"Needless to say, not much actual discussion took place. But I’m incredibly glad I was able to participate in the attempt, at least. I guess what I came away with was sadness, moreso than anger or frustration. I feel like both Belmont and the TBC share responsibility for what’s going on, as I’ve already mentioned. Students are kind of caught in the middle of two organizations who honestly believe they are doing the right thing, I think. But neither side is budging."It grieves me that students are watching two institutions act as if there is something surgically sterile about the conflicts between the two organizations. There are real people who work hard every day at the TBC headquarters to carry on the mission of Baptists in Tennessee just as there are real people who work equally hard on the campus at Belmont University to carry out the mission of the university...and these people are no more than helpless pawns, waiting for the lawyers to extract a toll on the pocketbooks of Tennessee Baptists who give money for something other than legal fees. How can two institutions who claim the cause of Christ seemingly act as if there are just a couple of worldly, corporate entities who are somehow satified by saying that they are sorry that it came to this. Horse Muffins! At least the Belmont students were moved to take action and become more than mere pawns. That is admirable. The gifts that I sent to Belmont throught the TBC cooperative program were not wasted. Those gifts are bearing the fruit of students willing to try something other than a worldy, legal system, reaction. I commend them for trying!
Friday, October 20, 2006
One Belmont Student's Reflections on the TBC Issue
Cristy Frink describes herself as a social work major at Belmont University and writes on a blog titled, "a river-ark on the ocean brine". Her recent post, "On the unnecessary litigiousness of faith-based institutions, pt. 3.", is worth reading. Christy participated in the student demonstration at the Tennessee Baptist Convention headquarters last week and shares this thought on her blog:
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Will-
Thank you! Some of us had a print-out of your post "I may be a new blogger, but I'm not new to the TBC" with us at the demonstration. I believe one student even enclosed a copy of it with his letter.
During the forum, I brought up your point about the funds being diverted from missions to pay for the lawsuit and asked Dr. Porch how that would be handled and justified. Initially he circumvented the question and said something along the lines of, "There is no suit yet, so we don't even know if we'll have to pay for it or how much it will cost. Belmont can stop it at any time, so you should talk to them about it." I asked for a chance to respond, which he granted, and asked once again, if the case were to go to court, where would the money come from? He had no pertinent answer for this.
The whole thing is very sad, but I am greatly encouraged by reading your thoughts, being a Baptist. What saddens me even more than the conduct of the institutions, perhaps, are the comments I'm hearing from non-Christians.
But again, thank you for your thoughts.
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