Old Titan 938 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Folks, there's a story on a USAToday website today that I have linked below, with one writer's opinion about ORU in general, and ORU's honor code in particular. It's an opinion piece that was bound to be written sooner or later, particularly since there is so much time between games this week, and ORU is an easy target for columnists needing content and craving attention. It may become a "thing" nationally in the near future; it may not. It probably will not be the last article, or podcast, or whatever in this vein before Saturday night. This article may make you angry. You may be tempted to verbally go after the messenger, who upon close inspection might appear an easy target. My advice: don't take the bait. Don't be goaded into sounding like the very stereotypes described in the article (as so many of the commenters on this Twitter post have failed to do). Take comfort in your beliefs, stand strong in your convictions, and be thankful that we live in a free society where everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it makes your blood boil. Most of all, let's not let our responses on this forum become a story in and of itself. EVERYONE on this forum has done such a great job this week, serving as an example of what we all aspire to be as fans of this athletic program, and supporters of this school. Let's prove to that small but significant portion of the college basketball world that visits our forum daily that we are better than this sort of thing. #RiseAboveIt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ORUalum 536 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 saw it earlier today.....was just surprised it took two days Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Keenan Henderson 68 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Yes good point OT. God will get a lot of glory out of this but their will also be some spiritual warfare. People will be stirred up to fight against what God is doing. As we know it goes with the territory. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Titan 938 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 1 minute ago, ORUalum said: saw it earlier today.....was just surprised it took two days Me too. Typically, this sort of thing is lazy journalism when it comes to covering ORU. Kind of like 900-foot Jesus jokes. Not so much, in this case - simply misguided, misinformed, and frankly, poorly written. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theeagleman5 518 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 USA Today....lol....let's face it....it's a miracle that paper still even exists....as a Communications Major at ORU back in the day we all know that USA today is a joke....TheEagleman hasn't read it in years and would never spend the $2 or whatever they charge to buy it....agree to just let the article go and let them have their say....USA Today not the first media outlet and won't be the last to take shots at ORU and our beliefs.....that writer needs prayer....so TheEagleman will say a special one for her tonight.....Proud of my Alma Mater to still stand tall in its' belief in the Lord and a Godly Lifestyle.....God Bless ORU and Go Blue!!!... 1 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Titan 938 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 Based on the way the link in the post at the top of this thread is loading, it appears the author may have deleted her Tweet promoting the article. That, or Twitter took it down... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasgrip 17 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Old Titan said: Based on the way the link in the post at the top of this thread is loading, it appears the author may have deleted her Tweet promoting the article. That, or Twitter took it down... A quick web search doesn't even list an article about ORUBB on USA Today in the last two days... EDIT: early yesterday, but not the story in question. Edited March 24 by Texasgrip clarification Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EagleFanatic 18 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 CBS got in touch with USA Today maybe, "lay off our ratings Cinderella." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Titan 938 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 Perhaps this particular editorial isn’t the feel good March Madness story we need right now? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otis 83 55 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 9 hours ago, Texasgrip said: A quick web search doesn't even list an article about ORUBB on USA Today in the last two days... EDIT: early yesterday, but not the story in question. If you go to ftw.usatoday.com this story is near the bottom of the page. I had to hit page down 2 or 3 times before I saw it. Based on the comments I saw on Twitter many are responding unfavorably to this opinion piece fwiw. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oruvoice 207 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Anyone care to paraphrase the content of said opinion piece? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasgrip 17 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Thanks, Otis. I found it. I'd never heard of the FTW column before. OT basically nailed it on the head above. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasgrip 17 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 2 minutes ago, oruvoice said: Anyone care to paraphrase the content of said opinion piece? She's pro LGBTQ+ That's the entirety of the piece. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/03/oral-roberts-ncaa-anti-lgbtq-code-of-conduct Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oruvoice 207 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Thanks Texas Grip. I couldn't find it. After OT's initial comments, I expected to be upset/angry after reading the article. But, I'm not. I mean, if we were Akmed Abdullah University that held fundamental Muslim beliefs (about homosexuality and other things), the article would have never been written and nary a word from the media. They scream TOLERANCE and DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT...as long as you think exactly the way they think. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Cornelius 404 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 15 hours ago, Old Titan said: and be thankful that we live in a free society where everyone is entitled to their opinion For now . But yes, it's good advice to simply ignore the corporate press - most people (even those with extreme opposing views) have more in common with each other than the media would like us to believe. *Moved this thread to 'Free For All' so it doesn't distract from basketball Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EagleFanatic 18 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Self censor, or be censored. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texasgrip 17 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 1 hour ago, oruvoice said: Thanks Texas Grip. I couldn't find it. After OT's initial comments, I expected to be upset/angry after reading the article. But, I'm not. I mean, if we were Akmed Abdullah University that held fundamental Muslim beliefs (about homosexuality and other things), the article would have never been written and nary a word from the media. They scream TOLERANCE and DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT...as long as you think exactly the way they think. 1 hour ago, Texasgrip said: https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/03/oral-roberts-ncaa-anti-lgbtq-code-of-conduct Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Titan 938 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 It felt to me like that entire article was written (again I say, quite poorly) with the sole intention of inflaming passions - on BOTH sides of the topic, with no regard for the "other side's" position. That's not "inclusive"; that's divisive, bordering on xenophobic. There's a similar article out there, much better written but again with an obvious agenda, from an SB Nation website called "OutSports". It poses some tough questions, but still it assumes the premise that everyone in America today should abide by the same moral compass as the author, or you're wrong and should be punished. If I missed that section somewhere in the Constitution, please advise... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TrueBlue82 253 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Wheaton Dean pushes back on previous op-ed, published today in USA Today... No, Oral Roberts University basketball doesn't deserve to be cancelled from NCAA Sweet 16 Oral Roberts University’s Cinderella story need not be another battle in the culture wars. Ed Stetzer Opinion contributor In the age of social media hot takes, apparently, we aren’t allowed to enjoy good things. Even a good sports story has to become a flashpoint in our ongoing cultural battles. In what has been called a Cinderella story, Oral Roberts University has made the Sweet Sixteen in NCAA March Madness. However, some in the crowd have been cheering for them to be banned rather than for them to win. In the most recent example of cancel culture, the mob has been coming after ORU — mocking their name, history, and beliefs as bigoted or homophobic. Some have even gone so far as to call for the NCAA to restrict such Neanderthals from playing, others saying they should be “pariahs, not heroes.” I spoke to the students of Oral Roberts University in 2019, in the times when we used to gather together in big groups. When I was there, I saw thousands of students passionate about their faith, their education, and their desire to make a difference in the world. Such religious faith motivates all kinds of good actions our culture wants, from disaster relief to Eric Talley, the officer who bravely gave his life running into King Soopers in Boulder earlier this week. Yet, the mob has come for these college students. And this is our new reality. Not Just Oral Roberts It’s easy to point out the eccentric elements of their history, but president Billy Wilson and the Oral Roberts faculty are well respected and the school is thriving. Yet, it apparently lacks the needed qualifications to play college sports today — a willingness to conform to the new moral dogma. The dogma teaches that tolerance must mean agreement, then branding all who disagree as intolerant and harmful. Not satisfied that we respect opposing views on human sexuality, all must affirm homosexuality as acceptable within our own theology. There can no longer be any disagreement, only compliance. This is a stunning 180 from the arguments we heard in 2009 when LGBTQ+ advocates maintained, “All we want is the right to marry. How will my gay marriage hurt you?” Now, it’s “We want your college accreditation, your athletic participation, and more.” Considering how much those who expressed concern a decade ago were mocked for advancing slippery slope arguments, the rhetoric deployed against ORU or in defense of the Equality Act suggests these concerns were underemphasized.. The Equality Act The calls to remove Oral Roberts from NCAA competition comes against the backdrop of Senate debates over the Equality Act. Proponents of the act want to say that the law will just keep the homophobes from harming the rights of LGBTQ+ persons, but that’s neither accurate nor honest. What we are seeing in the press is what the Equality Act will make into law. The Coalition of Christian Colleges, of which ORU is a member, explains: "The Equality Act fails to provide essential religious liberty protections that would allow a diverse group of social service and civic institutions to continue to thrive. In particular, as it relates to the sector of faith-based higher education that has religious convictions around marriage, human sexuality and gender, including CCCU institutions, these laws would conflict in ways that would put at risk their ability to hire and operate in accordance with their religious missions and would restrict student choice in an unprecedented way by preventing middle and low income students from being able to take their federal student aid to these institutions. Faith-based higher education has always been an essential element of the diversity of the higher education system in the United States—many of the first colleges and universities in the United States were religious—and it is essential that any protections for LGBT persons be paired with the essential religious freedoms that maximize freedom for all." And, this means that anyone who holds what is now a minority view on marriage and sexuality will face the new tolerance. That includes (as we were reminded a couple of weeks ago) Catholics, and still includes evangelicals, Mormons, Muslims and so many others. Moreover, even as popular rhetoric claims the mantle of the civil rights movement, they ignore voices of dissent from religious people of color. Only this past week, prominent African American Church leaders wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee arguing for religious exemptions to the proposed Equality Act. Published by the AND Campaign, led by Justin Giboney, the letter was signed by respected leaders including James Meeks, Bishop Claude Alexander, and Suzan Johnson-Cook. The New Tolerance is Not Tolerance This matters to me because what is happening to Oral Roberts University is coming to all of us who hold to such outdated ideas. I serve as a dean at Wheaton College, an evangelical institution where students commit to a community covenant. We, too, call students to a lifestyle in alignment with our Christian beliefs. We don’t hold quite the same standards as ORU, but ours won’t pass the new tolerance test either. I get that it’s easy to pick on Oral Roberts University. But I’d remind my fellow people of faith, nobody will get a pass on these issues if the dogma of new tolerance continues to take hold — so why not take a stand now? From Chick-fil-a, to the Salvation Army, to the baker in Colorado, we have to decide if we want to run everyone out of everywhere they dare go with their biblically-based ideas. Perhaps, instead of such a pendulum swing against people of faith, we could agree that all persons are worthy of dignity and respect, and that civil rights should matter for everyone. And, maybe, just maybe, we could let the religious college kids play basketball without it becoming a national controversy. That is what tolerance used to mean. Ed Stetzer is a professor and dean at Wheaton College, where he serves as executive director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center. 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Otis 83 55 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Thanks TrueBlue82. You beat me to it. I An pleased to see USAToday post a counter to yesterday’s piece. I thought this was well written and articulates well the perspective that “inclusion” often excludes opposing views which is the opposite of inclusion. To echo the theme we keep hearing from the team, we can hold to our biblical principals in love. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Titan 938 Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 It is stunning that USAToday.com had the courage to present this opposing (and eloquent) viewpoint. In the end, that's a victory: you are never going to get everyone to agree on most hot-button issues, which is what so many cancel-happy zealots ON BOTH ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM fail to recognize. What we CAN hope and pray for is UNDERSTANDING, and mutual respect, re: the issues upon which we can not find common agreement. Props to USAToday for at least taking a stab at "discussion-over-declaration". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TrueBlue82 253 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Spot on, OT. I have read that the backlash from the first article was quite significant, which opened the door for this VERY well-written article. So glad to see that it came from a "friend of ORU" on ORU's behalf. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ORUalum 536 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 oh boy, getting the Fox News treatment....shame this is becoming a culture war battle instead of marveling in what these young men from a tiny school have accomplished. i was really hoping that original USAToday editorial would just get ignored. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ORUalum 536 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 So the lady that wrote the cancel ORU column just got cancelled....fired for race baiting tweets after the last mass shooting. Karma????? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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