreme Court. And Richard Ostling explained why Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse stands out — politically and religiously — in the post-election GOP.

Curious about how religious voters leaned in Tuesday’s voting? The Pew Research Center has the must-read analysis.


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Another day, another mass shooting in America — this time at a country music night in California

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Another day.

Another mass shooting in America — this time at a country music dance hall in Southern California.

I woke up this morning to news alerts of the 13 people killed, including the gunman and a sheriff’s deputy trying to stop the carnage.

Within minutes, my daughter, Kendall, a Pepperdine University sophomore studying in Shanghai this school year, texted me to ask if I had heard that “a bunch of Pepperdine students” had been there.

“It’s like a super popular place, too — like I’ve been there,” she said. “Super scary.”

At that point, it really struck close to home. My son, Keaton, a junior journalism major at Oklahoma Christian University, had the same feeling. He expressed his emotions in a must-read opinion column (full disclosure: I’m his father, so perhaps I’m biased) that he wrote for his campus newspaper, The Talon.

A religion angle? Obviously, a shooting at a grill and bar will have a different storyline than one at a Baptist church or a Jewish synagogue.

But Pepperdine — which one of the victims attended — is a Christian university and organized a prayer service that drew reporters this afternoon:


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God credited with shrinking figure skater's brain tumor, but otherwise terrific story haunted by ghost

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"Scott Hamilton Was Demoted as an Olympic Broadcaster. Don’t Feel Sorry for Him."

That's the headline on a fascinating New York Times sports column on the famous U.S. figure skater and broadcaster.

Why shouldn't we feel sorry for him?

If you really want to know, I'd urge you to click the link and read the full column. 

But basically, the idea is that Hamilton has suffered through a series of cancer battles and has his priorities in the right place. That means, as the Times explains, that the loss of his Olympic broadcasting gig hasn't hit him as hard as it might have otherwise.

The Times even hints that a higher power might be involved:

Hamilton said he had prayed about 12 times a day for it to go away. Doctors treated him with radiation, and the tumor did go away.

And later, there's this mention:

The tumor had shrunk, by about half. Hamilton choked up when describing what happened next.
“Have you ever had one shrink without treatment before?” he said he asked the doctor. “And the doctor said, ‘Nope, never.’”
Hamilton asked, “So how can you explain this?”
The doctor said, “God.”
It floored him. He was in the process of losing three friends to colon cancer, yet he, somehow, someway, was given this miracle? At his latest doctor’s visit, in December, the tumor was even smaller.


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Chronicle of Higher Education offers shallow view of Christian colleges and student marriages

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Before you get too far along, you might want to click on the video above and watch this introductory video from Cedarville University in Ohio.

Yes, it's a promotional thing, but it also captures the gestalt of this rather theologically conservative evangelical school.

I believe such understanding will help as you evaluate a report from The Chronicle of Higher Education that gives somewhat short shrift to the notion that one happy byproduct of Christian education is a crop of Christian marriages. That implied negativity, among other issues, is one of the journalistic problems I found in the article, headlined, "‘Ring by Spring’: How Christian Colleges Fuel Students’ Rush to Get Engaged."

Let's start with a slightly longish excerpt:

It was "surreal" for Nikki Garns when Cedric Martin got on one knee in Pennsylvania’s Caledonia State Park, framed by a beautiful waterfall and mountains, to ask her if she would marry him. When she exclaimed, "Yes!," Ms. Garns was only a sophomore.
Mr. Martin’s proposal, although it felt surreal, wasn’t a surprise. For about a month before the engagement, both Ms. Garns and Mr. Martin had talked with her parents, assuring them that they were mature enough to be engaged. Initially, her parents said they thought she was too young. After talking with their daughter one-on-one, however, Ms. Garns’s parents gave Mr. Martin their approval.
Ms. Garns isn’t the only student at Houghton College, a Christian college in western New York, who’s engaged. Like many Christian institutions, Houghton is gripped by a trend known as "ring by spring," which refers to the aspiration among many students to be engaged by the spring semester of their senior year.
And, like other colleges, Houghton acknowledges the trend, and even advances it. The college’s counseling center offers a couples retreat for seriously dating or engaged couples, which brings 12 to 15 couples to a local camp to listen to a renowned speaker discuss the Biblical fundamentals of marriage. Six weeks after the retreat, the couples meet up again for a "Great Date Night."

I realize the Chronicle is a secular newspaper and I have no idea of the faith background, if any, of the reporter and editors involved with this story. But think about this: students at Christian colleges find themselves "gripped by a tend" in which these young adults want to get engaged and be married. Shocking, isn't it?


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