Oh, my alma mater…
November 13, 2006
You ever have one of those days when you hear some news about your alma mater and you think to yourself, "Damn I’m so proud of that school" or "Wow - isn’t that just swell of (fill in the blank of your alma mater)." Yah, I suppose certain schools produce more of those moments than others. And then there are those times when you hear some news about your alma mater and you think to yourself, "What in the hell?" or "Damn, did I really go there?"
I had one of those moments this week. A great friend of mine recently told me about how a few Whitworth College students celebrated Reformation Day 2006. They created their own version of the 95 Theses and posted over 300 of them around Gonzaga University, a Jesuit school (most famous around the nation because of their basketball team, the Gonzaga Bulldogs). Anyway, I did a little research and found an article here at the Gonzaga Bulletin, which details what happened and has a quote from our President, Bill Robinson, as he apologizes publicly for the action. I also found the website that was created for Whitworth’s 95 Theses.
Sure I guess it was a prank. And some of the "theses" are kind of funny. Others are just ridiculous and portray some very anti-Catholic sentiments:
- 52) We would make fun of some kind of disconnect between what the
priesthood teaches and what they actually do, but we can’t find any
examples of this. - 54) Whitworth successfully warded off the influences of nearby cults.
Gonzaga, however, finds itself firmly enmeshed in the latest cult to
grip our nation: The Catholic Church. - 55) We Presbyterians pray to Jesus, instead of Joseph Smith like you Catholics.
The unfortunate thing is that there are probably many students at Whitworth (especially over-zealous Freshman Religion majors) who do believe that being Catholic and being Christian are two very different things. How do I know this? Well, I used to be one of them. I don’t know exactly where it came from; my parents certainly never taught me anything of that sort, but it was just always something I had thought…if you were Catholic, you were…maybe…kind of a Christian, but not a good one, and not the ‘right’ kind of Christian, that’s for sure. It’s assuming and somewhat disturbing to remember some of the things that I thought about my faith when I was growing up…it was all a part of my journey and I understand and respect that, but I am thankful that I am no longer in some of those places, and do not believe some of those things - that Catholics really aren’t Christian, for example.
So I hear this story, have to chuckle a bit because I remember the days when I too participated in some Whitworth pranks and was myself a somewhat zealous Freshman Religion Major who questioned the salvation of others (not to the degree that some of my peers did…). Oh Whitworth…good times, but they seem so, so far from the world I inhabit today.
Posted in General
Adam Walker Cleaveland: 
November 13th, 2006 at 8:58 am
Adam, those do not strike me as just ridiculous and portraying some very anti-Catholic sentiments - they strike me as very sad and clearly anti-Christian.
The tension between Caths and the rest of the global church goes all the way back to Rome. Lord knows the morass that is the RC infrastructure does not help this cause.
But for the life of me, it is hard to imagine what (other than spite) motivates someone to do this to another person struggling to follow Jesus.
November 13th, 2006 at 10:00 am
Adam,
Recognizing that this post represents your typical blogging pattern (post something provocative, wait for vitriolic comments that increase blog traffic, do not respond to challenges of assumptions), I do not expect a direct response to the following questions: How does one become a Christian the world you inhabit now? What is the basis of belief? Is Christianity merely cultural? What happens if the teachings of a denomination contradict scripture and followers strictly adhere to them? Is a morman a Christian?
I was raised in the Catholic church and, from first hand experience, recognize the degree to which its traditions and teachings are truly deceptive. There is no question that God loves catholics, mormons, or relativistic postmoderns and that His grace and mercy extends to all, but there are consequences to suppressing the truth (see Romans 1).
November 13th, 2006 at 10:59 am
I came from a back ground that said that catholics were not even sorta Christians and that they were going to hell. What a bunch of dumb asses we were. Thank our Creator for the journey and allowing us to learn from our mistakes.
November 13th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
So I read those theses and actually think that some of them, while meaning to promote Whitworth, do the exact opposite. Of course, all of them show that the maturity of the Whitworth students involved is minimal.
I can’t help but think, however, that whoever wrote these will eventually come to Princeton and write for the Whineskin.
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:09 am
Having studied both at Whitworth and Gonzaga - I found your comments refreshing Adam. I stumbled on this page doing a Google search and couldnt help fighting back the memories of my teens & early 20’s.
I was taken a little back at the comments from slomo about Catholic deception. It is a shame his interpretation of TRUTH and Romans 1 is so un-Christian. Put all the RC infrastructure issues asside for a moment if you want to follow bobs comments and simply study the Bible & Church history with fresh eyes, no agenda or pre conceived ideas. Catholocism is far from being a cult.
I had a deep conversion to Christianity from athiesm/Science in my 30’s having only been lightly exposed to it at both Whitworth and Gonzaga in my limited time at both schools during my youth. Later after accepting Christ and then after attending a non-denominationaly seminary and studying Christian history with a passion - I converted to Catholocism.
We are all Christian brothers & sisters. Some Christian denominations can only have partial truth to resolve Jn 8:32. If what the RCC teaches is true, then other Christian faiths can only contain partial truth. Same vice versa. But that makes them no less loved by God than a Catholic. We should all be spending our lives trying to grow in our faith journey.
It’s time we pay heed to our Lords final prayer on earth for unity. (Jn 17:23) Let’s concentrate on the things we have in common and worship together so that the World may see Christ in all of us. Salvation by Grace alone - A love for the Bible. (BTW - both beliefs strongly held by true Catholics) It is in this common ground that the Muslims and other non-Christians will find Christ in all of us.