[Addendum 12/03/2009: The person who started and heads <name removed> contacted me and argued that this post contains inaccurate information which is "unlawful" and asked that the post be removed. I had difficulty understanding his arguments for why it should be removed and was not persuaded - but went ahead and removed it because I do not want the grief and wondered if he was threatening me with a lawsuit. By the way - everyone who read the exchange (including an attorney) was convinced that this person was threatening me with a lawsuit. See "Why I removed a 2 year old post out of fear". You be the judge.
At first it was removed - in sense of being made private and therefore not visible to the public. If the arguments this person advanced were genuine - then theoretically all I had to do was removed the name of his ministry yes? Hence it is being made public again - with the name of the ministry removed and with links to its website also removed. Which is interesting - since surely people would get accurate information fro the website yes?]
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I am glad no youth from my congregation came to this event.
Last night was another Citywide Youth Rally for Baton Rouge. It is difficult to pin down who is responsible for the event. Normally it is planned by a team that includes youth ministers from Southern Baptist churches in Baton Rouge along with representatives from the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at Louisiana State University. Apparently this time it was mostly planned by the latter since right now many churches in the city do not have a youth minister (resignations and departures and so on).
I hate to say it but it was… boring. And at one point just plain offensive. A whopping four songs led by the BCM band (which musically and instrumentally was quite good). Two were faster, upbeat, fun (our youth actually danced – er I mean did motions for one), but still worshipful. Two were traditional hymns. Slooooow - and we sang every single verse… sometimes more than once. (Do not misunderstand me. I like traditional hymns. Beautiful and theologically rich. But this was a youth rally.) Portions of the rally appeared to be not much more than advertisements for certain events or activities. “Please join us for this… Come participate in such-and-such”.
The irony is this. The last youth rally I attended as a chaperone was more of a worship gathering. And yet was fun and engaging. This rally felt more like an advertisement. And was not terribly fun or engaging. (Aim for worship – and you get fun. Aim for “we want to convey a bunch of information and teaching points” and the result is quite different.)
My daughter and her friend (who almost did not come) did not like it. Sigh. Think about the position that puts a parent in. “Please go to the youth rally. Your friend can come too. It will be fun”. You persuade them to go… and they do not enjoy it. How will they feel the next time something like this comes around?!?
Ah yes. Offensive.
At one point some fellow from the Eastern Louisiana Association (out of Walker) came whooping and shouting about a <name removed> rally. He began by saying something (not quite sure what) about “some laws on the books” and fussing about a school Arabic club that had a field trip to hear and Islamic speaker. But “praise God” because it means that Christians can also get excused absences for a field trip to a Christian gathering – such as a <name removed> rally.
This (the following few sentences) is how the fellow explained it. Going to a <name removed> rally is a “field trip”. (Sponsored by the school?!? Well – not quite.) It is an excused absence because school policy requires making allowances for religious holidays (or “holy days”). If the school says “but a <name removed> rally is not a regular holy day in your religion” then they are violating the Establishment clause because they are supposed to be neutral and cannot tell you what your holy days are. Invite your “unsaved / unchurched” friends because who doesn’t want an excused absence from school? Oh and the fellow shouted most of this and often punctuated his sentences with “Amen?” Yeehah! Git ‘em Jeezus! The presentation reeked of (mild) xenophobia, (mild) paranoia, and (mildly) of politicized Christianity.
Let us assume for the sake of argument that that legally and technically this is all correct. Call something a “holy day” and the school has to let a significant portion of its students (and teachers!) bop off for the event. What we are promoting is “Skip School for Jesus”. And by manipulating a technicality in school board policies. Forget the centuries old traditions of my religion. Call some event a “holy day” – which is a polite way of saying “just make up a holy day” – and poof you get to skip school. (And then they tell you to invite unsaved friends. Hello?!? Is this really a “holy day” for them? The argument exposes the disingenuousness of the event.)
This is a recipe for anarchy. It also makes Christians look like people who would exploit and manipulate technicalities and loopholes(?) to get whatever they want. “It is your right!” is emblazoned several times on the permission form you can download from (the website for said event). Now Christians join the “give me my rights!” crowd. Making demands and arguing from a position of strength.
One tries to imagine Jesus playing this card. “It is my right to a fair trial with counsel”. Or Paul. “It is my right to pull a salary for my work and to eat meat sacrificed to idols and for Timothy not to be circumcised!” (Granted Paul did play the “rights card” on at least one occasion. “Did you know that you’re flogging a Roman citizen?”)
Can we still be Christians from a position of weakness? Without all our political rights (real or imagined) being recognized and enforced? Do we need to find ways to make state institutions (like public schools) let us go to a religious event? I suspect that is the real motivation behind the “<named removed>”rallies. To force state institutions to recognize Christianity in some formal manner. (The speaker boasted of principals and superintendents who “support this”.)
The website for <name of organization removed> is mostly innocuous. The person who started all this is surely a wonderful man who can testify to the transforming grace and power of God through his son Jesus Christ. Do I agree with what they are doing? Yes (sort of) – but absolutely not during a school day and not by manipulating/exploiting school board policies. Why not a weekend? Or evening? Or during an actual recognized and traditional holiday? It is possible my distaste for the endeavor stems largely from the messenger (the person who advertised the event last night).
Right or wrong – what was this doing in a youth rally?!?
Disclaimer: For the record the youth rally described above has nothing to do with Just for Jesus ministry.
