News-Record.com

I'm sure the Guilford College community as a whole is absolutely mortified that students at their college would do something like this. Too bad these young men didn't have more of the Quaker values that (one would hope) surrounds them to rub off on them.

There's no excuse for such unprovoked violence and animosity; if that was the case, and it appears from first info that it was (but there's always the Nifong factor). Their punishment (ooo, there's that ugly un-liberal word) should be appropriate and swift.

But Poor Guilford College; the Vatican of ultra tolerance, perfect pacificsm and liberal's liberalism, now has to deal with unorthodox aliens in their ranks. I suppose they'll just have to either get rid of the testosterone-infested football team or give them estrogen shots. Or better yet, send the whole team to Washington to sit in the Congressional chambers for a week to hear the pacifist, retreatist rhetoric of the new left Congress. Of course, we all know that Bush really caused the attack, as he did Katrina.

All political tongue-in-cheek aside; it was a sinful and stupid thing to do. As a conservative who knows G. C. I just couldn't resist a few jabs. Good school; bad theology.

So, what exactly would be the Christian apology for encouraging violent sport as entertainment? Was this something they inherited when they wanted to sway the Greeks and Roman gentiles?

"Turn the other cheek"...after smashing one's opponent. Then, after one of his teammates smashing you back...and on it goes. Fun, fun. And we train small children to do this. Granted, with padding, but the number of serious injuries is unforgivably high.

Now, did any of this physical and mental toughness indoctrination and desensitization contribute to this one particular instance of uncivil and potentially criminal action or assault? Hard to quantify.

I doubt the art students would have done it. Even the burly sculptors (they do exist...Michelangelo was known for his "terribiltà").

My comments about the football team were part of my little jibe at Guilford College, not an apology for the intense contact aspects of football, per se. GC has carefully constructed this image of pacifism and tolerance over the years and is ultra-sensitive about it. It’s just that their exaggerated and horrified response is somewhat amusing from a conservative point of view – as they scramble to repair their damaged PR.

I like football, and played it some as a youth; but it IS one of the most physical of the sports we play. However, I find soccer supremely boring and badminton even more so. And curling – well, what can be said? I will defend football because I think we have moved much too far in the feminization direction in our culture, despising manly exertion and assertion. Between feminism and gay activism we are fast becoming a wimpy and gutless culture.

A nation needs the development of military and sports culture to maintain a manly mindset. I’m NOT advocating brutishness, militarISM and ultra-machismo, just morally responsible, gentlemanly and godly manhood; which is not cowing, soft and effeminate; but is characterized by leadership, honor and responsibility. Rough and tumble sports is not for all men, of course; and many find other pursuits equally manly and rewarding. But we must not impose a feminine revulsion at aggressive sports on our young men.

It is my theological conviction that God created men to be aggressive and to rule in life; in the home, church and society generally. Women have their essential part in this rule, and may employ their talents and abilities in business and politics; but in the home and church men are clearly designed and called by God in the Scriptures to be in authority. The manly arts, such as football and boxing, may push the envelope, if not done according to set standards and rules, but at least they give vent to manly toughness, leadership and character development. I know, I know – what about these guys at GC. What about politicians in some countries who literally fight one another on the floor of their parliaments. Should politics be eliminated or outlawed? Mmmmmmm – now that’s worth pondering.

Know which professional careers have been shown to have the highest spikes of testosterone?

Actors & politicians.

Lowest?

Clergy.

I believe it! what with all the liberal,wimpo clerics I've heard over last few years, who don't have the testicular fortitude to boldly declare the truths of the Faith; or if they do have the libidinous attributes in question, it is sinfully misdirected. I think of the likes of Luther, Chrysostom, Wesley, Savanarola and Whitefield; all of whom exhibited the courage and manly fortitude of the Apostles. There's a lot of bluster and bravado on the tube these days, but precious little substance. So, although I don't know who put out those stats, or how they obtained them, I wouldn't be at all surprised - regretably. Actors and politicians, huh; now there's a match made in ....well.

Hey Nikos,
Are you talking about this Luther?
http://www.2think.org/hii/mlquotes.shtml

"A large number of deaf, crippled and blind people are afflicted solely through the malice of the demon. And one must in no wise doubt that plagues, fevers and every sort of evil come from him."

"An earthly kingdom cannot exist without inequality of persons. Some must be free, some serfs, some rulers, some subjects."

"As for the demented, I hold it certain that all beings deprived of reason are thus afflicted only by the Devil."

"As to the common people, ... one has to be hard with them and see that they do their work and that under the threat of the sword and the law they comply with the observance of piety, just as you chain up wild beasts."

"At Poltersberg, there is a lake similarly cursed. If you throw a stone into it, a dreadful storm immediately arises, and the whole neighboring district quakes to its centre. 'Tis the devils kept prisoner there."

"At Sussen, the Devil carried off, last Good Friday, three grooms who had devoted themselves to him."

"Demons live in many lands, but particularly in Prussia."

"How often have not the demons called 'Nix,' drawn women and girls into the water, and there had commerce with them, with fearful consequences."

"I almost feel like throwing Jimmy into the stove, as the priest in Kulenberg did."

"I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist."

"I maintain that some Jew wrote it [the Book of James] who probably heard about Christian people but never encountered any."

Sounds like a demented madman to me.

Why is this even called a hate crime? Ever watched a fight at school or in a bar? There are lots of words being thrown around, curses, insulting ones mother and gender heritage-more fun is when girls fight and call each other "girlfriend."
But, where is there a true pattern of hate? have these guys expressed hatred toward Palestinians before, formed a hate group or put up posters?
A few weeks ago (Tennessee) 3 black men kidnapped a young white couple, killed him and raped and murdered the young woman. Is that a hate crime or just the work of a few misguided people of color?

http://www.studentbmj.com/issues/03/05/news/139.php

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DF1438F934A25754C0A966958260&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=print

The second source is documented by Daniel Goleman, of "Emotional Intelligence" fame.

I'm sorry, but when compared to the happenings at UNJD (The University of New Jersey at Durham) this Guilford College story is just another example of GREENSBORING.

Rebel, no doubt, Luther was a real character with a loose tongue, but he got the job done. And any seventh grader can put together a collage of bad-day quips and out-of-context quotes by colorful and demonstrative types like Luther, Churchill, FDR or Reagan. I’m sure you could do a fine cut-and-paste job on the others I mentioned as well.

Even with all Luther’s obvious negatives, a more irenic and pusillanimous type, like Erasmus, would not have had the chutzpah to do what needed to be done. And Luther was certainly wrong, exegetically, about the pope and the book of James (historical sitz im leben is king here); but he did have the strength and courage to stand before princes and bishops in defense of Scripture and the Faith.

Not one of the personages of salvation history, who accomplished great things, was perfect. God used Moses, David, Paul and Peter (all of whom appear to have had more than adequate testosterone levels) to accomplish his will, despite their prior track records, personality quirks and moments of weakness. God’s empowerment is all the more obvious when their human weaknesses are seen – Luther included. Thus, NO ONE but the perfect Lamb of God could accomplish the perfect atonement necessary for “so great salvation.”