To Timothy -

Indeed – “propaganda” tactics are easy to spot when we decide to use critical thinking instead of taking whatever they choose to feed their viewers and “swallowing it whole”.

That was a good review of the material’s propaganda content.

AToday and certain controlling groups at LSU seem bent on making LSU ‘the best public university that Adventist tuition, tithe, and offering dollars can buy”

in Christ,

Bob

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Amen.
God bless,

Rich

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There were so many things wrong with how they approached this subject. I’m fine with bias, it’s unavoidable, but I don’t think they were being honest about where they were coming from. I’ll try to say more on this later.

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At UCR, I left with a double major in Biology and Chemistry Magna Cum Laude and entered medical school at Loma Linda University without a single cent of debt and a clear head about what was truth and what was evolution. Apparently, this might not be the case for some La Sierra graduates.

At the end of the day our decision as parents will be this: Why should I send my children to an SDA institution that is 5-10x more expensive to be taught evolution as truth when I can send my children to much cheaper schools, in most cases get a better science education and be able to tell my children that evolution is being taught to them because the public universities aren’t Christian nor beleive in the second coming of Christ or the Sabbath? It is going to be much harder to explain to my children why evolution is being taught as truth to them from an Adventist institution. I am not willing to pay for that problem. I am not alone.

Very sobering thoughts to be sure.

Thank you for sharing that!

in Christ,

Bob

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“When those who have reached the years of youth and manhood see no difference between our schools and the colleges of the world, and have no preference as to which they attend, though error is taught by precept and example in the schools of the world …”

When this occurs the answer is not defensiveness by the faculty, loud protests of loyalty to academic freedom and thought, or pseudop-piousness of being “pastoral” to apostate faculty, but

“then there is need of closely examining the reasons that lead to such a conclusion.” RH 1/9/1894. The rest of the paragraph gives great hope for our institutions as well as warning about “Our institutions of learning may swing into worldly conformity. Step by step they may advance to the world.”

What is going on in our schools is no surprise to God. He has the means to correct the institutions. The Babylonian soldiers (and later Roman soldiers) who were sent to discipline Jerusalem should instruct the leaders of those schools of supposed higher education who are offended by the gentle remonstrances of the David Asshericks, Doug Batchelors, and EducateTruths, that much worse can come from the world they are befriending.

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A Catholic priest wrote in a book that Adventists are the most fundamental of the fundamentalist sects, holding to a literal interpretation of the Bible, because we keep Saturday as the Sabbath.

Bob, who is the author and what is the title of the book to which you refer?
Thanks and God bless,

Rich

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I think we should also be careful not to try to copy the world even in this type of a movie making effort- if we add too many camera angles and mysterious music man starts to get the glory, “magical thinking,” vain imaginations. “be ware of spirits that whisper and mutter”- when we have strange music, it invites strangeness and perhaps an evil influence.

“Be sober, be vigilant” it’s not that we can’t be creative, it doesn’t just have to be a documentary, but things should have a more sence of straight forward reality, and trying to avoid things that feel morose or hypnotic. We should try to shoot for 100% right on the mark- nothing for self, all for Jesus. It will be beautiful- it can be really very nice.

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David Kendall, BMus, MA: I am not sure this is a fair equivalence. While diversity and religious/social tolerance are certainly hallmarks of the UCR student experience (as they are at LSU; the University Motto is “From Diversity, Community), I am allowed to advocate for religious concepts at LSU as an instructor while I am forbidden to do so at UCR in that context.

I think you mistake Roger’s main point. That is, one expects to get a certain philosophical perspective at an openly declared secular school – like UCR. One does not expect to get this same perspective at a self-declared “SDA” school – like LSU.

In fact, it is quite shocking when professors at an SDA school scoff at fundamental doctrines of the SDA Church, calling them the “lunatic fringe” and laugh at or belittle or otherwise intimidate students who present such views in class. This is a real shock to experience at an SDA school – yet this is exactly what is happening in many of the science classes at LSU.

This is the primary reason why Roger and I would not send our own children to such “SDA” schools – despite the fact that there may still be a few professors left at such schools who are not like this. Even one such professor who is openly deriding and countering the SDA perspective on fundamental issues in one of our schools is one too many since such a professor often carries with him/her a great deal of influence over the minds of the youth under his/her care. If I had knowledge of such a person in the employ of any of our schools, I would not send my own child to that school – period. I would rather send my son to a public university rather than have to explain the cognitive dissonance and frank schizophrenia taking place within a supposedly “SDA” school.

Sean Pitman
http://www.DetectingDesign.com

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Roger Seheult: At UCR I received a world-class education from professors who had published in Evolutionary Journals. At La Sierra, the biology professors can’t even correctly identify the assumptions that make up Hardy-Weinberg populations. I.e. in the syllabus, one professor incorrectly states that if your population doesn’t look like a Hardy Weinberg population – there must be evolution occuring!!!! (?) And why were all the La Sierra kids coming over to UCR in the summer to take our O CHEM classes???

I do not doubt that you received a world-class education at UCR, as I have received a world-class graduate education there. However, I also received a world-class education at LSU, as can be attested to by the large numbers of quality students we graduate and their subsequent performance in graduate schools and in professional life. The above syllabus example is simply one example of a mistake. Are there others? Are they repeated in a classroom setting? Syllabus mistakes are common; my music theory students know that I will commit at least one major syllabus error every quarter and we derive some entertainment by finding it. One mistake of this kind is not proof of scholarly incompetence, just as I would not be considered incompetent for mislabeling chromatic chords or occasionally sight-singing using the wrong solfege syllables.

There are a number of reasons why LSU students go to UCR (and to RCC) to take Organic Chemistry and other courses during Summer Sessions. One reason is cost, though due to the California budget crisis and subsequent tuition hikes at the UC campuses, LSU is currently costing 2x-3x more, rather than 5x to 10x. Another reason is scheduling, as many students work during summers and find UCR’s class offerings more flexible (as there are more classes/sections to choose from). Still another reason, and a telling one, is that LSU’s chemistry classes (depending upon the professor) are fiendishly comprehensive and some students find it easier to pass them at UCR than at LSU.

David Kendall
Adjunct Professor of Music
La Sierra Univesity

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