Claiborne’s Cedarville Cancellation

My buddy Rhett Smith has posted a great reflection about the recent cancelation of Shane Claiborne’s scheduled talk at Ohio’s Cedarville University. Rhett questions the validity of the quote below, and discusses his own thoughts as someone who is a college pastor.

 

“There was a tension between my desire to use this event to challenge students to take a closer look at a very important social issue, and the need to protect Cedarville’s reputation as a conservative, Christ-centered university,??? said Ruby. “There can’t be any confusion about our commitment to God’s Word and our historically conservative doctrinal position.

(From a quote by Cedarville Dean Carl RubyVia Rhett Smith.com)

Since when did living with and serving the poor make you not Christ-centered?

6 responses to “Claiborne’s Cedarville Cancellation”

  1. It saddens me when Universities are only contributors to the divisive rhetoric that already plagues the Christian community. I wonder what would have happened if Jesus would have censored himself and not said so much about the poor, the widows, or the orphans in order to “protect [his] reputation?”

  2. it saddens me even more than the other commenter because I’m a Cedarville Alum! What a classic quote from Ruby…and what a great response question, Wess. Like you said, “Since when did living with and serving the poor make you not Christ-centered?” How very sad that he would assert that shane would not be consistent with their ID christ-centered university…

    -jeremy

    ps-is see you’re from OH, did you go to CU, too? just curious…

  3. I cried a little when I read this and wondered how this can be. I got a letter this week from cornerstone saying they enstated a new president. He was once the president at moody and a graduate of cederville. Its crazy to know that the preservment of historical traditions, money, power, and pride are far more important than living out the sermon on the mount. I hope hat those that live out faith do so passionately for love rather than human tradition.