Volume 25 Issue 4: Evolve

Evolve

Terra Incognita PG. 4

A Faith (R)evolution PG. 10-11

VOLUME 25 ISSUE 04

A New Métis Aesthetic PG. 13

11 04 20

MEET THE

TEAM SBR

LETTER FROM THE

EDITOR

As the university schedule shrouds nearly every corner of each student’s life, taking a moment to realize the benefits of reflecting on your actions and how the world has changed will allow you to notice how far you have come.

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In this year alone, we have seen incredible amounts of evolution within the church, our university, and our societal norms. Taking the time to acknowledge and digest these changes is the best way to make sure that we move ourselves forwards instead of falling back into our previous ways.

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I observe this task of reflecting upon myself as one that is becoming less common. Like it or not, our lives only get busier once we enter the true “real world.” Families, relationships, and vocational objectives in life will swallow your time. In some of the most formative years of my life, I have realized that reflecting on the past while still keeping my focus on both the present and future has immeasurable benefits.

Finding time to reflect upon your life is one of the pillars in bettering yourself. Whether it manifests itself in deconstructing our ideas about faith or acknowledging our mistakes, we must dissect our beliefs and ways of life to evolve.

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MARS’ HILL

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MEDIA ADVISOR: Loranne Brown 22500 University Drive, Langley Twp, British Columbia, Canada V2Y 1Y1 marshill@gmail.com marshillnewspaper.com IG @marshillnewspaper Twitter @marshillnews facebook.com/marshillnewspaper

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Mars’ Hill is a student publication of Trinity Western University located on the traditional ancestral territory of the Sto:lo people.

Floated with funds raised by the Student Association, Mars’ Hill seeks to be a professional and relevant student publication, reflecting and challenging the TWU community, while intentionally addressing local, national, and international issues.

MISSION TO MARS

The mission of Mars’ Hill, as the official student newspaper of Trinity Western University, is to inform and entertain its readers, cultivate awareness of issues concerning the TWU community, and provide a forum for purposeful, constructive discussion among its members in accordance with the Community Covenant, Statement of Faith, and Core Values of the University.

EDITORIAL POLICY

Mars’ Hill encourages submissions and Letters to the Editor. Mars’ Hill reserves the right to edit submissions for style, brevity, and compatibility with the Mission, the Statement of Faith, the Student Handbook, and the Core Values of the University. Anonymous authorship of any material may be granted at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. Opinions expressed in Mars’ Hill belong to the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, Trinity Western University, its officials or its Student Association.

CONTRIBUTORS

Kaden Gamache Alice Jun Braedon Grover Sunnes Janae Gartly Amaris Henry Emmett Hanly Calvin Bergen Noah Rogers Sophie Holland Students of ART 451

DECLASSIFIEDS SUBMIT YOUR OWN AT MARSHILLNEWSPAPER.COM/DECLASSIFIEDS

What’s a good gender neutral phrase for “hey you guys”?

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I kinda miss the Himnal/Shevangelist

Hello Sarah Kate, would you marry me? TWU Crushes help me out!

Sometimes I just ain’t got nothing to say : / but I do love you

Boyle is the king of simping

shout out to the RA at 762965920lowhighmediumlowhigh

Yo Raj, whatsup yo Jenn Graves fan-club anyone??

Jenn Graves is the coolest person I know, I’ll be there. #JennGravesFanClub it’s a camera off kinda day actually im good with calculus now, but if youre good at organic chemistry you should hmu because a girl is struggling +1(401)2980274 we should rename declassifieds to triniTEA Watching Chapel in Robson lounge so they can shame me by waving to me in the mirrors as I go into the stair well Max Alstad ran me over with his scooter. (Just outside Reimer during a nap) the 5th Estate I’ll take road construction over the new speed bumps any day WE NEED FACE 2 FACE CLASSES BAAAACK!!

I just saw two boys on one scooter and I’ve never seen a truer bromance Charles Boyle I hope Ryan Warawa wins Too many people trying to be the Romeo to your Juliet, not enough people trying to be the Redcrosse Knight to your Una. - An English Major If you would buy a shirt that says “And what all” with Bob Doede’s face on the back, hit me up.

To my bike thief: I hope you enjoy my Bianchi as much as I did, I know I was not smart to leave it in the Robson Underground, be blessed.

If you know who stole my bike please tell security. y’all stop chasing freshmen some seniors are babies too Shrek is love shrek is life Sarah Kate is my girlfriend.

Happy birthday Luke! You are my favourite boy. From your favourite boy!

Frits Kuhn: uw aanwijzingen zijn hier Who else is overly excited for Christmas holidays this year? can i have a cute human throw rocks at my window to make me come down Shout out to all my fellow science kids doing labs online. You’re doing great sweeties I have no motivation to go to class!!!

Being a commuter is a great way to go on diet #progress Dear student, if you were scolded in class one day, I just want to remind you that the prof was very tired that day and it could have been anybody. I hope you feel better by reading this... Sincerely, your former classmate.

Quarantine in the nunnery must be scary Rachelle Vogel has the prettiest, most warming smile I have even seen and it’s not even close.

Lauv, lauv, lauv, lauf by LOAF - Aidan Gallagher Josh halladay is the white morgan freeman Ladies, if he’s completely open and transparent, keeps you in the loop about current events, and pays for your coffee, that’s not your man - that’s TWUSA. Why isn’t it called the ‘Fish Tank’? There is nothing bowl about that space.

Thank you guy who is in the room across from me for reminding me I am not the only one alone in a room It has me worried that BC provincial election didn’t make it into Mars’ Hill but the American one sure did. Let’s take a moment to remember to be British Columbians and even Canadians before we galavant off to the States.

We had two in depth profiles of local provincial candidates discussing the BC election, which took up just as much space as our American election content. We hope you’ll read the entire paper next time! -Mars’ Hill Is Luke Rattray single?

Mars’ Hill editors reserve the right to edit or reject submissions based on content and/or length. A printed submission does not necessarily reflect an endorsement of any kind, nor does it necessarily reflect the opinions of Mars’ Hill staff, the student association, or that of the University.

CONTRIBUTOR OF THE ISSUE: ALICE JUN WHERE ARE YOU FROM? South Korea.

WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL LATE NIGHT SNACK? Defrosted tuna sashimi with a sauce blended with red pepper paste, lemon juice, sugar and vinegar. Lots of South Koreans love to have this as a mid-night snack.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING? Vintage Baseball cap. Earth toned baseball caps always accentuate the outfit you’re wearing.

WHY DO YOU WRITE FOR MARS’ HILL? Not all, but usually people get bored or are not really interested in talking about deep topics-which is okay-so I just write to express myself and converse with people who might be interested in it. I like communicating with the audience by writing for Mars’ Hill. Also, I would like to be a writer one day. Don’t know how that is going to turn out, but it’s worth a try.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ARTICLE YOU’VE WRITTEN FOR MARS’ HILL AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Neutrality of Life. It is important that life can be everything and the fact that every aspect of life serves a purpose in a broader picture.

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE (FICTIONAL) CHARACTER AND WHY? Mulan. I admire how clever and brave she is.

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NEWS TERRA INCOGNITA: PANDEMIC ECONOMICS AND MODERN MONETARY THEORY GRACE GIESBRECHT

Stephanie Kelton, economist and author, explains Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) by quoting the Monopoly rulebook: “the Bank never ‘goes broke.’ If the Bank runs out of money, the Banker may issue as much more money as may be needed by writing on any ordinary paper.”

The classic example of this way of thinking is the Weimar republic, or Germany between The First and Second World Wars The republic printed money to pay the bills it owed as a result of the war. As Edwards and Mohamed describe, “hyperinflation set in and people needed wheelbarrows full of cash just to buy loaves of bread.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems that the government has pulled out its Sharpies and scribbled out new bank notes as quickly as it can to fulfill the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB), and the multitude of other government initiatives put in place to keep the economy afloat during the pandemic.

The war destroyed Germany’s production capacity. The government printed money in order to pay the war reparations placed on it by the victorious allies, and inflation soared. The lack of goods, labour, and capacity created rising inflation—not solely the excess of money itself, but when the amount of money did not match the productive capacity of the nation.

Such spending makes the government deficit skyrocket and many Canadians nervous, imagining future taxes will result as a way to match the rising debt. But MMT frames this phenomenon as something that is not as scary as it seems.

MMT argues that if there is still unused capacity in an economy—such as unemployment—government spending and accumulating a deficit is unlikely to result in inflation. It argues there is an important “happy medium” for national debt: too large, and available money outpaces the growth of production, and inflation rises. Too small, and unemployment rises.

MMT argues that countries that create their own currencies cannot “run out of money,” or default on debts. Government deficits, accordingly, matter less than many think. Due to the remarkable increase in government spending in an effort to fight the virus, a theory that once clung to the obscure fringes of economics has a place in the spotlight.

Phil Armstrong of York College in 2015 wrote that, “The existence of unemployment is clear de facto evidence that net government spending is too small to move the economy to full employment. [The government] must use its position as a monopoly issuer of the currency to ensure full employment.”

The monopoly issuer Armstrong describes is a nation with sovereign control over its own money. Essentially, the government can print money until the production capabilities of the country are operating at full capacity. The government can create jobs, and print money to pay the people in those jobs.

Another key difference between how MMT and traditional economics function is the role of tax. In traditional economics, governments are thought to function like a household budget: in order to raise expenditure, they must raise revenue and therefore taxes. Any expenditure, from fixing potholes to defence spending, not covered by revenue must be covered by borrowed money, and the government goes into debt. In MMT, the government creates the money that it spends—it does not derive from taxes.

Before the pandemic, this theory began to gain momentum with particular Democrats in the first stages of the 2020 U.S. primary election. Stephanie Kelton, economist at Stony Brook University in New York and one of the foremost theorists in the MMT school of thought, was an economics advisor to Bernie Sanders. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supported it as well, telling Business Insider that it “absolutely” needs to be “a larger part of our conversation.”

During the pandemic, governments of most developed countries (including Canada and the U.S.) have launched an accidental experiment in MMT by using government spending to lessen the prospective COVID-19 recession and support businesses and individuals faced with hard times. Such spending increases government deficits drastically in ways that concern many economists, according to Jim Edwards and Theronn Mohamed writing for Business Insider. It is a generally accepted belief that when government spending (therefore the deficit) increases, taxes must increase to pay it off.

MMT proposes that governments do not need to increase taxes to pay for expenditure. Instead, they can simply print more money.

The idea of printing money to solve problems is generally regarded as a terrible idea. Creating money leads to inflation, where the prices of goods in a nation skyrocket and the worth of that country’s currency as compared to others plummets. Most schools of economic thought adhere to this way of thinking.

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MMT does not understand the government like a household budget.

Instead of revenue, tax is used first as a means to keep citizens using the nation’s currency—if they have to pay taxes in Canadian dollars, for example, they have motivation to earn Canadian dollars. Second, tax is used as a method of controlling how much money exists in a given economy in order to control inflation.

Critics of MMT fall into two camps: one warns of the risks of hyperinflation, and the other sees little difference in MMT from mainstream schools of economic thought. The first flows, as Larry Summers writes in his critique of MMT, from the rhetoric on the ability to print more money. “As with any tax, there is a limit to the amount of revenue that can be raised via such an inflation tax. If this limit is exceeded, hyperinflation will result.” Other critics ask whether the political will to control inflation by hiking taxes will exist, and if the government will have the wherewithal and, in fact, the awareness of when government spending hits the upper employment limit.

All this theory to say, MMT is facing a time in the spotlight and, according to economist Robert Hormats, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced an “involuntary institutionalization” or MMT. COVID-19 has set the world on unprecedented territory in most aspects of life: economics is no exception. The experiment is already underway. Hormats asks: “What are the end results of this?” The question is, will MMT prove a successful economic path in handling the economic crisis caused by the pandemic? Hormats doesn’t know: “This is all terra incognita.”

POPE FRANCIS COMES OUT IN FAVOUR OF “CIVIL UNIONS” FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES

COLUMN: WHAT THE HONK?

GRACE GIESBRECHT

Gay marriage has been legal in Canada for 15 years. In many nations–– particularly those where the church is prominent in society (and often in government)––this is not the case. The Catholic Church traditionally opposes same sex unions, but Pope Francis’ recent comments on the topic are a change in tone.

In the documentary, “Fransesco,” Pope Francis supported for civil unions for samesex couples in an interview. Though he has suggested such a stance in the past, this is the first time he has stated it directly. The statement of support, however, may not be as revolutionary as it seems.

“Homosexual people have a right to be in a family,” Pope Francis said in the film, as reported by the Catholic News Agency. “They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it.” He goes on to say, “what we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.”

Criticism for this stance is abundant within the church. It appears to be a drastic departure from previous doctrine. Francis’ predecessor as Pope, Benedict XVI, differed drastically from this new stance, making the news by calling homosexuality “an intrinsic moral evil,” according to CNN. American bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, called quickly for clarification after finding Francis’ comments contradictory to the church’s teachings on same-sex unions. “The Church cannot support the acceptance of objectively immoral relationships,” Thomas said in a statement. “Individuals with same-sex attraction are beloved children of God and must have their personal human rights and civil rights recognized and protected by law. However, the legalization of their civil unions, which seek to simulate holy matrimony, is not admissible.”

But the comment is more than welcome by others in the Catholic church. Jesuit Father James Martin, who has advocated for LGBTQ+ people within the church in the past, told CNN that through such a comment Pope Francis is “creating a new space for LGBT people ... He’s saying it on the record and he’s being very clear. It’s not simply that he’s tolerating it—he’s supporting it.”

This sentiment echoes close to home for Trinity Western University students, as well.

OneTWU said in a statement: “The Pope’s statement reflects the diversity that has always existed within Christianity. Not just diversity of people, but diversity of interpretations… [We must] acknowledge the interpretational diversity, and create an environment where people are able to safely interact with each other, even if they’re diametrically opposed on certain issues. In a culture where people often lament how divided things have become, this is not only necessary, but one of the few chances the church has left to prove it’s a force for good, instead of a catalyst for division.”

Diversity of interpretation is a key element of the discussion of the LGBTQ+ community and the church. But differing interpretations of the Pope’s comments themselves are a major point of discussion. Such support for civil union laws should not necessarily be interpreted as a swelling of support for LGBTQ+ people in the church.

Marriage and civil union do not differ much in the legal protections they provide: they both form the legal and economic basis of a family unit. If the Catholic church were to create a policy on such unions, it would design a framework for predominantly Catholic nations to implement civil unions for same sex couples and allow them the same legal protection as heterosexual couples.

The difference between the two is ideological, rather than legal. Before he was elected pope, Francis served as the archbishop of Buenos Aires, and advocated in that role for civil unions in the effort to block a same-sex marriage law and keep marriage itself solely heterosexual, according to an interview in 2014. Barring a distinct change of heart, many commentators do not see the Pope’s support of civil unions as anything “new.”

WHAT THE HONK IS A CONFIDENCE VOTE? EMMA DYKSTRA

A confidence vote can be a terrifying prospect for a sitting Canadian prime minister.

Essentially, a confidence vote is taken on a major piece of legislation or other type of motion presented by the sitting government that decides the fate of the government. If the majority of the house votes against the motion, it means the house has lost confidence in the governing party, which sends the country into an election.

One of the most famous incidents of a no confidence vote in Canadian history happened in 1979. Joe Clark became prime minister in June, 1979, defeating Pierre Trudeau. As soon as Clark took office, however, he proposed a budget that aimed to curb inflation by slowing economic activity, which involved a four cent per litre gasoline tax. He lost by seven votes, sending the country into an election in December, 1979, where he was defeated by Pierre Trudeau. He had been Prime Minister for just seven months!

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had two close calls this fall: a vote on the throne speech, and a vote on the opposition’s motion for an anti-corruption committee that would investigate this summer’s WE scandal. Fortunately, the country was spared from going to the polls in a pandemic alongside our American neighbours.

Ludger Viefhues-Bailey, professor of philosophy at Le Moyne College and a visiting professor of Religion at Syracuse University, writing for the Washington Post, does not see Francis’ comments as a departure. Instead, he sees Francis standing in the lineage of popes past: professing love for the LGBTQ+ community as children of God, but drawing a “line in the sand” on the prospect of marriage.

“The current breathless excitement about Francis’s statement is thus somewhat unwarranted,” Viefhues-Bailey writes. But he still finds value in the stance: “I don’t want to downplay its strategic value for gays and lesbians living in governments in the grasp of toxic political Catholicism.”

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ARTS & CULTURE DORIAN ELECTRA: INCELS VS. THE WORLD EMMETT HANLY

Over the past decade, a complex phenomenon has been festering on the internet, and many will look back on this time in history as the rise of the “incel.” This term is a portmanteau of “involuntarily celebate,” which refers to a growing subculture of young men who feel they are incapable of finding a romantic or sexual partner. Often they feel they are owed love or sex from the world, and direct their chagrin specifically against the women they feel have rejected them.

The combo of the following “Gentleman / M’Lady” tracks lead us to understand how The Incel copes with the dystopian fantasy of their reality: by thrusting themself into a different fantasy altogether. In their head, The Incel is the perfect gentleman, the last in a dying breed of nice guys who would treat a girl right if they were only given the chance. The Incel imagines their ideal partner, yet, even within their fantasy, they cannot repress their misogyny. The Incel’s behavior, however, does not come from nowhere: it can be traced back from their parents and men of generations past. The track “Iron Fist,” is an example of this, presenting a toxic relationship where a man controls his partner through fear and physical domination. This track likely puts us in the shoes of The Incel’s father, from whom The Incel truly learned their hatred for women. The Incel is a natural progression of a cycle of violence; they are leftovers of an age of unquestionably dominant masculinity that is finally being challenged.

This learned behaviour not only affects how they see women, but the men around them, as demonstrated on the track “Barbie Boy.” All other men are simultaneously “Chads” and “soyboys,” being both perfectly tanned with sculpted muscles yet the playthings of women who rule their lives. Dorian subtly exposes The Incel’s beliefs as inherently contradictory: women are either perfect maidens or harlots, and the men out of their league are total simps.

Few established artists have tackled this topic outside of maybe a single song, yet genderfluid pop artist Dorian Electra has always been interested in deconstructing masculinity through their exaggerated, tonguein-cheek style. Where their debut album Flamboyant addressed presentational hypermasculinity along with its resulting psychological strain, Dorian’s sophomore record My Agenda––released like a biblical plague of frogs on October 23––dives into the deep end to explore the foulest of male attitudes all the while staying true to their signature brand of metal-tinged bubblegum bass.

The opening track, “F the World,” introduces listeners to a protagonist’s mindset, whom I will refer to as ‘The Incel.’ It paints a portrait of someone who is ruled by self-loathing and sexual frustration. The Incel of My Agenda blames their perceived low social standing on a belief that the shape of their skull makes them unattractive to women and lesser than other men. Instead of adjusting their own abhorrent personality, they direct their aggression in all directions despite the fact that deep down they know they are responsible for their situation. The song’s frenetic energy and manic autotuned vocal performance sets the tone for the rest of the album, which is immediately followed up by the title track, “My Agenda.”

“Sorry Bro (I Love You)” highlights an inherent queerness of The Incel–– their homophobia is juxtaposed with their homosocial impulses. If The Incel cannot stand to spend time around women, and does not accept the existence of people of alternate genders, then they must be spending all their time around men. Yet, The Incel cannot truly show love to their male friends without being being suspected of homosexuality, and uses masculine aggression in order to play off their actual feelings. This short but surprisingly tender song builds to one of the darkest points of the album on the interlude “Monk Mode.” The phrase “monk mode” refers to a form of self-isolation popular within incel communities, where abstention from all physical pleasure and social interaction is self-imposed.

This thrashy metal track feels like a violent reprimand for the moment of perceived weakness of the previous track. The Incel’s self-hatred grows more intense, leading into “Edgelord,” where The Incel seems to accept their role as the villain of their own story.This is chiefly expressed through The Incel likening themselves to the iconic Batman villain, the Joker.

The climax of the album comes in the song “Ram it Down,” which feels like The Incel’s last cry against this society that they so despise: queer people can do whatever they want, just so long as it stays behind closed doors. However, The Incel’s idea of allowing “LGBTQ+ ideology” to exist is to keep it from being celebrated and accepted in public at all. Ultimately, The Incel’s worst nightmare comes true, and all the “gay propaganda” in the world is shoved into their face, and they give in to what was really true for them all along. The closing track on the album, “Give Great Thanks,” is a dark resolution, where The Incel decides they deserve punishment for what they once believed, and they accept their humiliation with gratitude.

Now that we know how The Incel feels about the world, we are given insight into the way they see it. This track, featuring disco icons, the Village People, presents a parody of the “gay agenda” by describing a nigh-authoritarion LGBTQ+ world takeover through online blogs and pamphlets.

By taking the idea to its logical extreme––gay frogs and all––this clearly ironic bop highlights the inherent absurdity of the idea that gay propaganda is corrupting society. The Incel of My Agenda takes these ridiculous claims with dead-seriousiousness, and ultimately, The Incel becomes the author of this dystopian world they fear.

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My Agenda is a full-body experience––brazen and visceral in its presentation. It is over the top, and at times overwhelming, but one should hardly expect any less from Dorian Electra. This album presents a significant evolution in their musical storytelling as it tackles difficult subject matter while retaining the same entertaining songwriting from previous records.

And even beyond my reading of the album’s fictional narrative, there is much more to each song than what has been expounded in this lengthy analysis. It is exceedingly clear through Dorian’s innovative expression of themself and their own queerness that they revel in being the antithesis of cis-hetero society.

THE RONA: A WIDESPREAD LINGUISTIC EVOLUTION NOAH ROGERS

Covidiot. Social Distancing. Zoom Fatigue. How often did you find yourself using these phrases before March 2020? Likely not at all.

There was little to no context for them before COVID-19 was prevalent in our daily lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us in ways we could have never expected, and as a result, we adopted or invented these terms out of necessity as a social response to the pandemic.

ed meaning over time, often in response to a new circumstance.

The internet plays a vital role in modern linguistic evolution. With the rise of social media, it is easier for new vocabulary to catch on and gain a specific definition. Therefore, this new vocabulary often enters the general lexicon much quicker than in distant history.

As the world changes, so do the languages we speak.

We do not speak the same version of a language spoken 1000, 500, even 200 years ago. How does that happen? The environment we speak in changes. Language is constantly adapting to its environment, and this is often reflected through words taking on new meanings over time. Language is not static; it is a dynamic entity which is affected by all things surrounding it. A language is affected as its speakers are affected, whether it be a war, technological advancements, or a global pandemic.

For instance, the Online Etymology Dictionary states that the English word “meat” came from an Old-English root meaning food, nourishment, or sustenance, and only adopted the more narrow definition around the 14 century. This is an example of lexical narrowing, a process within linguistic evolution where the definition of a word becomes more specific over time. A second example is the word “catfish.” This word took on a new meaning recently, which Wikipedia defines as “a deceptive activity where a person creates a sockpuppet presence or fake identity on a social networking service, usually targeting a specific victim for abuse or fraud.” This was accepted into the general lexicon in the 2010s due to the awareness of such individuals’ presence. The use of the word with this specific meaning originated from a documentary by the same name. The documentary talks about a myth where “there are people in everyone’s lives who keep them alert, like the myth of how live cod were shipped with catfish in the same tanks to keep the cod active, ensuring the quality of the cod.”

This is a type of semantic change where a word gains a new, unrelat-

Terms like “zoombombing” or “quarantini” are more presently-oriented. Rather than be terms we already had, used, or knew existed, these words were invented to describe situations that had never occurred before––they are products of a unique linguistic evolution.

Our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are expressed through our words, whether they be spoken, written, or signed. Therefore, when we experience something new or unknown, it would be natural for us to create language that more effectively describes what we are experiencing. Language is spoken in a given environment and in a context that we understand, but when that context changes sometimes we have lexical gaps. These unprecedented circumstances are opportunities for the coinage of new words or phrases. As the saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

PODCAST REVIEW: THE HEART AND SEXUAL LIBERATION JANAE GARTLY Content Warning: abuse, violence, evangelical body politics, sex.

Kaitlin Prest, Mermaid Palace, and Radiotopia have come together to create The Heart, a narrative-driven podcast which pulls the listener into a raw and remarkably candid narrative of someone else’s intimate life. Originally named Audio Smut, The Heart tackles sexual liberation by putting the listener into a space as a fly on the wall, where they are alone in the room with the voice on the other end of the line.

More to the point––this is not acting. There are real conversations, real stories, and real encounters recorded gently for what feels like you alone. No mediocre music montages or sound effects; just a voice on the other end of the line. And no, The Heart is not porn. For all the folks at home confused by the distinction between empowering erotica and pornography: there are so many resources to inform you, but I am not one of them. Read a book.

At this point in my article, I should say that I am cis, straight, femme, and raised in the cultural landscape of conservative North American evangelicalism. This podcast is many things for me, and I acknowledge that it will be different to another human picking up the phone, listening in to The Heart’s audio files. I can only speak to my own experience of it, but The Heart has been a hand to hold through the rocky terrain of my exvangelical sexual landscape that I could not reach as a young person. Prest and other storytellers of The Heart are unapologetically candid: I have never encountered another person reflecting

on pleasure and curiosity so freely, without the residual vulgarity of patriarchal male-ness that so often soaks evangelical sexuality. I have spent so much of my life feeling disgust toward sexual male-ness, that The Heart felt like a deep breath.

For 15 to 40 minutes, you hear raw experiences and conversations about topics like hookups, relationships, loving your queerness, or exploring the body and sexuality. The Heart is unashamedly raw and steamy as hell, but it is also crushing. Storytellers on the show share experiences of abuse and trauma, of heartbreak and devastation.

From one episode to the next, the experience is harrowingly relatable in the most liberating and haunting ways.

Sexual liberation is a politic I will not settle over. It is the movement toward shame-free sexuality, where there is openness and autonomy for all sexual experiences and curiosities. It is a culture of positivity, celebrating radical embodiment. In the American evangelical landscape, shame soaks bodies to the point where the disclosure of abuse is often met with blame and disappointment. Where Christianity teaches fear of the body, and distrust of instinct and intuition, sexual liberation pushes back, putting the body at the center with inherent goodness and infallible worthiness.

The Heart pushes back, celebrating sexuality and the body.

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SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART: AN UPCOMING COLLABORATION WITH YOU THE STUDENTS OF ART 451: SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART ART 451 is an interdisciplinary project-based course centered on collaborative research and socially engaged art-making practices. Students research and produce original projects which rely on working together with participants; collaboration is critical to the existence of these projects. Many of these projects are located on the Trinity Western University (TWU) campus or in the Langley area, readily accessible to local students.

This is our invitation to you; our hope is that you co-create with us!

Calvin Bergen, Paige MacIntosh Dear Elder will document written correspondence between elementary schoolers and elderly patients in care, with hopes of addressing loneliness in eldercare during the pandemic.

Sarah Kate Davis Kinship/Place will be a large-scale neighbourhood tapestry weaving in Routley Park about identity and belonging. This piece will be created from materials gathered from the people in the local neighbourhood.

Hayden Huang Reconnect will record documentary clips from various participants in order to create a virtual community and carry out care and love during the pandemic.

Emily Goodbrand Empathy: To Walk in Your Shoes is an encounter with the stories of others through QR codes found in scattered shoeboxes throughout campus, and a corresponding walk prompting participants to reflect on their own need to cultivate empathy.

Documentation of the collaborative projects will be featured in the next issue. We hope you––yes you––will join us in these local art-making journeys. Follow us on Instagram @sociallyenagagedart.twu for more information about each of our projects and how you can get involved.

Andrea Franks A Walk for {the} Growth will be a meditative walk around the TWU pond with soundscapes that provide a window into the inner workings of forest life to gain understanding, which is the door to empathy.

Jennifer Funk The Affinity Walk will be a collaborative walking experience located in TWU’s backyard as a response to the human connection crisis in the world today.

SNL: SUCCESSFUL SATIRE AND EVOLVING COMEDY SOPHIE HOLLAND On October 3, 2020, NBC’s popular sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) returned to screens across the globe after nearly seven months of production being on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to NewsBreak.com, the show has now “found a loophole” in order to have a live audience –– paying their audience members as employees. The Hollywood Reporter explains that guests are required to undergo “a self-administered lower nasal antigen test” as well as a temperature check, and answer several routine COVID questions. Cast members were also expected to abide by health and safety protocol.

While physical distancing was not always possible on stage, cast members wore masks during both the quirky opening montage and the final scenes of the episode. Despite some viewers saying the new health and safety regulations overlooked several hazards and precautions, CinemaBlend.com suggested that SNL could be setting the precedent for other sitcoms to follow the same protocol.

The show kicked off its 46th season with Chris Rock as the guest host, infamously sparking controversy among right-wing viewers as he commented on Trump testing positive for COVID-19 by stating, “My heart goes out… to COVID.” As fans of the show undoubtedly understand, SNL has been made famous not only for its sketch comedy, but for its brutally honest socio-political satire. With such a variety of issues brought to light this year, SNL

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has now acquired months worth of topics to be transformed into snappy satirical content.

The opening episode began with a recreation of the September 29, 2020 Presidential debate, featuring Alec Baldwin reprising his role as President Donald Trump, and now featuring Jim Carrey as former Vice President Joe Biden. Furthermore, former SNL cast member Maya Rudolph launched a remarkably spot-on performance as Vice Presidential Candidate, Senator Kamala Harris. While this debate sketch provided the audience with laughs by poking fun at many of the arguments that occurred between the candidates, it also raised an awareness for the issues discussed in the actual debate, and more importantly, reflected on how the candidates responded to them.

Megan Thee Stallion was also featured in the episode as a musical guest, performing her hit song, “Savage.” The TikTok-famous tune has been a hot topic of 2020, as it also received mixed reactions from listeners regarding the use of the word “savage.” However, Megan Thee Stallion brought the house down with the song and managed to incorporate an empowering message regarding the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement: near the conclusion of the performance, Megan and her backup dancers stood onstage as the words “Protect Black Women” flashed on screen, followed by an excerpt from a 1962 speech by Malcolm X. Megan then went on to explain how Black women need to be protected and loved, saying, “at the end of the day, we need our Black women.”

While some may view SNL as simply another sketch comedy, it is much more than that. Through the use of comedy and satire, SNL tells cautionary tales, offers important political critique, and highlights public issues in a fresh way in the hopes of social reform, particularly in the United States of America. SNL is not just a comedic production of current events—its successful spoofs strike up important conversations. SNL has a history of receiving mixed criticism: some say the show makes light of serious issues, while others believe it is a critical reflection of our world through humor. But in the last decade, SNL has become significantly supportive of BIPOC, pro-LGBTQ+, and an overall socially-progressive show. While viewers come from a range of political stances and backgrounds, SNL is a worthwhile comedy for any viewer to invest in. As well as being thoroughly entertaining, the show teaches us compelling messages about the state of the world through humor in hopes that we strive for improvement.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: CALVIN BERGEN shoot digicams, like my Nikon Coolpix 950 (a 2.1 megapixel camera from 1999) every once in a while.

WHAT DRIVES YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS? I get inspired by ideas that I read about in creative nonfiction. Right now I’m reading Evocative Objects by Sherry Turkle, a collection of autobiographical essays about the emotional and thought provoking power of everyday objects. Those ideas fuel my fieldwork, the art that I’m making with antiques and about the history of the Sumas Prairie.

WHAT IS YOUR YEAR AND MAJOR? 4th year Art+Design Major.

WHAT IS YOUR ART FORM? Photography, both analog and digital. I have strong feelings toward film photography, though I’ve been shooting digital more recently to gain more freedom. Because I have a thing for obsolete technology I also

HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED AN ARTIST AWAKENING? TELL ME ABOUT IT. On my highschool’s yearbook team I was given assignments but also creative freedom with photography—it was then that I learned how to shoot, period. Working on a publication brought together writing and the visual, and that experience laid the foundation for my artistic practice as I see it today.

HOW HAS YOUR ART EVOLVED AMIDST THE PANDEMIC? I took up darkroom development right before COVID-19 hit and after packing my bags at TWU, I decided to establish a darkroom at home. In a way, it felt like the pan-

demic necessitated a more self-sufficient practice, and since then I’ve been developing my own black & white 35mm film. Coincidentally, my work now focuses more on my home on the Sumas Prairie.

WHAT IS ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR CREATIVE CAREER? When I turned my car into a camera by installing a camera obscura in it for ART 351: Intermedia. That course was a bit of a breakthrough, and it really got me thinking outside the box. The project, titled Lexus Obscura, was part-video art/part-installation, neither of which I expected myself to enjoy as much as I did.

WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO IN THE ART WORLD? Right now I’m lookin’ up to Ken Lum. I was recently introduced to his work by a prof, and I love the way he playfully incorporates the written word in his art: imagining the inner monologue of a photograph or conveying weirdly personal messages on works that appear as ordinary commercial signage.

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOUR ART? @calvinbergen on Instagram :-)

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT: K ADEN GAMACHE

HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED WITH VOLLEYBALL? My dad always coached at Mennonite Educational Institute (MEI) and so I would hang out with his teams in elementary school and then I started playing volleyball in grade six and played all the way through school and club teams.

HOW DID YOU FIRST HEAR ABOUT TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY AND THE VOLLEYBALL PROGRAM? Mostly because of my dad, he played here in 1995. I wouldn’t have gone to another school

to play volleyball. It was either Trinity Western University (TWU) volleyball or no volleyball at all.

don’t do small video rooms anymore and now we have intra-team scrimmages every Friday and those are super competitive.

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST VOLLEYBALL-RELATED ACCOMPLISHMENT? When I was in grade 11 I won the national beach volleyball tournament. That is probably my biggest personal achievement. Team wise, winning two national champions with the Spartans in 2017 and 2019 are probably my biggest team accomplishments.

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE VOLLEYBALL PLAYER AND WHY? Ryan Slater. I was able to play with him in my rookie year and now he is on the national team for Canada. He’s a great guy and was awesome to play with. My favourite setter is Micah Christenson, the U.S. national setter: he plays in Italy and I watch a lot of videos on him.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE A SPARTAN? For me, it’s an awesome opportunity to mix a passion for volleyball and be immersed in a culture of positive people and be part of a team that competes at a national level year in year out. I’d say I could’ve gone to another school and played way more but I chose TWU because I wanted to surround myself with a great group of guys and socially it has been awesome being able to bond with them over the years.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS THIS YEAR AS A STUDENT AND ATHLETE? For me this is my last year and there’s no real competition,so I want to give back to the team. My main goal is to love on the guys and give them the best experience possible with the team. I’m kind of treating it like it’s the best physical education class ever because I’m playing the sport I love with my best buddies.

I’m also a spiritual mentor on the team and so I’ve been really leaning into that role more as well.

HOW HAS COVID-19 AFFECTED THE VOLLEYBALL SEASON AND HOW DO YOU PLAN TO ADAPT TO IT? We normally have a two week training camp in August and we had some guys coming in and quarantining and so we started three to four weeks later. We played intra-team scrimmages and ended up playing the University of British Columbia (UBC) last week. The training has been no different and we do the exact same protocols as last year. However, we

ASSUMING YOU HAVE THE BASIC NECESSITIES, WHAT THREE ITEMS ARE YOU BRINGING TO YOUR DESERTED ISLAND? My guitar, I’m bringing my wedges for golf to work on my short game and hopefully get out of the sand, and also my fishing rod.

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A FAITH (R)EVOLUTION: DECONSTRUCTING A QUEERPHOBIC FAITH CARTER SAWATZKY

The Christian Church today remains insistent on avoiding accountability for its ongoing queerphobia. In the context of Trinity Western University (TWU), community members and student leaders are still required to adhere to a community covenant that explicitly defines marriage as “between one man and one woman.”

In February this year, Mars’ Hill Newspaper covered the story of a queer student––anonymously named Quinn––who recounted their traumatic experiences of living on-campus. In the article, “Dorm Trauma,” Quinn describes the rampant homophobia and hazing that went on in their men’s dorm. “Dorm Trauma” served as an important reminder that queerphobia is alive and well at TWU. On-campus dorms have proven time and time again to not be safe spaces for queer students, and the unchanged community covenant has proved to aid in queerphobic sentiments against LGBTQ+ students. These anti-queer theologies actively harm members of the TWU community.

Evolution is a natural part of many people’s faith journeys. Deconstructing Christians begin their faith evolution for a variety of reasons, and they often pay a great price in undergoing deconstruction including the loss of family, friends, community, their previous conception of God, and even their own identity. The journey is not something they engage in lightly. While critics of the movement characterize people of the growing movement as uneducated and disinterested, deconstructing Christians are often the furthest from this portrayal. Their esteem for truth is so earnest that they are no longer happy to accept things at face value; it is almost always their passion for faith and love that inspires them to reevaluate their inherited beliefs.

This kind of faith evolution is often isolating and lonely as it is very hard to find others going through a similar process in their own area. Many deconstructing Christians are left to find community online as best they can.

In my own faith exploration, deconstruction has served as an opportunity for vital reorientation. I thought for years that I was among the minority in Christian circles, however, finding online communities with similar experiences of disillusionment provided a remarkable consolation. Rather than a simplistic stripping-away of beliefs, my faith deconstruction has allowed me the space to stay curious and open to change; as I felt free to examine Christian theologies in these non-judgemental spaces, my faith was refreshed from its core.

How then, does one reclaim the Christian identity of their childhood which has caused clear harm and religious trauma for the queer community? It’s not so easy.

Faith deconstruction, a trend of evangelicals doubting, re-thinking, and reevaluating their beliefs and relationship with The Church, is now one of the fastest-growing religious movements. The Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Studies reports that the deconstruction movement is growing at at least double the rate of the evangelical church.

Renegotiating Faith––a study of young adults from Christian faith backgrounds in––asserts that approximately one in three young adults raised within the Christian faith will deconstruct their faith by the time they graduate from university. While deconstructing one’s faith can lead to agnosticism and atheism, it can also lead to a strengthened faith.

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When I first met Danielle Snider, a TWU alumni who graduated in 2012 as a theatre major, for our interview over Zoom, it was the late evening and her two young kids had already gone to bed. Located in her beige bedroom, Danielle appeared excited to meet despite a long day. With my mid-semester espresso in hand, we jumped into conversation to discuss the developments of her recently evolving faith. Danielle tells me how her journey in becoming theologically affirming of LGBTQ+ folks was 15 years in the making.

Danielle was raised in the Pentecostal church.

She had several gay friends in high school and jokes, “I was in theatre. You can’t do musicals without bumping into at least one gay man.” While at TWU, she knew of gay students, but “didn’t make their problems [her] problems.” At the time, she was familiar with few affirming Christians and had little idea that queerness and Christian faith could be integrated. She remembered wrestling with the questions of how to factor LGBTQ+ people into her worldview, and for those 15

years, she pushed the “queer question” away from her thoughts. She says, “I didn’t have answers and I didn’t want to take the time to really search them out. As a privileged, cisgender, white woman, I had the luxury of being able to ignore the issues with a you-do-you attitude. I loved my gay friends, but it took years for their pain to make me face my own discomfort in addressing the beliefs taught by the church.” For over a decade, Danielle did not hold a solid statement on sexuality and faith: the theology of her childhood and her conscience were in conflict.

That is, until she and her husband moved back to Canada from Bangladesh. After spending five years abroad as a missionary with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, Danielle found herself returning back home in January to live with her in-laws because of unforeseen immigration and citizenship issues. Once home, she found herself unemployed and overwhelmed with the amount of free time on her hands. She then realized she could no longer ignore the hard questions: “if I really say that I love these people, I can’t sit back and say it’s a problem between them and God. If we’re truly all siblings in Christ, then it’s my burden to take on, too.”

Since deciding it was not good enough for her to stay in the background on these matters, she dove deep into the world of affirming theology––from Matthew Vines and The Queerology Podcast to Sarah Bessey and Matthias Roberts, Danielle read every video, book, and podcast that she could get hold

COLUMN: TWUSA SO, YOU WANT TO START A CLUB MARITHA LOUW

of; “I had to ask the difficult questions and be open to the possibility that what I’d been taught as a child wasn’t true.” Danielle did not shy away from change even when it caused a strain in relationship with her parents: “people were telling me to go against my conscience when the Spirit had already convicted me that the church’s mistreatment and exclusion of LGBTQ+ people was wrong.”

When asked how she replies to those who critique her evolving faith, she says, “What do I tell my gay friends then? That they don’t deserve love, family, and a life like mine? If I’m not willing to take up lifelong singleness, then how can I tell someone else to do such a thing?”

Her love for theatre is deeply linked with her journey to become affirming of queer lives in the church: “the reason I’m passionate about theatre is because I’m passionate about stories. You can have all the hypotheticals in the world, but when you hear a person’s story, things become real.

Lofty ideas don’t work anymore. It’s about seeing ourselves in people and seeing God in others’ lives.” For inspiration in her faith evolution, Danielle refers to Jesus’s two greatest instructions––to love God and to love one’s neighbours. Through her journey of reconfiguring her beliefs, Danielle evaluates how the path has been tough yet unexpectedly rewarding: “this process of evolving and deconstructing is like taking away speckles that cover up the Image of God. All of these little questions, doubts, Bible verses that don’t make sense, are all speckles that got in the way of me really believing the things I said I believed.” Danielle’s path forward is one of authenticity: “I may not have all the answers, but I can be honest with myself now. As I make peace with each speckle, they start to disappear. With every speckle removed, I begin to see God clearer and clearer—I’m seeing God in new ways.”

ence and story. If I still have the faith of my five year-old self, there’s a problem.” She recognizes how her faith was able to grow firmer through these hard questions: “all these things have made me strong and actually believe what I’m saying.”

Danielle’s journey of evolving faith is not stopping at affirming the autonomy of LGBTQ+ folks in the church: “I really wanted my adoption of an affirming Christian perspective to be the end of my deconstruction with the rest of my faith remaining untouched––but no. Everything else is connected. I thought that I’d already made my faith my own, yet I realized that there’s still so much to be unpacked.” Her faith evolution now informs her decisions on where she finds her church home.

Before her deconstruction, it used to be the style of worship music that was her breaking point: now she asks, “who is excluded from your table? And I don’t mean they can sit in your pews without being stared at––I mean who’s not allowed to sit on your eldership board or lead a ministry? Whose opinions are disqualified, dismissed, or ignored? Who is not represented in your decision-making? Because we are all Image Bearers and we are all the Church.”

Danielle’s story demonstrates how deconstructing her faith has led her to finding spiritual regeneration and fresh perspective. Her advice for TWU students on a similar journey of faith reevaluation is to not to hide from the questions, but to instead ask them boldly. In the rethinking of inherited beliefs, Danielle encourages students to be patient with themselves.

She challenges the TWU community to take on a generous imagination and a radical empathy for others’ stories: “our faith should never stop evolving––an evolving faith is a strong faith.”

You have come to the right place! Clubs are an essential service of the Trinity Western University Student Association (TWUSA), and we are so proud to say that clubs are fully operational this year! Sure, things may look a little different, but if you want to start a club, here are some basic steps to follow: 1. On our website you will find the Club Ratification Request Form––fill this out and send it to the VP of Academic Relations (maritha.louw@mytwu.ca) 2. This will be discussed at the weekly Proposal Advisory Committee meeting, where if we have any questions about the club, we will reach out to you before sending it to the TWUSA Business Meeting to be voted on.

3. Every Tuesday we have the TWUSA Business Meeting (TBM) where the TWUSA Council votes on proposals like club ratification requests or funding requests. You or a representative of your club will need to be present (on Zoom) to help answer any questions that the Council may have about your club. Don’t worry, it sounds a lot more intimidating than it is!

4. If the Council votes in favour––congratulations! Your club is ratified and you can start planning events and meetings!

Due to the pandemic, any club events that are being held in-person need to go through a vetting process by the Health and Safety Taskforce––these forms can be sent to your club president by either the Vice President of Academic Relations (VPAR) or a Faculty Representative.

If you, your friend, your classmate, or your pet fish want to start a club, feel free to email me!

I would love to see an increase in the number of clubs on Trinity’s campus this year, despite the health and safety limitations. It is entirely possible to start a club, make friends and connections, and stay safe.

Keep being positive and testing negative.

Reflecting on the beliefs of her younger self, Danielle does not esteem the virtue of an unshakeable faith. “As we encounter new situations, they should affect the way we see things; we are people of experi-

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OPINIONS NOT GOING HOME MAKENA WARDLE

When I was in my teenage years, I heard many whom I admired in my life tell a similar tale when confronted with the topic of women in church: “men and women are created equal, but they have different roles.” As a young and heavily impressionable individual, my thoughts on the topic were formed around these words which echoed inside my social circle. As I have grown up, however, I have become increasingly uncomfortable with the idea that the strong women in my life should merely pack their God-given leadership qualities into boxes of conformity, store them in the church basement, and, in the words of Pastor John Mcarthur to Beth Moore, “go home.”

is a strategically-placed bandage which covers the wounds of thousands of years of exclusion of women within the church. The problem still remains that women are restrained, controlled, and pushed away from the pulpit.

I have seen young women in church settings be told that they are not allowed to preach to a mixed gendered group for the sole reason that they are female. I have heard women tell other women that their place is not as a leader, and that this should simply be accepted. I have listened to leaders imply to young girls that, though they are just as important in God’s eyes, their prominent leadership skills must be stifled.

This topic is a tricky subject to dive into without opening up a torrent of theological conversations, and I will make no attempt to bombard you with theological facts or biblical passages. However, as a woman who has grown up in the evangelical church, I feel equipped to share the evolution of my opinions on gender and leadership in the church.

Once I realised how uncomfortable I was with the sugar-coated patriarchy I often saw within the church, I started to read and study other perspectives on the topic of female church leadership. N.T. Wright, a prominent theologian, former Anglican bishop, and current Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall at the University of Oxford, was one of the voices whose writings validated my personal convictions.

Through his paper, “Women’s Service in the Church: The Biblical Basis,” Wright showed me that if you still want to adhere to the infallibility of the Bible, a strong argument can quite easily be made for women in high places of church leadership.

Though there are evangelical churches that have started to give women the same level of power within the community as men––this is not the norm. There have been attempts, often well intended, to elevate women in church leadership while still withholding power and authority. Many evangelical churches allow women to be children’s pastors, care pastors, womens’ pastors, and other similar roles, which are all worthwhile and necessary positions. Yet, this illusion of inclusivity

I am often thrown by the fact that this is still a discussion we need to have in the year 2020––why are we still questioning the validity of a woman in power? I am not naive enough to believe that full equality within the church is the stance that a skeptic reading my words will adopt immediately. However, I am hoping they prompt you to ask yourself a critical question: why would we not want to evolve our communities to air on the side of inclusion as opposed to exclusion?

ALL AROUND YOU LIV WALTON

“Close your eyes and I will describe a color and then you have to guess what it is,” my friend explains, “This color is all around you, but you may not always notice; it is in living things” I was stumped, “Hmmm — I honestly have no idea what color you are describing.”

“I’m talking about the color green!”, she said.

Finally, I got it, “Oh! That makes so much sense.”

This is a conversation that I had with one of my good friends last October. It was a rainy day and the color green was all around us. It was so obviously there and yet overlooked at the same time. After this conversation, I could not get my friend’s description out of my head. The way she talked about the color green stuck with me. As I mulled over the details of our conversation, I came to understand why it settled so deeply with me: God is like the color green. He is always there, in living things and yet we do not always acknowledge him. This, I feel, is especially easy to do in predominantly Christian environments—such as Trinity Western University (TWU)—where faith and belief are assumed.

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With conviction on my side, I made it my goal to start taking notice of God in my various environments. As I began to search for God, I found him in so many places and things. I saw His promised new beginnings in the sunrise and sunsets. I felt His power in the ocean at White Rock. I saw His creativity in the North Vancouver forests. However, the most impactful place I found God was in the people around me, but it was not about who is saved or not. I saw God in people who demonstrated His characteristics; those who give, care, love regardless and the list continues.

This is my story of a personal evolution. By way of one simple conversation, I changed my outlook on life for the betterment of my mind and heart. By observing the God-qualities in others, I began to reflect on them in myself. When I see God in somebody, no matter who they are, I know that is the kind of behavior I want to emulate because I want others to see God in me.

SCIENCE IS NOT YOUR OPINION JANAE GARTLY

Growing up, I remember being told that the earth was made by God in seven days, that the first creatures of the land were the animals and plants that we recognize today, and that humans were there at the birth of our planet. We know this story — everyone does. I also remember being confused right away, wondering how dinosaurs could fit into this story, when I knew that humans had never coexisted with prehistoric creatures. These pieces would not fit together, no matter how hard I tried to force them. My parents told me that the Bible was being poetic when it told of a seven day creation, but as I grew up, I would continue to encounter people who insisted on literal creationism.

a lecture listening to Ken Ham debate pseudoscience and creationism with Bill Nye, completely ignoring nearly every scientific method and metric in favour of the “miraculous.” I sat laughing at the absurdity of the arguments in the face of scientific evidence, and assumed the purpose of this rabbit trail was to drive home how important it is to observe the evidence provided from the scientific method. At the end of the lecture, I was in disbelief that the professor neither affirmed nor rejected either party. It was ambiguous as to whether this biologist believed in biological evidence.

As I walked through the threshold of scholarly sanctuary, I had hopes that science would prevail in this here hallowed institution of academia: Trinity Western University (TWU). Most of the time my assumption was correct, until my last semester, where I least expected it.

I am not here to throw shade or mock—I am here to ask questions.

How is this acceptable in a post secondary institution? When people belittle my degree by saying that I learned a censored and christianized set of curated information, I tend to agree. At any other institution, teaching false and disproven science is unacceptable, but in the name of theology, TWU allows it and even encourages it.

In my 100 level biology course, taken for core credits as a senior pining for graduation, I have sat in lecture after lecture listening to our professor give space to creationism in scientific discourse. We sat for

Evolution is a hot topic for a lot of people. There are also facts that must be integrated into the worldviews of our educators that are not optional: seven day creationism is not science, it is an opinion.

A NEW MÉTIS AESTHETIC EMMETT HANLY

When one considers what it means to be Métis (defined as being a person of mixed Indigenous and European blood with ties to historic Métis communities), what images are conjured in the mind? What iconography is associated with a contemporary Métis identity and what do those things communicate?

As a Métis person myself, I have been pondering these questions over the past several years. The obvious answers to these questions are the infinity flag, our sashes, and the red river cart. Old-style fiddle is played at most major gatherings, and without fail there is someone teaching a jigging lesson or a few words in Michif, at least in my experience. These traditions and a preoccupation with our histories and lineages seem to be the defining aesthetic elements of the Métis people. I find that I cannot help but wonder why this grip on the past is still what defines who we are today, and how can an aesthetic be further developed in a contemporary environment?

I think that the reason Métis culture is concerned with our past is due to the inherent paradox of our existence. Many Métis people of today, myself included, can easily pass among white settlers and have fully assimilated into white Canadian culture. Yet, we still are our own nation of people who have been historically oppressed in this country by the settler class. Our traditions and the interests of our ancestors helped separate a culture to be our own and gave us something to hold on to that was not fully colonized. Our lineages prove our connection to the Indigenous people of this place.

Our sashes specifically have deep meanings that hearken back to when our nation began, initially being a multitool of forts for Métis voyageurs and fur traders. The deep red colour specifically symbolizes our mixed blood which was shed in the battles we fought against the Canadian government in the North-West Rebellion, in order to be recognized as our own people with rights and legitimacy.

Yet, I see few Métis people of my generation incorporating the Métis sash into their daily dress, and less and less of us are learning the fiddle or learning to jig. Unfortunately, these things clash with contemporary fashion and tastes of Gen Z. While other Indigenous groups across Canada have found ways to incorporate their culture into the 21 century, I cannot quite say that the Métis have done this to the same cultural effect as other Indigenous peoples. So, what is the answer? Do we all start wearing sashes everywhere we go? Or can we come up with something new and original that calls back to our history while still appealing to what suits our generation?

I want to encourage my fellow Métis young adults and youth to develop our own new Métis aesthetic, where we can take our traditions and history and bring them into the 2020s. We can decolonize our own personal aesthetics and create something wholly unique to the Métis, just as we are a unique people. We have the opportunity to create our own art and music that is identifiably our own, so let us not waste this opportunity. We are not only our past, we are our current nation, and we are the only ones who can define our identities and what it means to be Métis.

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SPORTS

FROM REFUGEE TO CHAMPION: THE RISE OF ALPHONSO DAVIES LUKE RATTRAY

Alphonso Davies is one of the most valuable defenders in the world, and his rise to that point has been nothing short of incredible. Davies was born in a refugee camp in Buduburam, Ghana after his parents had fled from their homeland of Liberia during the Second Liberian Civil War, which saw more than 450 000 Liberians removed from their homes. When Davies was five, his family moved to Canada and settled in Edmonton, Alta.

From there, Davies went on to join the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency (their youth academy team) in 2015 and eventually signed a contract with the Whitecaps’ first team in 2016. He made his professional soccer debut that season and became the second youngest player to play in the Major League Soccer (MLS). While playing for the Whitecaps, Davies was easily one of the best players on the team from the time he made his debut. He was often utilized on the wings, and used his speed, dribbling, and agility to get away from defenders, creating spaces for his teammates. Davies had caught the eyes of some of the English Premier League’s (EPL) top clubs, including Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool, having scored eight goals and assisted on ten occasions in thirty-one appearances for the Whitecaps.

ends Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben were still playing considerable amounts despite their age, and Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman were looking to be their replacements. It seemed that the best option for Davies would be to go on loan to a different club to get playing time and experience.

In the 2019/2020 season, fans of Bayern Munich saw Davies earn his place among the starting lineup in the club. Early on in the season, defensemen like Niklas Süle and Lucas Hernandez missed considerable amounts of time due to injury, which led to Davies having an opportunity to step into that role. The manager at the time, Niko Kovač, decided to deploy Davies at the left back position, a position that he rarely played throughout his career.

Despite the challenge of rarely playing defense in his soccer career, Davies rose to the occasion, seized the opportunity, and thrived in the position. Davies’ performances in the season were solid as well, having scored three times and assisted on four occasions in twenty-nine appearances in the Bundesliga. For a 19-year-old playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world and being thrown into a position that he has never played before, that production, from a statistics point of view, is quite impressive. However, Davies really established himself as one of the more consistent Champions League players on the Bayern Munich team, and one of the best left backs in the world.

Davies showed incredible talent in two specific plays throughout Bayern Munich’s perfect run in the Champions League in 2019/2020.

One of them came against Chelsea in the round of 16 where Davies went on an incredible run and beat three Chelsea defenders before effortlessly setting up Robert Lewandowski for a simple finish to make it 3-0 on aggregate. The other moment came in the infamous 8-2 win against Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the competition where Davies skillfully beat Nélson Semedo off the dribble before setting up Joshua Kimmich for an easy tap in. In his Champions League campaign, Davies had four assists in only eight appearances in the competition.

However, no English club picked up Davies. Instead, it was the German giants Bayern Munich that acquired Davies in the summer of 2018 for $13.5 million USD that set a then-record of the most expensive transfer in MLS history. Davies scored his first goal for the club and became the youngest goal scorer for the club in twenty years.

When Davies first arrived at the club, there was a bit of skepticism towards him getting playtime. The main reason for this was because of the amount of depth that Bayern had in the wing positions. Club leg-

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Bayern Munich’s Champions League campaign was monumental, as it is the only team in the competition’s history to post a 100 percent winning record across all of its games. Without a doubt, Davies played an instrumental role throughout Bayern Munich’s campaign.

Davies not only put himself on the map, but he also put Canada on the map of world soccer. From growing up as a refugee to winning one of soccer’s most coveted trophies, the story of Alphonso Davies is nothing short of remarkable.

WORLDS APART: A CONNECTION BETWEEN NORTH AMERICAN AND SOUTH KOREAN CULTURE ALICE JUN

North America and South Korea may appear to be two completely separate worlds. However, it can be argued that North American sports culture and South Korean societal culture are related through parallel environmental factors: there are more similarities between the two cultures than most may realize.

Firstly, the two cultures are similar in an interpersonal aspect. An example of this is the straightforward method of personal communication. While the athletes are being trained, the coaches are straightforward and directly inform the athletes of their errors so that the feedback is precisely conveyed to ensure safety and efficiency for the athletes. The athletes accept the candid instructions that the coach gives which results in unambiguous communication. South Koreans are straightforward when commenting on people’s appearances, the achievements of others, and when venting raw feelings to close friends. The straightforward nature of the sports culture in North America creates a forthright dynamic team culture within the North American sports community, which is similar to the straightforwardness seen in South Korean culture.

Secondly, the North American sports culture and South Korean culture are analogous in their sense of intimacy. The importance that is placed on a group oriented mindset results in a community based culture. Team sports such as hockey, baseball, volleyball, and soccer build this communal attitude because they require teamwork and uniformity. On the other side, South Koreans work together day and night in schools and offices due to prolonged work-periods. The mono-cultural nature in South Korean culture that impacts the existence

of conformity mirrors North American sports culture from a communal point of view. Moreover, there is a shared sense of humour between two cultures. A somewhat deprecating and mischievous sense of humour is an outcome of the sports environment and may also be equivocal to South Korean humour. This humour is showcased through giving headlocks to friends, teasing one another, and having straightforward opinions that may be humorous due to the candid nature of these interactions.

Lastly, the North American sports culture and South Korean academic culture adopt intense training in order to produce excellence. The goal of competition in North American sports culture is, quite obviously, to win. This is mirrored in South Korean Academic culture because South Korean schools have a competitive grading system where students are evaluated in a stricter manner. With the goal of attaining excellence, both the coaches and teachers adopt physical disciplines in an attempt to help the protegees achieve their potential. The tough environment that both South Korean students and the athletes in North America have to go through causes them to become both emotionally tough and resilient through hardships.

The extremely competitive system that North American athletes and South Koreans endure and overcome is a key correlation between the two cultures Despite some differences between these two groups, the similarities of North American sports and South Korean society is a reminder that maybe we are not all as different as we might think.

COLUMN: TAKE OF THE ISSUE TOMPA THE UNSTOPPABLE

TYLER JONES

You may hate to see it, but Tom Brady might just win his twelfth consecutive division title in this 2020 season. After spending 19 seasons with his beloved New England Patriots, Brady was sick of dominating the league in Boston. Instead of riding off into the sunset as a six-time Super Bowl winner, Brady has reasserted himself in the chase for yet another one. Taking over as the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady has looked mightily impressive throughout the first half of the season. Equipped with the best group of wide-receivers in the National Football League (NFL), Brady seems to have found himself in an even better situation with Tampa Bay.

Fans of the NFL can only ask one question while the season progresses: will Tom Brady bring Tampa Bay its first Super Bowl since 2003? As Brady has the city of Tampa Bay taken by storm, please refer to it as Tompa Bay while we witness another season of greatness.

The world saw the noodle-armed Brady of 2019 rear his gorgeous head into a first-round exit during last season’s playoffs. Skeptics relished the prospect of Brady’s reign being over, but he has been no slouch this season. In fact, Brady has played well enough to weasel himself into the conversation as a contender for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award.

With one of the most talented rosters in the league surrounding Brady, the Buccaneers are shaping up to be a true contender in the 2020 season. Brady shows no signs of slowing down at the age of 43—if anything, he looks far better than he did in previous years.

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HUMOUR

THE FREE SHRED ALLIANCE BRAEDON GROVER SUNNES

It takes a brave man to urge peace on the brink of war. I commend you, Kay. Though I could counter your arguments, another issue has made itself evident to us here in the No-Handlebar Headquarters (NHHQ) that may unite Scooters and Ripstiks once and for all. As our factions have been involved in a trench war each day, fighting for territory, we both have been losing valiant men come nightfall. Upon further investigation, my scouts have come back shaken and ready to drop from the No-Handlebar cause. After days of recuperation, my men were finally able to share details of this new adversary––fines.

protested. Denying the fact that we had ripped up any underground parking lots, security insisted this rule be extended to roadways and parking lots. To prove them wrong and seek justice for ourselves, we proceeded to consult the Student Handbook, but it seems our own hubris has come to bite us in the bottom.

While on our regular tracks around the Trinity Western University (TWU), there have been threats of damnable fines. These streets that we have called home for years, given new life by hard working construction workers, are being chaperoned day and night. At first we

So what will it be, Kay?

Scoot or get Scooted?

AMARIS HENRY 16

This is an official olive branch from the NHHQ to the Peaceful Razor Scooter Association (PRSA) to band together as the Free Shred Alliance (FSA) and defeat our common enemy: The TWU Student Handbook.

AMARIS HENRY

CHRISTIAN PARENTS DENOUNCE POKÉMON DUE TO USE OF EVOLUTION IN GAME TYLER JONES On October 27, 2020 I had the privilege of interviewing Ralph and Darla Smith, who are loving parents of their three children: David, Goliath, and Ishmael. As an interventionist-style interviewer of Christian families, I was directed towards the Smith family by a dear friend of mine. My friend claimed that the Smith family had a severe dilemma on their hands. Without any hesitation, I reached out to the desperate family.

After a few minutes of discussing normal matters besides the problem, Ralph and Darla quickly revealed the issue that they were facing.

“We have found our son, Goliath, committing an excessively horrid act.”

I was immediately astounded at the emotion carrying in her teetering voice.

Looking for answers, I asked her to explain what this exact vice was.

“It… it’s Pokémon.”

Ralph explained that he was playing the game with his son, not knowing the extent of the scientific brainwash the game would spring upon his child.

Ralph carried on, stating that Goliath had defeated the Rustboro City gym on Pokémon Emerald using Mudkip, his starting Pokémon. He stated that everything was fine until a certain event occurred. I pressed deeper, asking what this exact occurrence may have been.

“After defeating the gym leader, Roxanne, the game transported us to a different screen. There stood his adorable Mudkip, morphing into a new…”

Ralph began choking upon his words as he delivered the final blow, stating that his son’s Mudkip had “evolved into a Marshtomp.”

After numerous discussions with the Smith family, our proposed plan of mediation was to prohibit Goliath from evolving his Pokémon by pressing ‘B’ on his GameBoy Advance. Although Goliath is unable to progress through the game due to the atrocious stats of his Mudkip, he is now freed from the school of incorrect thinking Pokémon cast upon him.

Though Ralph and Darla were scarred from the scientific perspective introduced by Pokémon, they decided to allow Goliath to continue playing the game. Problem solved? I think so.

SIGNS YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT THROUGH THIS SEMESTER NYSSA MORGAN Making it over halfway through the semester should feel like an accomplishment but, for most students, it is the time when burnout starts to really kick in. With midterms, group projects, and research papers all demanding attention like a Mexican standoff, it is hard to know if you are actually surviving, let alone thriving.

With the world still being crazy and finals slowly looming ahead, you may be tempted to give up. With that being said, here are some signs that you will in fact make it through the semester.

1. You ate a vegetable this week: Getting proper nutrition is key to having healthy, properly functioning brain cells but it can be hard to remember that when you can barely remember your own name after pulling three all-nighters in a row. As long as you shove a leaf or two of lettuce in your mouth every few days, there is still a chance you are going to make it out of this semester alive, albeit a little lacking in your vitamins.

3. The number of missing assignments you have due isn’t in the double digits yet: Sometimes you miss a deadline or two. It happens to the best of us. If you have less than ten late assignments, you are, in the words of Lady Gaga, “talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique” and you have absolutely got this.

2. You still fit a shower in every now and then: Hygiene might be the furthest thing from your mind right now, but if you have taken a break from your futile attempts to turn your brain back on by hitting your head against your desk and hopped into a nice warm shower, you are doing just fine. Not only does your roommate appreciate you smelling nice for once but it’s actually self-care which is something we could all use during this time, so keep up the good work.

4. You still remember to mute your mic when screaming into the void about how frustrating Zoom classes are and how meaningless doing your degree online feels: So what if you get migraines from staring at little faces on a screen all day? So what if your professors say they are trying to lighten your workload but then make you watch three extra hours of lectures outside of class? So what if getting a degree seems ridiculous in the middle of a global pandemic and the fact that people still aren’t wearing masks is terrifying as heck? Until the day comes where you forget to mute your mic and the whole class hears you sobbing into a pillow, none of that matters because you are totally crushing this semester.

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