The Vista Magzine | Issue 116 no. 2
Jonathan Bremer
Ben Isaacs
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
CREATIVE DIRECTOR IN-TRAINING
This semester we chose “Collide” as our theme for the VISTA. The idea is that every collision with other individuals or ideas are life-changing and transformational. We wanted to emphasize the idea that some of the most beautiful and impactful things in life are shaped through discomfort and the collision of ideologies. A two-sided magazine is nothing short of odd, but we feel it furthers our goal to express the collision of ideas in a more exaggerated manner. Cool and warm eventually collide to create a vibrant and interesting magazine. Our hope is that through our design we encourage the collision of differences in our lives, while simultaneously representing the stories and opinions told throughout this issue. Jonathan Bremer and Benjamin Isaacs Creative Directors
Russel Lamb
Erick Garcia
Ryan Nelson
Lisa Sharpe
PHOTOGRAPHER
PHOTOGRAPHER
DESIGNER
ADVISOR
Isaac Warren
Noah Schlosser
Dylan Goodyear
Damien Cantrell
DESIGNER
DESIGNER
DESIGNER
DESIGNER
people think that their faith is challenged by someone else believing a different thing. Throughout my time in a conservative Christian setting, I have noticed that I have inadvertently adopted a rather tight-knit view of what “Christian ministry” should look like. The Christian ministry to which I grew accustomed consisted of teaching children Bible stories or setting up tables and chairs before a luncheon. Although these various types of ministry may be essential to the life-blood of a midwest evangelical function, I have realized I was not being informed of some really groundbreaking work that other Christians were taking on.
Erika explains that being an interfaith chaplain involves “taking joy in someone else’s truth and what is life-giving to them and transforming them into a better person… a lot of religious differences come down to a difference in words. Wiccans talk about honoring the physical wind and air and Christians talk about the holy wind. You really just have to accept that other people think differently.” The most powerful claim that Erika made was, “people think that their faith is challenged by someone else believing a different thing.”
I contacted Erika Spring, a former Greenville University employee, to ask about the ministry work that she is currently doing. Erika is a prison chaplain in Vandalia, Illinois at the Vandalia Correctional Center, a minimum security all-male prison. The work that Erika does is work that easily challenges the normal notions of “ministry” as many pastors or clergy people understand it.
Our conversation soon transitioned into her explaining some of the misconceptions that she encounters when she tells people about her job. The main misconception is people thinking that she is in an unsafe work environment. Erika quickly dispelled this by saying, “On a certain level they are right, but in another sense, security concerns are the number one concern in a prison… in the prison I work in these men are so close to leaving they do not want to do anything wrong anyway.”
Erika sat down with me and explained the challenges of her workplace. She described to me that because her workplace is minimum security, “the turnover rate is very high. Usually people are incarcerated for ten years or less, which means I am dealing with a ever revolving door of people.” The most surprising part of Erika’s job is the fact that she is required by the law to not be partial to a particular religion. this means that she is an inter-faith pastor: “the IDC recognizes 34 religions officially, all the way from Christian to Rastafarian and Wiccan.” Before she prays for someone Erika always asks if they adhere to a particular religion. I asked Erika how she reconciles her Christian beliefs with the demands of her job and she gave me a thoughtful reflection on her perception of Christianity. “I believe that God is bigger than any one particular religion and l also believe that wherever people find truth they find God.” She also commented that, “It doesn’t mean that every single thing from every other religion is true but it does mean that every religion has true things in them.” The example she provided was that, “part of being Wiccan is a love of nature and the planet. I believe that loving nature is a truth from God that coincides with my Christian beliefs.”
Erika did offer up a critique of those who are quick to judge the men that she works with by saying, “people have a misconception that the things that I have differently than the inmates are greater than the things that I have in common with them… people spend a lot of time being afraid of seeing the humanity in someone else because if they see them as a real person it causes a lot of existential questions.” Although Erika’s position is not one of traditional Christian ministry, I would argue it is a job of the utmost importance. Seeing a Christian in a space of acceptance and camaraderie is something worth noting. As Erika said to me, “there is something really important in being an interfaith chaplain. You have to trust that someone else’s authentic search for truth will lead them to God even if it doesn’t look like what you think it should look like.”
InterFaith Conversations:
Shelby Farthing
An Interview with
a Prison Chaplain
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Saving Digital Worlds Johnathon Goodenow
Art is usually physical. Paintings exist on canvases. Books are printed on paper. Even many digital things can be printed or downloaded onto a USB drive to play from any computer. There is one form of media that does not always have this luxury, however: video games. On November 4, 2014, a subscriber to the Waystone Games YouTube channel would have received a steady stream of saddening videos. They had been developing a game called Dawngate for EA since before 2013, and the game had been in open beta for six months. EA decided that it wasn’t worthwhile for their company to move into the MOBA genre. As a result, Dawngate was canceled and all of its content would soon be lost. In each of Waystone’s uploads to YouTube was a short story involving a character from their game, complete with voice acting and character art. Watching the studio desperately try to salvage even this small part of their creative work was an emotional experience for many. No creators should be forced to preserve even a portion of their work, but sadly with online games, this has become much more common.
"As long as the physical copy of the game remained intact and there was a system that could run the game, it could be played"
The idea of preserving video games was much simpler when they were sold exclusively on discs and cartridges. As long as the physical copy of the game remained intact and there was a system that could run the game, it could be played. As a backup plan, people could even create digital copies of their games by taking ROMS from the physical versions and running them through emulation software. However, this does not remain to be the case. Many games are created to be played online exclusively, and can only be played as long as the game can maintain a connection to the servers owned by the developer. It is surprising just how many games become unplayable due to how companies handle the development of their games and the closing of their servers. Epic Game’s Paragon, Boss Key Production’s Lawbreakers, and Motiga’s Gigantic are all examples of online multiplayer video games that were closed down within the last year. After closing, none of these games had an end of life plan that would allow them to be played without the developer’s official servers. The developers have no financial incentive to maintain servers when they stop updating and selling a game, so they don’t. There are solutions to this, however. Evolve is a game that had a lot of hype behind it prior to its release, but it did not have a very long lifespan on Steam as a popular game. Therefore, Turtle Rock Studios moved to a free to play model for a while. When that did not fix the game’s issues and the player base became too small to justify supporting it, they closed down. However, players who owned the game previously can still download and play Evolve if they want. Before closing, the developers set up their game in a way that players can enjoy the game online via peer to peer connection if they choose. This is obviously not the ideal way to play Evolve, but it is a way that prevents the game from dying completely as so many other games have. It still doesn’t offer a way for new players to experience
Evolve, but it’s better than nothing. Some games can’t even consider this solution, though. Asheron’s Call, Shadowbane, Star Wars Galaxies, and Wildstar are all MMO’s that cannot be accessed from their official servers because they were shut down by their developers. Immediately after these servers are shut off, the content of these worlds can no longer be experienced in the way it was intended. The music, the environments, the character creation and plot development that is all a part of the MMO experience just disappears. In some cases, some tech-savvy fans will take the time to reverse engineer the code for a game and connect it to servers of their own. On rare occasions, the developer will actually share the source code of their game before it closes down so that fans can create private servers, but often the process is more tedious than that. Gigantic was a fantasy MOBA game with third-person shooter elements that closed in July 2018 (very early in its lifespan), and the fans hoping to play their own matches through private servers or peer to peer connections received leaked builds of the game from developers to work with. Because of this help, private games exist right now. Dawngate fans never received this courtesy and the game has been gone for four years at this point. Some fans have been trying to rebuild it or create something similar to it, but it is a slow process. Games are a unique creative medium and a form of art. They create emotional experiences within their audiences whether they are thrilling conclusions to hard-fought matches or a connection that the players make with a character’s story. They deserve to be preserved, online or not, and developers need to ensure that each release isn’t solely a product with a limited lifespan.
CONTENT WARNING: THIS ARTICLE ADDRESSES SENSITIVE TOPICS SUCH AS EATING DISORDERS, TRICHOTILLOMANIA, AND EMOTIONAL/RELATIONAL ABUSE, WHICH MAY BE DIFFICULT FOR SOME READERS TO ENCOUNTER. Last week you sneezed in front of a group of some of the most important people on campus and apologized to them. They commented on how you needed to let out your sneezes. One even remarked, “it’s okay to take up space. It’s okay to exist”. And she’s right. Even if you did apologize to her immediately after she said it. It’s okay to be authentic - even if it’s not a pretty sneeze. I like to think back to my past memories and selves as articles of clothing. Some of them I have outgrown, and so I can only run my fingers down the familiar stitches and pick at the loose threads. Some of these old selves, however, I can still slip on and feel the familiar material on my skin, smell the fabric of it, feel its softness on my bones, and take in the warmth. Like an old friend, we become one again - sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. But it’s time to start spring cleaning. Your closet is getting full and some of them no longer look good on you. It’s time to take some of your old selves off the shelf again for one last time, hold them close, soak in the familiarity, and let them go. To the self who was only 4 - I smile as I slip you on, you were innocent and wholesome. You loved the color purple. That was the color of Barney, and that color was you. But I remember the day that your first best friend said that she liked pink, and now that was your color. Pink would be your new favorite color until you were a teenager. Younger me, I wish you would have stayed true to yourself and never gave in to fitting in with those around you. You signed into a life of becoming what everyone else
Myself A LetterTo
Anonymous
was, or what everyone else wanted you to be. I unravel your threads, and I put you down. You no longer fit in this closet anymore. To the self who, at age 7, pulled out all of her eyelashes one morning. I hesitantly slip my arms into the scratchy sleeves. I can remember staring at my ceiling and slowly plucking eyelashes from each eye. I remember the satisfying release of stress when the eyelash finally pulled free. You were the first time I showed outward stress that had been accumulating slowly inside. The stress of everything always felt overwhelming. Whether it was the paranoia of not raising your hand fast enough in class to be called on, the fear of going to the bathroom and taking too long, the nerves surrounding being picked last for kickball or four-square, or even the anxiety of wondering if your friends really liked you or only pretended because you could help them with spelling. I rub my arms up and down on this scratchy self. She still fits. She’s on whenever I pick at my face long enough to scab over. She’s a familiar weight on my back whenever I work myself up enough that I make myself physically ill and am sick for days. She’s the hesitancy I feel when making new friends. This self fits snug against my body. She’s well-worn and fraying at the edges, but she’s familiar and somehow that makes her comforting. But she too needs to go. There is no longer room for her in my closet. I have to make room for the newer selves — the ones that might not be found yet. She doesn’t want to go, but it’s time. You’re growing tired of her snags and scratches. You must breath in deep, let her go, and move on. I pick up the next self. She’s light, so light, and it’s easy to slip her on. You remember
her comforting you when you passed out the first time. She was proud. Eight pounds in one week and only in middle school. You wore her to all the dances, you felt beautiful as your shoulder blades poked out of her thin straps. Your hips begged to rip through her thin material. Your ribs rippled like waves crashing underneath her translucent material. But her loveliest feature was how dazzling your collar bones let her drape over your form. It was an art to watch the bumps on your sternum appear, each one as jarring and daring as any cliffside. You always got compliments in her and she loved it. You can remember how airy you felt in her. So many times, especially when you dipped over fifteen pounds in one month. She was beauty and control and power. But she has no place in your closet anymore. You are too busy doing important things to slip on a silly ball gown like her. The dance is over, and though she is so tiny, she takes up so much space in your closet. It is time to say goodbye to the belle of the ball and realize that you never needed her in order to dance or be the queen of the night. Finally, I slip on a scratchier garment. It is one of the most hideous pieces I own. She’s been in the back of my closet for as long as I can remember. I slip her on almost every day. I can remember putting her on for the first time in middle school. Everyone had a significant other but you. You realized that people made fun of you for being really good at reading and classwork. So you stopped volunteering to read in class, and you began to purposefully answer questions wrong or half-right in class so that the teachers would stop calling on you. You realized that everyone was blond, tan, and had stick-
Eating Disorders
Dating Abuse
Typically Begin Between the ages of 18-21 straight hair. So you begged for your mom to let you get your curly red hair chemically straightened every month, thinned until you couldn’t even put it up in a ponytail, and dyed a sickeningly-platinum blonde color. You tanned in a bed every day until your skin freckled, burned, and peeled away to reveal a darker color. Yet this garment still wasn’t satisfied. You still looked horrendous in it, and your lack of a significant other only helped to prove that. So you picked the first boy you could find, and when he touched you that night, the garment ripped herself in two. Now, not only did you feel ugly in it, but no one else would want it now, right? That’s what you remember from the silver ring on your hand. The same hand that called your youth pastor while locked in your bedroom closet because she had her first kiss at sixteen and thought she was going to hell for sexual impurity. Why would anyone want this ugly garment now? You tried to patch her up, but she somehow looked worse, and the next boy ripped her again. Only worse this time, as he kept slashing and slashing until she was threadbare. She hung ratily off your shoulders. You think about trying to salvage her again, after all, she was there through everything. But you decide against it. Your sense of self-worth goes beyond this garment, or purity culture, or these memories. You can let them go and find self-worth in something else besides the academic prowess, societal standards of beauty, virginity, and significant others. You must find her again, but this time without all the conditions weighing her down. It is time to leave this closet full of children’s clothes and horrendous memories. You deserve selves that will make you feel pretty and happy without the conditions and burdens. Find a wardrobe that is uniquely yours, rather than constantly putting pieces that others like on. Slip into a self that is full of confidence — not afraid to be redheaded, or afraid to sneeze in public. Take up space, as much as you need. You’ve spent so much time trying to disappear, and it’s time to change that. Realize that you are comprised of lavender bones — lovely, sweet, and calming — yet strong enough to endure the test of time. You have made peace with your old selves and now it is time to start anew. Leave room for garments weaved of self-love, happiness, and confidence.
Male
Female
.1%
.3-.4%
Anorexia Nervosa
.1%
1.0%
Bulimia Nervosa
4-10%
10-20% 40-60%
College Students
Male
Female
48.8%
48.4%
Aggressive Partner
According to the 2009 Teen Dating Abuse Report conducted by Tru Insight, around 70% of young victims don’t realize that they are being abused by their partner. 43% of dating college women report experiencing violent and abusive dating behaviors including physical, sexual, tech, verbal or controlling abuse
of 6-12 year olds concerned about One study found that 35% of female and 10% of male college athletes their weight
Nearly 1 in 3 (29%) college women say they have been in an abusive dating relationship, and 52% of college women report knowing a friend who has experienced violent and abusive dating behaviors including physical, sexual, tech, verbal or controlling abuse
Resources For eating disorders:
Resources For Dating Abuse:
were at risk for anorexia nervosa and 58% of female and 38% of male college athletes were at risk for bulimia nervosa
The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) maintains a helpline that can be reached at (800) 931-2237 NEDA also provides a form on their website (nationaleatingdisorders.org) to help connect you to a treatment provider.
The Love is Respect organization offers resources for people experiencing all forms of abusive relationships, including emotional, physical, verbal, sexual, and technological. Their website — loveisrespect.org — has a “Chat Now” button that puts you in contact with a trained peer advocate. You can also text “loveis” to 22522 or call ( 866) 331-9474 to access the same resources.
Greenville University also provides counseling for free to students! (618) 664-7121 or send an e-mail to jordan.hohm@greenville.edu
The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides resources on their website — thehotline.org — for developing a safety plan and utilizing legal actions to leave an abusive relationship. You can also call their hotline at (800) 799-7233.
*NEDA(National Eating Disorder Association) cited *National Domestic Violence Hotline(NDvH) cited
S N E I L A
2. Intelligent life is out there; we just haven’t heard from them yet.
? e r e h t t u o
To quote Carl Sagan, “The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.” Just because we haven’t seen extraterrestrials doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Taking into consideration how old the universe is (estimated to be 13.8 billion years) and how old the Earth is (estimated to be 4.5 billion years), it’s likely that intelligent life could have developed on other planets long before it developed on ours (Redd). Our galaxy may already be colonized, and we just happen to live in a rural area. Our search for signals only stretches across 0.1% of the Milky Way. It may be impractical for aliens to visit us. We might be to a higher civilization what chimpanzees are to us. Why would a higher life form want to get involved with a more primitive one? The other possibility is that we are too primitive to communicate properly with an advanced civilization. Our technology might be thousands of years behind. On the flip side, we might be the more advanced civilization that can’t communicate properly with more primitive intelligent life (Urban).
JJ SMITH
For every grain of sand on Earth, there are about 10,000 stars in the observable universe. If we estimate that between 5-20% of all stars are like our suns, we are left with 500 billion sun-like stars (Urban). A recent PNAS study suggests that 22-50% of these stars have an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone. In total, there are around 100 billion planets that could sustain life like Earth (Petigura, Howard, and Marcy). It would seem that life on Earth might not be alone. If we speculate that only 1% of those planets have developed life, and that only 1% of planets with life have developed intelligent life, we are left with 10 million intelligent civilizations in the universe (Urban). So where is everyone? This is the Fermi Paradox, the contradiction between the high probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and our lack of contact with them (Fermi’s Paradox). We don’t really have a good answer to it. But we have some ideas about why we haven’t noticed any extraterrestrials:
1.
There are no other civilizations.
The reason that we haven’t seen or heard from aliens is because there are no other intelligent creatures. As a species progresses, it faces evolutionary challenges. Some of these challenges might be easier for life to overcome, and some might be harder for life to overcome. People who think that we are alone believe that we are the first or among the first species to cross the “Great Filter.” This challenge is almost impossible to defeat and so we are extremely rare. Maybe the “Great Filter” is behind all of us and the universe is only recently habitable. But, what if the “Great Filter” is actually in front of us? If this is the case, the reason that we haven’t noticed any alien life is because something prevents life from advancing (Urban). We may not have noticed any other forms of life because they have all been wiped out by the “Great Filter” which is looming in our future too.
of ead Inst tly tan bla ling cal w ho one t e m re n so ffe i d a t a has f se e i uld l be sho e , w and atic rst n e u d l n e to to u cam do try y e th hey t w o t h r w ha e ou ieve rat b e i e bel l f. cel f be o and y rsit dive
3.
Aliens are already observing us.
It’s possible that we have been noticed by other forms of intelligent life. There may be a superintelligent life out in the galaxy that is far more advanced than all others and exterminates other forms of life once they become a threat. This would explain the lack of activity because there would only be one super intelligent life. We may already be on our way or nowhere near to becoming a threat to them. We may have been noticed by other life forms that are remaining silent to avoid being detected by this larger predator race (Urban).
4.
It’s all a conspiracy.
Everyone believes crazy things and has their own reasons for believing in the things that they do. Some just happen to fall on the fringes of common belief. These people might believe that extraterrestrial life has already visited us, we just didn’t notice or record it in history. We could have been visited by aliens thousands of years ago before recorded history. Or, the government could be hiding evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life (Urban). There’s no shortage of people who believe that they have encountered or been abducted by aliens themselves (Jacobs). Whether you believe that aliens exist and have visited us, or you don’t believe they exist at all, I think it’s important to recognize the beauty in all our perspectives on life. We all come from different backgrounds and have our own unique set of experiences. Instead of blatantly calling someone who has a different belief set a lunatic, we should try to understand how they came to believe what they do and celebrate our diversity of belief.
An Introvert's Guide to Fighting
LONELINESS JJ Smith
In a 2018 survey of 20,000 Americans, nearly half of all Americans reported sometimes or always feeling lonely, and about one in four Americans reported feeling that there aren’t other people who understand them. The survey showed that about two in five Americans reported feeling that their relationships don’t have meaning and that they are isolated. Only 53 percent of Americans have meaningful in-person social interactions on a daily basis (Polack). Loneliness has become an epidemic in the modern world that seems to affect everyone at one time or another. So what can we do to fight loneliness in ourselves and others? As an introvert myself, I know that some of these can be hard. It’s just not in our nature to be outgoing. There’s nothing wrong with being an introvert; it just means that we don’t draw energy from a large crowd or social interactions. Instead, we draw energy from solitude. However, there is an important difference between solitude and isolation. Here are my top suggestions about what we can do to fight loneliness in ourselves and in others. 1. The first thing we can do is make no assumptions about those around us. We cannot assume that the quiet person next to us is lonely or that our very sociable friend isn’t lonely. There’s a difference between being alone and being lonely. One can be at peace by themselves or totally alone in a crowded room. Anyone can feel lonely at any time because the experience of loneliness is completely subjective. 2. Reach out to friends, new acquaintances, and those on the fringes of society. Maybe one of your close friends has been feeling lonely lately and needs
some companionship. Maybe you have a friend you haven’t talked to in a while who is struggling. There could be someone you just met who doesn’t have anyone to talk with and needs a friend. They might have just moved far from home and don’t know anyone else. There are many, many people on the fringes of society who have suffered rejection. There are people in the LGBTQ community, people from rought homes, and social outcasts who all need love from someone. 3. Find something that you’re interested in and attend an event.
“THE BEST THING THAT YOU CAN DO IS TO REACH OUT TO ANOTHER PERSON AND BE VULNERABLE.” This could be a concert, a sports game, a small group, a video game tournament, or anything else that appeals to the interests you already have. Or, you can find something new that you think you might enjoy and try it. You could even invite some people to go with you. The point is to go do something, meet new people, and foster stronger relationships.
If you yourself are lonely the first thing you can do is recognize your loneliness. Loneliness is something that we all go through and it is nothing to be ashamed of. The best thing that you can do is to reach out to another person and be vulnerable. There is strength in being vulnerable with others; it takes courage to open up to another person. So, if you are lonely, talk to someone. You can talk to a friend or family member or find a mentor of some kind who you can trust. A mentor could be an older friend, a parent, a teacher, a religious leader, or a counselor. The stress that comes from loneliness is one of the most unhealthy things we can experience (Cacioppo et al.). It is twice as deadly as obesity and just as deadly as smoking a pack of cigarettes per day (Polack). Chronic loneliness can become cyclical: it can cause us to become more isolated, which causes us to become more lonely (Cacioppo et al.). While loneliness and depression aren’t the same thing, they are strongly correlated with each other (Weeks et al.). If you find that you are caught in a cycle of loneliness, I would strongly encourage you to talk to a counselor. Many universities, including Greenville University, offer funding for counseling for their students so that they can see a counselor in the area. Help is available to those who need it.
Technology and
RoMANCE
Whether we like it or not technology has changed our lives for good. But is it all good? Are there some things that should’ve stayed the same? What side effects did these brilliant inventions have on our everyday lives? One big aspect of our lives that has changed in a very drastic way is our love lives. There are many benefits to this change, but there are also a lot of things that come with this change that challenge our relationships in so many ways that simply didn’t exist before the smartphone surfaced. One of the first big changes we saw in our lives is the feeling of validation coming from social media platforms. It no longer matters what you think of your life, but what your friends and followers have to say about it. Our lives have now become measured in likes and retweets and it is up to everyone else’s judgment whether or not that life has value. We naturally start to feel pressure to gain more likes and followers by doing and posting things that we think will appeal to everyone else. We feel pressure to make us and our significant other look good to gain approval and to make sure everyone else knows how great he or she is. This doesn’t just happen in relationships either. We see this pressure come from everything we post. Parents may feel the need to post pictures constantly to show how much happier and better their family is than everyone else’s, and at that point, it becomes a competition between you and your friends. Another drastic change that I feel not everyone talks about is actually the way relationships start. Before the smartphone one would have to actually meet someone else face to face or work up the courage to go talk to someone across the room. This required so much more from someone than what someone would have to do today to get into contact with someone else they were interested in. This then raises the question of how interested are you actually in this one person? How legitimately invested are you in pursuing this other person? Today someone can
Today someone can very easily hide behind the screen of their phone or computer with no consequences. very easily hide behind the screen of their phone or computer with no consequences. They can talk to multiple people at one time and there is never any real fear of rejection because another man or woman is right there at the push of a button if they wished to try again and talk to someone new. One of the more sad side effects that have arisen recently is the level of unfaithfulness in relationships. This ties into the connectability that one has to the outside world sure, but I believe the answer as to why is far more complex than that. Don’t get me wrong, cheating is cheating and I’m not saying that any reason or excuse is a good one, but just hear me out on how I personally believe this all ties together. The temptation for both guys and girls has never been higher. We constantly scroll through our timelines seeing pictures and reading posts from countless people that isn’t our significant other. I’ve already stated the pressure that social media puts on us in what we post, especially females. Here’s an example: “Girl A” posts a picture in her bikini or is showing more skin than usual and gets way more likes and retweets than a normal post from “Girl B”. “Girl B”
Logan Murphy
decides she wants similar validation and admiration, so she posts a similar photo. The point I’m trying to make is that on social media we are always looking our best, showing our best angles, and showing more skin. Why? We want that attention and those likes. So now men and women harmlessly scrolling through their timeline may not see this as temptation initially, but if someone who is already in a relationship sees something they like then they are only a swipe or click away from talking to this person and possibly cheating on their significant other. Now I’m not saying that all these technological advancements have been completely cancerous to our society, but I believe we’d be lying to ourselves if we didn’t admit that the things I’ve said are true and do hold some weight. Obviously, we don’t all fall victim to doing certain things for more likes, and we aren’t all cheaters just for having social media, but maybe these things are more underlying issues. Maybe these things are more subliminal and we don’t even realize it. I just think that there are some certain things that we should be aware of both in our families and our relationships and ask ourselves if what we are posting is actually a representation of our life or just a facade that we want other people to see.
But regardless of how you feel about this country, there are men, women, and families fighting for it. Let me rephrase that. There are men, women, and families (this includes children) who are fighting for you. So keep fighting injustice, fight to hold leaders accountable, fight to be a more just and equitable nation. But don’t forget that you can fight because our soldiers are fighting too. They aren’t the ones calling the shots. Their kids who lay at home crying because mommy or daddy might not come home, they aren’t the ones calling the shots either. They fight, so we can fight. So let’s make home a place of peace. By understanding that in the end, we all want the same thing: Peace.
So what is my point in telling you all of this? I guess it’s just that right now there’s a lot of tension between our country and a lot of other countries. There’s a lot of disagreement about where our troops are going, and whether or not what they are doing is honorable. Full disclosure, I’ve lost a lot of respect for my country over the last few years. I’ll stand during the national anthem, but I won’t put my hand over my heart. The burning pride that once flickered there has fizzled out.
Don’t get me wrong, as far as families go, we made it out pretty okay. My parents’ marriage stayed intact. My dad still has his job, and he’s successful at it. He didn’t die or suffer any serious physical injury. But war impacted our family. And for many families, postdeployment reality doesn’t look so pretty.
And Daddy did come home for Christmas and he was home every day after that. At first I didn’t really notice a difference. I’m a lucky girl. PTSD didn’t show up in obvious ways. But it was there. I think my mom saw it the most. It wasn’t until two years ago, under unfortunate circumstances, that my family had to confront the realities of what the deployment did to us. It was easier just to move forward like nothing had really changed. Will-power. But things had changed. My sister still has a hard time when anyone in her life leaves. I still feel stabs of guilt for not being able to be everything for my sisters. That’s what happens when you experience motherhood prematurely.
Two months till Christmas. Dad facetimed to say he wanted to sing us song. Before he could even let out the first note I started belting, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Daddy would be home for Christmas.
The two week furlough. In the middle of the year, we got to have dad home for a whole two weeks. But something was different. We were at Six Flags one day when someone’s spare tire blew due to pressure from the oppressive heat outside. Dad wasn’t the same for the rest of the day. Two weeks came and went like a dream. The day we dropped him off at the airport,I swore for the second time that I wouldn’t cry in front of strangers. As he turned his back to board the plane, my little sister ran to the gate screaming “don’t go, daddy don’t go.” I let what dignity I had left roll down my face. It didn’t matter who was watching anymore.
Kalei Swogger
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don’t forget that you can fight because our soldiers are fighting too
But for a year, we functioned fractured. My memories of that year are stored in the same way, fragmented pieces. In a sense I had to become “mom,” “dad,” and “big sister” for my two youngest sisters. With my mom, I made the household function. I wouldn’t say we were thriving. I would say we were just managing to survive. I remember one time facetiming my dad (this was pretty rare), when he looked up and shut the computer. Mom said there was a bombing where he was at. We later learned it was just a drill and he was okay. Still. The experience was numbing.
Three things are consistent in military life: moving, willpower, and uncertainty about the future. I never had to confront the realities of war until I turned twelve years old and found out my dad would be deployed to Iraq for one year. I didn’t really understand what that meant except that he would be gone. For a very long time. When my dad came home at the end of each day, everything changed. I felt safer, I felt more at ease, I felt complete, because my whole family was together, intact.
But the honor, the respect, it comes at a cost. The cost of family. To me, the words “military” and “family” are almost an oxymoron. I’m not talking about the camaraderie that those enlisted and those in combat experience; I’ve never been there so I wouldn’t know. I’m talking about family in the traditional sense, you know: two people, kids, pets, etc.
Both of my parents were in the military. When they married, my mom stepped out of the life to take care of the kids. You can take the girl out of the military, but you can’t take the military out of the girl. My mom still has this insane love for airplanes and what she calls “gathering intel,” which essentially means she’s basically a firehose of all the possible information for any given situation. My dad joined the military while he was in school. It’s a convenient way to get an education and not get yourself eons in debt. On top of that, it’s basically a guaranteed career. He did extremely well, twenty-six years in the Air Force, retired as a colonel, and is the second in command at his current station as a civilian. Whenever we talked about my dad’s job, people always responded with a sense of awe and respect, and internally I would feel a sense of pride and accomplishment, as if in being born a military kid I had conquered some huge mountain. I had come out on top.
Banner Yet Waves
The
There’s a saying that only two things are sure in life, death and taxes. I would add war to that list.
INTERNET BUBBLES Johnathon Goodenow
The internet is made out of bubble wrap. Whenever someone interacts with a social media website, they run the risk of getting wrapped in it, and they won’t even know. Someone who is trapped only knows that they are entertained and that they are part of a community of people who believe the same ideas as them. This bubble wrap effect is a problem particularly now because our polarized political communities butt heads more than ever, and most of us don’t know how to effectively deal with the fact that not everyone agrees on certain ideas. Despite the severity of the issue, social media companies’ contributions to growing polarization are likely unintentional, and although they might be aware of the problem, they benefit enough from it that it likely won’t be stopping any time soon. The companies that run these websites, in order to maximize their profits, try to find ways to keep people engaged with their sites for as long as possible. To accomplish this, they create algorithms, lines of code designed to figure out what you like to see and give you more of that thing. It will fetch new content for users based on the content they look at the most. If one user likes to see pictures of peoples’ cats on Facebook, then the algorithm is more likely to put pictures of cats in that user’s feed. Because the user will likely spend more time on the website as a result, they will scroll through more ads and Facebook will make more money. Makes sense, right? But now apply that to politics. Someone happens to scroll by a post with racist, Nazi, or terrorist undertones because it was linked to them or a friend shared or retweeted it, and then click on it. Maybe they look for one or two posts by that same account because they’re curious and, as simple as that, they’re marked by the algorithm. It’s that easy. Now, whenever
that person scrolls through their feed on social media, that kind of content is more likely to appear than it was before, and they may even begin to subscribe to that ideology.
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AS A RESULT OF THIS BUBBLE CREATED BY THE ALGORITHM, THESE INDIVIDUALS MIGHT NOT DEVELOP THE NECESSARY SKILLS OR NUANCE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION WITH SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T SUBSCRIBE TO THE SAME BELIEFS.
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Social media corporations are aware of this, and they do sometimes take steps to remove the most radical content from their sites by enforcing community guidelines. They might even target specific types of content to be recommended by the algorithm less than they were before. YouTube recently announced that it would be changing its algorithm to recommend videos by conspiracy theorists less, for example. This phenomenon still has an effect with less radical political content, however. Someone who engages with content from creators like Jordan Peterson is not likely to receive content by John Oliver. People who like to watch videos by Diamond and Silk are unlikely to see recommendations from The Young Turks. This causes people to get wrapped up in one particular community with largely the same beliefs. They follow the same ideology, so that ideology goes uncontested. As a result of this bubble created by the algorithm, these individuals might not develop the necessary skills or nuance to have a discussion with someone who doesn’t subscribe to the same beliefs. In the few places at which people with opposing political views collide, social media users often cannot hold a respectful discussion. Families and friendships are torn apart. It is not too rare to see a post on Facebook saying that people who hold a particular opinion should unfriend them. If Thanksgiving was supposed to be a bad experience because families contain people with differing political beliefs, then it’s Thanksgiving every day on Facebook. It’s ironic because the same system that connects people to ideological
bubbles online sometimes manages to actually connect people to real life friends and family, and then their respective bubbles don’t mesh well. Maybe one day social media will go so far as to reduce how often we will see posts from friends who hold differing opinions from us in order to “improve the user experience”. It could increase their profits, but it could also make the world incapable of having respectable discussions. There may be instances in which blocking a toxic user or removing a friend is a good idea. If someone aggressively attacks others with their posts or outputs content that is harmful to society (like denying a school shooting) then it could warrant that action, but keep in mind that those actions are for extreme cases. In many instances it might be more beneficial to actually interact with the post. Attempt to push back in a way that does not insult that person. Ask a question, make a counterargument, or explain what makes you think differently. Not only will this cause the user who made the original post to interact with a different idea, but you will have to think more about why you believe what you believe, and your interaction with the post will cause social media algorithms to serve you that kind of content more often. Clicking and commenting on posts that you disagree with will “trick” the algorithm in a sense, and cause the kinds of opinions you encounter on the internet to be more diverse. If more people took these kinds of actions, then we would all benefit by being able to develop more nuanced ideas.
What does it mean to be a man in 2019? Is manhood found in the way someone dresses? Perhaps it is tied to their soft-spoken demeanor? By now, meeting soft-spoken men is becoming more common. Society has become more inclusive over time for men who would be classified as gay, effeminate, or otherwise soft. The church, however, has not dealt with this as well as they should —and it is important as faithful stewards that we engage with the idea of effeminacy in relation to biblical manhood. In a recent article on Desiring God’s blog entitled “Play the Man: Will Effeminacy Keep Anyone from Heaven?” Greg Morse takes a firm stance on this issue. Morse asserts that “effeminacy is sinful and a rejection of biblical manhood.” Society and the church seem to be at odds with each other here, and this conflict is something which we should consider closely.
jonathan bremer bremer jonathan
ON MASCULINITY
In light of Morses’ article, it seems as though the evangelical church is against passivity in men. He claims that “effeminacy in men is something that is sinful and needs to be repented of.” In a section of the article labeled “The Gay Vibe,” he states that gentleness, as in the fruit of the spirit, is not what he’s questioning, but rather “living out of step… with our cultural expressions of maleness.” He even goes as far as to say “this sin of softness” is soul-threatening. To him, male effeminacy is a corruption of character that is condemned by God. There are two problems with this assertion: First, exhibiting effeminate qualities is not the same as pretending to be a woman. Secondly, these classifications of “masculine” and “feminine” are both subjective and flawed. With all this in mind, I assert that it is slanderous to say that all effeminacy in men is a blatant rejection of biblical manhood. Even secular society suggests that toxic masculinity is more problematic than male effeminacy. While this does not unravel Piper’s argument, it makes a huge statement considering that American society still has the tendency to reinforce such stereotypes. They seem to be more accepting of this issue, which can be both positive and negative. In this case, though, it seems to be largely a positive thing. Toxic masculinity is manifested in overaggression, the desire for domination, the
It is not a sin to be softspoken, and you don’t have to turn in your man card if you want to be a designer more than a bodybuilder
degradation of women and homophobia. It is most certainly not more biblical to perform any of these atrocities than it is to have feminine qualities. Nor does it make you more manly to oppress the marginalized. I would argue that it makes you both less manly and less human. There are plenty of practices condoned by secular society that are still open to questioning and debate within the church. It makes sense for Morse to stand firmly against homosexuality, transgenderism, cross-dressing, androgyny and the male adoption of female practices. Whether these beliefs are right or wrong is a debate beyond the scope of this article; regardless, their condemnation is consistent with his theological framework. It is perfectly reasonable for him to maintain this stance as it aligns with his religious convictions. But, personality and character traits should not be classified according to biological sex or gender identity.
In short, I am of the mind that God does not damn men for being introverted or “soft-spoken,” or preferring the arts to athletics. We are made in the Imago Dei, and our identity and our unique personalities and gifts were hand-picked by God to be used for his glorification. It would make no sense for men to be punished for choosing to embrace the platforms and interests that are God-given. It is not a sin to be soft-spoken, and you don’t have to turn in your man card if you want to be a designer more than a bodybuilder. There is nothing inherently masculine or feminine about these professions. Rather, there are constantly gender-associations with specific professions in the workplace. But biblical manhood is not dependent on your outward appearance or your occupation. If Jesus is the perfect example of biblical manhood, then I would assert that biblical manhood is tied to action, not appearance. We do not know what Jesus looked like, scripture doesn’t tell us that. What it does tell us, however, is how Jesus acted. While it may be argued that homosexuality is sinful, biblical masculinity does not hinge on the material. Biblical manhood and womanhood will always be dependent upon the willingness to lead and serve in balance, humbly before God. It is about living in partnership with God. It is a covenant of faithfulness and repentance. Acting in ways that are traditionally classified as feminine is not a fundamental rejection of man’s assigned gender, but rather an acceptance of their own God-given uniqueness.
Name: Kalei Swogger Position: Staff Writer Song: “Back in my Body” by Maggie Rogers Reason: This song expresses the power and freedom of discovering oneself. It woke me up to what I have been experiencing the past three years. This song communicates the euphoria and freedom of that moment of discovery.
Name: Dylan Goodyear Position: Designer Song: “Heavy Dirty Soul” by Twenty-One Pilots Reason: This song tells me that everyone has problems going on in their lives — problems that I have been going through that I just want to get rid of and be saved from my troubles.
Name: Shelby Farthing Position: Editor in Training Song: “New York by” Blind Pilot Reason: This song really changed my outlook on life during a time when I really needed it. I am one who quickly maps out a plan of how I would like my life to look like, and when life does not go according to my plan; I have a hard time rerouting. This song taught me that maybe ‘rerouting’ is the destination in and of itself.
Name: Damien Cantrell Position: Designer Song: “Pittsburgh” by The Amity Affliction Reason: Music has always been my outlet to convey emotion and when I heard this it resonated with me on so many levels that no other song could. Saying that even if I feel like I’m drowning I will still try and take that step to move, even when I feel like I can’t.
Name: Summer Mengarelli Position: Content Editor Song: “Rut” by The Killers Reason: This song gave words to what I was feeling as my mental health struggles affected my relationship. I was living in Madrid at the time and it was immensely helpful to be able to share the song with my boyfriend and my friends back home and use it as a starting point for conversations about depression.
THE VISTA’S STAFF GOT TOGETHER AND CREATED A PLAYLIST. THIS COMPILATION INCLUDES SONGS WITH WHICH WE HAVE “COLLIDED,” SONGS THAT HAVE IMPACTED US, HELPED US, OR CHANGED OUR PERSPECTIVES.
Name: JJ Smith Position: Writer Song: “Stay Awake” by City Mouth Reason: I think this song especially puts words to the inner struggles that I have dealt with and the hope that I have found.
STAFF PLAYLIST
Name: Johnathon Goodenow Position: Writer Song: “Stars” by Claude-Michel Schönberg Reason: The Les-Miserable soundtrack was a often-played part of my childhood that has impacted me greatly. In my youth, I identified strongly with Javert’s sense of justice and his trust in pure ideals, but over time I had to understand forgiveness and change more fully.
Name: Noah Schlosser Position: Designer Song: “Like the World Is Going To End” by Ben Rector Reason: This song, while lighthearted in feel, carries a huge message - time on Earth is short and we never know what the future holds. Therefore, we should use our time wisely by doing the things we love, with the people we love, and make things right along the way.
STAFF PLAYLIST
Name: Ryan Nelson Position: Designer Song: "Try" by Mandy Harvey Reason: This is a song that inspires me because she has been on a similar journey to me. She lost her hearing and had to learn to adapt to that life and overcome the stigma of singing even though she couldn't hear herself. In my own life, I have had to learn how to adjust and hear with my cochlear implants in a normal hearing environment that challenges me daily since most people can hear better than me.
THE VISTA’S STAFF GOT TOGETHER AND CREATED A PLAYLIST. THIS COMPILATION INCLUDES SONGS WITH WHICH WE HAVE “COLLIDED,” SONGS THAT HAVE IMPACTED US, HELPED US, OR CHANGED OUR PERSPECTIVES.
Name: Jonathan Bremer Position: Creative Director Song: “Anger” By Sleeping At Last Reason: This Song Is Indicative Of The Struggles With Me And My Frustration With The Trajectory Of My Life And Relationships. It Was A Time Where I Found Myself In A State Of Inner-Conflict Over A Decision I Couldn’t Take Back.
WRITER’S BLOCK Imagine sitting down to write a paper or an article. You try so hard to focus on it, but there’s always something that distracts you from your main objective. It’s due in a day or two, and you’re not even halfway finished with your paper. Maybe you ask, “why can’t I get anything done?” Well, you’ve got something we all have had, and that’s writer’s block. Writer’s block is when the mind of a writer is too distracted to focus and accomplish the writing goal. I always have this every time I write papers. The brain loses its ability to create new work, and the writer basically experiences a creative shutdown. People always ask me, “Why do you have writer’s block?” “Aren’t you a journalism major?” “It shouldn’t be hard to write papers.” To me, it is. I may be a journalism major, but it’s always hard for me to write papers and come up with new ideas in order to create an outstanding story. Even when you have an amazing idea for an article, you still have to establish details that will make the article factual and interesting. Writer’s block is natural for a writer. Like I said, for me, it’s every time I write a paper, even a small one! Sometimes it will take me an hour, or even two or three, to finish a short article, because it’s hard for me to sit, stare at a screen, and type. Whenever I have writer’s block, my mind goes blank, until the next idea pops up in my head. Crazy, right? But it’s okay. It just takes time to come up with new ideas. For example, for an internship I recently completed, I was an online
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JOSH ROBINSON
DON'T TAKE FOREVER; JUST TAKE A BREATHER, FIND INSPIRATION, THEN GET RIGHT BACK INTO IT.
sports writer for the Game Haus, which is an online sports newspaper. The paper requires their writers to write two articles for the week, and writers only have two or three days in order to complete them. This, along with school work, took a toll on my brain, and I experienced writer’s block frequently. In order to defeat writer’s block, I try to focus or pull away from writing for a little minute in order to find inspiration. Sometimes I will watch TV in order to get my mind away from the article. Or I will watch videos about the topic in order to get ideas, and then I come back to writing. Or, I just turn on some music and continue typing, even if what I write at first isn’t what I end up keeping. Sometimes it’s best to take your mind off the article and find some inspiration. Don't take forever; just take a breather, find inspiration, then get right back into it. There’s no need to be in a rush, but overcoming writer’s block is necessary in order for the article or essay to be outstanding.
I’ve been known by many (but mainly my mother) as someone who is generally obscenely unorganized. I have one folder organizer in my room that houses the entirety of my random-cool-educational-college-pamphlets that I just have to hold onto and an entire spot in my closet dedicated to shirts that I do not know where else to put. I’d like to say that I have every nook and cranny, high or low shelf, memorized or scanned into my brain for when I need to locate something. This is, sadly, not the case. Usually, I am thirty seconds late to class because I couldn’t find my copy of Nicomachean Ethics or because my extra comfy pair of fuzzy penguin socks are nowhere to be found. I am, in general, lost within my own space. I decided that I would end this behavior and become a more mature, poised version of myself. I would know exactly where my laptop charger, light pink lipstick, camera film, and everything else I love and use reside within my quarters.
times in my life when I was not happy or proud to be myself. Nonetheless, these memories reminded me of who I am and who I want to be. After cleaning my room, I felt as if it was necessary to comb through all aspects of my life. I cleaned out old lotions and nail polish colors that felt as if they did not belong on my fingertips any longer. I even went through my books and parted with some that I never felt like opening. After all was said and done, I opened up the Notes app on my phone. I planned to delete the random, scattered little notes that popped up, one after another, but I was surprised to see how many I kept over the years. I could see notes I left myself of meeting times for clubs that I tried out freshman year. I found old reminders of what to pack on trips I took to Louisiana and South Carolina. I laughed at a list I still had from highschool of my friends’ Dairy Queen orders. These notes painted a small picture of the life I have lived thus far. A life filled with one too many grocery lists and takeout orders.
sometimes
it takes finding little things we leave behind to remind ourselves where we came from and who we want to be.
I ordered a desk from Ikea to put my skin care products, and organized until my brain hurt. My favorite part of this journey were those fun moments during cleaning when I stumbled upon things that felt like they belonged to a past life. I discovered handwritten poetry that one of my best friends gave me in high school; and as I read it, I cried remembering how thoughtful my friend was for giving me such a precious gift.
There were crusty old pictures from when I solely wore overalls and button-up bowling shirts. These were so old that I couldn’t even remember what those clothes felt like against my skin. I began to uncover things that made me smile, and things that made me remember
I guess the argument that I am trying to make is that it is never too late to surprise yourself. After all, sometimes it takes finding little things we leave behind to remind ourselves where we came from and who we want to be. F. Scott Fitzgerald says it best for me, “For what it’s worth... it’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be…I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start over again.”
Billions of people all around the world, every day search tirelessly and endlessly over the answer to this seemingly impossible but most fundamental question to human life. What is love? Well Merriam-Webster would define love as a “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties”. When we begin to think about love and its universal impact on the way we conduct our day to day relationships with friends, family, and significant others. We must consider and question whether or not love is experienced and felt the same by both men and women. Also whether or not men and women scientifically, psychologically, biologically, and platonically share similar viewpoints on what this trivial thing we call love is. Though science cannot prove that men and women love the same or diversely. There have been many studies conducted, both scientifically and psychologically, in attempt to discover more about how men and women love. In an interview with American online women’s magazine Bustle, psychologist Dr. Danielle Forshee tells Bustle. “Evidence suggests that men and women differ in their expressions of emotions and in their descriptions of related thoughts”. Though men and women may share similar emotions of love, the way that those emotions are expressed and communicated can vary. Studies have also shown that contrary to the common belief women tend to fall in love quicker than men, that men may express feelings of love quicker than women. In their article, “Women and Men in Love: Who Really Feels It and Says It First?” Marissa A. Harrison and Jennifer C. Shortall discuss a study that questioned which sex tends to fall in love before the other. The study featured “Responses from 172 college students indicated that although both men and women believe that women
L VE Josias Parker
WHAT IS
will fall in love and say “I love you” first in a relationship, men reported falling in love earlier and expressing it earlier than women reported”. Although society, movies, and popular culture tells us that women fall in love faster than men, that may not consistently be the case. With science playing a pivotal role in society as a guide to help us better understand the physical world. Unfortunately love isn’t something that can be physically touched, tested or examined. When guys and girls meet for the first time they experience the infamous “friendship stage”, which is driven by platonic love. Merriam-Webster would call platonic love “a close relationship between two persons in which sexual desire is nonexistent or has been suppressed or sublimated”. That leads us to a series of frequently asked questions. Can men and women maintain a purely platonic love for each other without it eventually growing into something greater? What attracts us to our friends of the opposite sex? When a good friend of the opposite sex shows others more attention, what fuels our innocent jealousy? Though many guys and girls agree that platonic relationships aren’t difficult at all to maintain, others would argue that eventually one of the other will catch feelings. Dave Matthews Band would say “A guy and a girl can be just friends, but at one point or another, they will fall for each other... Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever”. Even though this can’t be the case with every relationship, we still seem to find ourselves in this never ending cycle. While one person may be completely satisfied with a healthy platonic relationship, the other may be hiding secret motives or feelings. Comedian and tv host Steve Harvey in an interview with CNN discussed why he doesn’t have female friends. Harvey says “All of my friends
“ Love can’t be
confined to any single definition or accidently discovered buried in your backyard “
are men. I don’t have female friends. I don’t, I am incapable of that”. The idea that men hold the ability to have female friends is a myth in his eyes. Harvey continues with “We remain your friends in hopes that one day there’ll be a crack in the door, a chink in the armor”. When asked in the interview if most men think this way, Harvey claims 99.99% of men share this way of thinking. Well whether or not this is true of how men view their relationships with women, we might forever be locked in this uncertain grey area of love. In modern times where social media, quick dating apps like Tinder, and smartphones keep the world in a constant state of instant communication. The search for love and companionship has never been more accessible but challenging at the same time. Love can’t be confined to any single definition or accidently discovered buried in your backyard. Most likely love, for as long as time continues to tic, will never be figured out down to an exact science. But the day we realize that love is undoubtedly the most powerful thing we can manifest and share with one another. Is the day that maybe we figure out what love truly is.
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O U R SJ o n O R GODS’? athan Bremer
The human body is a majestic thing. Its intricate design is not only functional but also aesthetically beautiful. Society emphasizes the importance of “being your best self” and supports self-expression with our bodies. The human body, in other words, is treated as a blank canvas, ready to be painted and admired. However, while American culture tells us that we have the right to choose what we do to our bodies, scripture tells us something completely different. Scripture emphasizes that our bodies are sacred “temples” or dwelling-places, dedicated to God to be used for his glory. A couple of questions have to be asked here then. What does it mean to treat our bodies as “temples” dedicated to God? What choices should we or should we not make? 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” So we see that God expects us to value our bodies, but these two verses alone don’t tell us what honoring our bodies necessarily looks like. But if we look at the preceding verses, we can may be able to get an idea of what this means for us. 1 Corinthians 6:12-18 tells us, “I have the right to do anything,” you say— but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him
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in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” If we look closely at this pericope, we see that Paul acknowledges that we are capable of doing anything we want. We have the freedom to treat our bodies in any fashion we choose. This, however, is not always helpful. This passage seemingly points us towards a lifestyle that embraces both self-control and sexual purity. As Christians, we are reminded of this time and time again. We know not to have sex outside of marriage. We understand that we are supposed to watch our diets and ensure that we are taking care of our bodies nutritionally. But what does this have to do with what society tells us about our bodies? Much of this revolves around the way we interact with the world. Just like premarital sex has the potential to be physically harmful, it can also impact the way we think about sex and approach life in general. The same goes for masturbation. We can do it, sure. It’s stimulating and it only affects the person performing the action right? In the short-term, quite possibly. But thinking long-term, you are also establishing a habit, a behavior that can actually hurt a future partner on an emotional level. This isn’t to say that we don’t own our bodies. Our bodies are, however, shared with our future partners —and not to be used explicitly for our own sexual pleasure. So the question to think about in all of this is did God create our bodies for ourselves? For others? Or are they His? Perhaps this is the correct way to think about this. If we are to glorify God with our bodies, our hearts, minds, and interactions with others, then perhaps our bodies fill all of these criteria. Maybe it is not an “either-or”, but rather, a “both and”. The human body was given to us for our enjoyment, to love and serve others, while also bringing glory to God through faithfulness. This shared ownership of these bodies should motivate us to take care of them and maintain them to the best of our ability.
Earlier this year, I came across an article published by Vox online addressing the fact that many of the recent suicides occurring in the sex industry were related to damaging stigma many sex workers face when they reach out for mental health services. The article highlighted the recent suicide of porn actress August Ames who talked openly about struggling with mental illness and being turned off by counselors who immediately attributed her struggles to her line of work. This is not something unique to Ames’ experience. It’s easy to make assumptions about how people get involved in sex work. As a staff member at Eden’s Glory, a safe home for survivors of sex trafficking established by members of the Greenville community, I have seen first hand how this industry exploits, victimizes, and destroys the lives of vulnerable individuals. Because of this experience, and the testimonies of the beautiful women I have the pleasure of walking with on the journey of healing, it is easy for me to assume that any kind of sex work is ultimately exploitative, victimizing, and damaging to the person(s) involved. So I wanted to find supportive evidence for this opinion. But as I did a little digging, I came across some things that made me wrestle with my own opinions. While the industry is largely exploitive, not everyone views it this way. Before we begin, let me provide a disclaimer. My intent in writing this article is to leave my opinions at the door. I am not trying to argue that sex work is ultimately right or wrong. My goal is to bring you along this challenging journey, as thoughtful individuals of faith, to understand the factors that perpetuate the sex industry and keep the supply coming. This is an issue full of nuances. A truly Christ-like response requires seeking to understand the other side. So be prepared to be challenged, and to read within a framework of empathy.
she shared more about her motivation for entering the industry. Finding herself in an abusive relationship in her early twenties, stripping allowed her to gain independence and save money to jumpstart her breakthrough into the music industry. She says stripping “saved my life.” However, not without a cost. Cardi says she became much more insecure about her body, leading to surgery that she now regrets having. When Ellen DeGeneres asked if she would recommend sex work, Cardi stated that she wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, but for her, it was the key to independence. The common thread uniting all of these stories is the need for monetary independence and freedom. Sex work is a job in high demand, that requires little to no training, with flexible hours. Kamala Kempadoo, associate professor of science at York University in Canada and author of two books including Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition advocates “understanding prostitution as a kind of labor that is often performed by marginalized people.” This perspective avoids stripping voluntary sex workers of their personal agency in choosing. For most people, sex work is a means to survival, not a desired career of choice.
Voluntary
SEX
“Karen,” is a sex worker in her fifties who works from her home in a London suburb. Due to a painful medical condition and a history of alcohol abuse she found it difficult to ever hold down a full time job. For her, sex work is a way to make a decent living while taking care of her health first. Although she likes being able to work within her limits and maintain flexible hours, “Karen” told the Guardian there have been times when clients almost became violent, and she sometimes feels as if she has “consented to being raped for money.” If she obtains disability benefits, she will most likely step out of sex work.
WORK
But this is not the case for everyone. Leya Tanit is a British performer in the adult entertainment industry. Prior to this she worked in business management as the operations director of a retail company. She entered the industry motivated to fulfill her personal desires. In 2018, Tanit, was shocked to hear about 18 suicides announced at two different awards shows. This opened her eyes to the lack of emotional and mental support available to sex workers. In response, she launched Pineapple Support, a 24/7 online community that provides access to therapists with a non-judgmental stance towards voluntary sex work.
Many sex workers like “Karen” and August find the flexible hours give them freedom to take care of preexisting mental health needs, although the stigma can exacerbate symptoms of depression, isolation, and insecurity. According to a study conducted by faculty researchers at Gurion University - Kalei Swogger of the Negev in Beer Sheva, Israel a study of fifty-five sex workers, 82% of whom had been trafficked, showed that 17% met criteria for PTSD and 19% were most likely clinically depressed. Another study conducted by several researchers in Vancouver, Canada reported that 48% of their sample had at some point been Brooke Magnanti is a developmental specialist in neurotoxicology and epidemiology in Bristol. She diagnosed with a mental health disorder, the most common being was also a high profile escort known as “Belle de Jour” while depression and anxiety. Those most likely to have a diagnosis were completing her Ph.D. in forensic science. During that time she non-binary, used drugs, and had some kind of traumatic history. published an anonymous blog recording her experiences. Now a respected scientist and researcher, Magnanti remembers Further research differentiating between voluntary versus forced her experience as “overwhelmingly positive” and empowering. sex work and how many people in each group experience preShe countered feminist criticism of the sex industry in a BBC existing mental health conditions will provide more evidence news interview by pointing out that “painting the industry and perhaps lead to effective interventions. For now, these as an oppressive power structure controlled by men simply personal testimonies make it imperative that all sex workers does not reflect the reality of the entire industry, which receive access to mental health services. Whether you agree includes transgender and male workers, and female clients”. with the decision to participate in voluntary sex work or not, perpetuating stigma will only serve to worsen the conditions of Most people know that Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, popularly those involved in this lifestyle. The least we can do is set aside known as “Cardi B,” had a career as a stripper before launching our assumptions and make a space for them in the circle of care. her highly successful music career. In an interview with Vlad TV
when perspectives
COLLIDE
and go all the time — this may be more noticeable because it is a smaller campus, but regardless there are plenty of reasons why someone might decide to go somewhere else. I wanted to know why Anna decided to stick her roots here rather than look for a better opportunity. What she said following these questions thoroughly surprised me: “I have made so many relationships with people that I love and that I know will always have a significant role in my life. Also, GU has helped me find and cultivate my passions. I get to help form the culture for a volleyball program that I always knew was special, but now we’re making others see that the program is something so special. Also, after switching my major twice, I am studying in a field that I have so much interest in and that I know I will thrive in in the future.” There are obvious benefits that one would look for when it comes to choosing a school, especially when athletics are involved, but Anna values the benefits in serving the volleyball program and improving the university as a whole. Obviously connections and relationships with others are priceless, but Anna’s servant’s heart and commitment to helping others and supporting the program demonstrate not only that her heart is in the right place, but that she is confident that God certainly did intend for her to be where she is.
LOGAN murphy It seems that Greenville students are especially likely to say something like, “I felt God calling me to this place,” or “God has a purpose for me here.” Something as little as a “feeling” is powerful enough to drastically change someone’s life. This feeling is especially important when it comes to choosing a university, because the four-or-so years that we spend in college are usually some of our most formative. I sat down with the soon-to-be vice president of GSGA, Anna Finch, and I started the interview by asking her what brought her to Greenville. Anna’s first encounter with Greenville came when she attended a volleyball camp as a recruit for the program. She said that she felt an immediate sense of belonging in the program as the culture, the players, and the coaching staff welcomed her with caring and open arms. A few months later Anna decided to follow up with a visit and said that Greenville University truly did feel like home to her. “God was really just putting in my heart that Greenville was where I belonged. I followed what God was telling me, and I committed immediately after my visit.” But what was keeping her here? How did she know that this was where she was supposed to be in the whole grand scheme of things? I have known plenty of people throughout my time at Greenville who have transferred, demonstrating that its unique culture isn’t necessarily for everyone. It seems students come
Now that she has answered the call to come to Greenville, she is embracing her time here. Not only has she invested herself in the volleyball program, but also she has now run for and been elected as GSGA’s vice president for the next school year. Her story just goes to show that when you hear God’s call, you answer! And when you answer you will see why he called you there in the first place. Still unsure whether or not to answer that call? I’ll leave you with my favorite quote from my interview with Anna Finch. “Overall, God has brought me so much love and happiness through Greenville. I have no doubts that this is always where I was meant to be.”
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Overall, God has brought me so much love and happiness through Greenville. I have no doubts that this is always where I was meant to be. Anna Finch
DREAMERS
AdvOCATING FOR
Shelby Farthing
In the spring of Michael Gonzalez’s second year at Greenville University, conversations surrounding the topic of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) abounded. Gonzalez left these conversations with a strong Christian conviction. While speaking with Michael he told me, “I felt like I needed to do something.” This Christian conviction quickly turned into action, as Gonzalez has a cousin who is a recipient of DACA. Through a quick Google session, he learned about an organization entitled “United We Dream.” United We Dream helps to provide legal advice and defense against deportation policies and regimes that hurt undocumented Americans. For Gonzalez’s case the most helpful section of this website was the “Call Congress” section. This provides a script that can be used to call members of congress in order to advocate for those who were brought across the border before they had much agency.
connection that his fellow students felt in solidarity with DACA recipients. The main undercurrent that Gonzalez received from the students was that they wanted to be more educated on their support of Dreamers.
This small act helped Gonzalez realize the Value of grassroots campaigning in creating and maintaining policies
Using this tool, Gonzalez gathered a group of friends and helped to advocate for those in a similar situation as his cousin. This small act helped Gonzalez realize the value of grassroots campaigning in creating and maintaining policies. He then decided to round more people up, this time announcing the opportunity to the student body. He understood and felt the deep
This resulted in the most recent event Gonzalez has organized. Gonzalez contacted a immigration lawyer from the neighboring city of St. Louis and had her come speak on the legal logistics of Deferred Action. He then also Facetimed in his cousin, who shared her personal experiences as a DACA recipient. Gonzalez felt that this event helped to educate his classmates who had questions regarding DACA and its relevance.
Although he is proud of his event, he still mentioned that “DACA is still in limbo because the Supreme Court decided not to pick the case back up.” He brought up that although DACA is important, it is also not a permanent solution. It is only temporary, and it costs five hundred dollars just to submit the application, making its protections inaccessible to many who could qualify. Under the Obama administration, a more clear solution was created called “The Dream Act”. The Dream Act’s main goal was to provide multiple steps for those who were brought here as children, to be able to receive the benefit of becoming a legalized American citizen. The Dream Act was not passed, which means that the hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients are currently stuck without a clear path to citizenship. Overall, this path to citizenship would finally allow the recipients of DACA to receive the proper stability and care that they deserve.
if we want people outside the kingdom to see something truly supernatural at work in our lives, that’s when it’s going to happen — when they see someone moving joyfully through life, supernaturally lifted up above their circumstances
Backdrop of
SUFFERING Kalei Swogger
Cortland Hendrick is a forty- something mother of five, a former missionary to Russia and the Middle East. She is currently the executive director her own non-profit, Cornerstone Farms Inc. which seeks to serve marginalized and oppressed communities through equestrian therapy. On top of that, Cortland and her husband David host a growing home church, the Crossing at Cornerstone, that disciples young adults and their families and sends them out into the community to spread “the kingdom” through acts of service. That’s only a small part of Cortland’s testimony. You wouldn’t think that the same woman is forced to remain homebound and unable to eat or drink on her own. Due to a mutation on her collagen 1 gene, Cortland has been chronically ill her entire life. This has manifested itself in a variety of ways throughout the years, but she is now virtually unable to care for herself: “I’m homebound, I’m not able to care for myself, I can’t eat or drink, this week was the first time since November that I’ve been able to walk up the stairs by myself unassisted.” And yet, talking about her journey through chronic illness invokes in the listener joy, wonder, and awe. “Let’s just remember that he brings suffering because it’s the backdrop where joy doesn’t belong. So if we want people outside the kingdom to see something truly supernatural at work in our lives, that’s when it’s going to happen — when they see someone moving joyfully through life, supernaturally lifted up above their circumstances.” Surprisingly, Cortland hasn’t always lived with this kind of radical perspective. A professing atheist throughout the early eighties, Cortland took eighteen months
to study all the world religions. “I felt like on a good day I could have come up with any of them.” The last stop on her journey took her to the gospels and other parts of the Bible. “I was blown away. Nobody would come up with this crazy story that begins with a teenage girl impregnated by, you know, who knows what. Nobody would come up with this story and expect to make a world religion out of it. It’s completely ridiculous if you’ve never heard it before. It was truly the foolishness of the gospel that won me to it.” The moment that she gave her life to Christ was also the moment she was called into ministry: “I was in ministry from the day that I was filled with the Holy Spirit. I was filled with new life, I was filled with joy. I just feel like the call to follow him is to be preaching the Gospel and sharing the excitement of being in Christ, everywhere that we are, all the time. And that is what ministry is.” None of this has changed in the face of increasingly limited physical capability, as Cortland says, “Let me tell you what an extraordinary time of ministry this has been… the impact that my life is having on others has been amplified to a much greater degree than even before when I was able-bodied. We hear about these things happening in the kingdom, but this is the first time I’ve experienced the removal of my physical ability, and it’s given me hours of intense seeking of God.” The theme of the unexpected permeates Cortland’s life, including her responses to those unexpected events. When I asked her whether she has ever reevaluated her call to ministry in light of her condition, she said with passion, “Never, because life is ministry. In sickness or in health. The
marriage between me and the Lord exists whether I feel well or not. For me to just curl up in the fetal position just because I’m not feeling well, and to no longer have a vibrant place of ministry, that’s just not going to happen. My call to ministry will never change, not until I go home to be with him.” In December of last year, Cortland and their community began to pray Romans 12:12 over her life, and they began seeing results: “He just began to answer that in a really legit way. And joy began to rise up in me. We are praying that this is a season, and that he will heal me, because he is a God who does miracles. And we are praying that he will turn doubting hearts into believing hearts by doing a miracle that he is more than able to do. But even if he doesn’t, this is has been so very good for our ministry… to see someone suffering well.” To Cortland, ministry is first and foremost about relationship. She imagines that if she had been given a choice to accept her current situation, she would have had to say yes. “My strong, strong pleading with everyone would be say yes as quickly as you can, because the longer you take to decide a thing the harder it is to say yes. Here’s my final word: I do believe that God will bring suffering into the life of faithful ones. Discipline is not punishment, it’s training for righteousness. Decide in advance that you’re going to continue in your ministry through that season...he’ll be a hundred fold glorified; it’s like setting up mirrors around yourself. It’s so beautiful. And I praise him for it.”
In 1951, a simple question was asked among a group of concerned members of the UN Refugee Agency after the fallout of WW2, “How do we stop displaced people from becoming victims of mass genocide?”. This question has been thrust back into the displaced people narrative beginning with the 2013 European refugee crisis. As the account of these refugees arriving on the shores of European Nations was plagued by fear and misinformation, a decision that was made in 1951 by the UN Refugee Agency came back into the picture. If a refugee arrives in any country and, “asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom” (UNHCR). This created a quick frenzy of people fleeing horrific war and persecution from the nations of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and many other surrounding areas. As with any mass exit, panic, fear, and chaos begins to frame the stories of the people who are fleeing. Stories of these refugees being violent, unkept, and dangerous followed them on their journey across the Mediterranean, causing them to be met with limited and insufficient resources. They quickly flooded and overpopulated refugee camps in Greece and Italy while they were met with limited resources provided usually solely by non-for-profits.
As the media picked up on the faulty narrative of these “dangerous” refugees, Kovenant Lingenfelter, an Indiana University arabic student, realized her training could help provide relief to the people in these camps. She came from a hyper-conservative background and realized that the way that the conservative media was portraying these refugees might not be the actual reality. She reached out to the Moriah Refugee camp in Greece and was accepted to spend the summer of 2017 providing aid and translation assistance. Before she left, she studied and watched interviews with the people in these camps and felt very loving towards the people in these terrible circumstances and as she reminded herself that she was not going to be a “savior” but to be “loving and joyful to the people there”. When she arrived, Kovenant was surprised by the amount of men were present at the refugee camp. In her mind, she expected the camps to be mainly populated by women and children and she wondered why more marginalized groups were not present. After hearing the stories of the situations these men were in, she soon realized a common thread. Most of these men were expected to
participate in the grueling civil war that was taking place while their wives and children did not have the same expectation placed on them. These people did not want to leave their families but also did not want to take place in bloodshe d that was happening in their homelands. Kovenant soon realized the vast majority of people represented and affected by this war in the Middle East. Her camp had people from 60 different nationalities present. She also remembers meeting: lawyers, tattoo artists, a National Geographer photographer. The most prominent occupation she accounted for was a barber who always had a line outside of his tent as he gave free haircuts. The people in Kovenant’s refugee camp were mainly middle class citizens, who had the means to escape.
as food, medical attention, and legal advice. Many of the refugees were met with discrimination from European governments as they pick and choose who they will and will not offer citizenship to. Greece and Italy harbor a vast majority of these refugees while other EU countries are glad to not have to handle the crisis and provide aid to these displaced people. Kovenant shared with me that these people were not criminals but citizens feeling religious persecution, war, and in some cases ethnic genocide. She recounted a few memories to me in which every month the refugees would get a check from the Red Cross, and spend the money preparing a meal for the camp. Kovenant left me with, “Even though these people had almost nothing, they would give it to you.”
“These people did not want to leave their families but also did not want to take place in the bloodshed that was happening in their homelands.”
E E G U F E R E H T G N I M I A L C E R E V I T A ARR
Kovenant also noted that non-for-profit organizations were doing “all of the heavy lifting” when it came to providing aid such
SHELBY
FARTHING
SEARCH For the Kalei Swogger
Summer Mengarelli
In our postmodern society, it is easy to live life without any sort of spiritual practice. But the closer I observe people and the wider I open my eyes, the more I become aware of our everyday sense of the spiritual realm, even if it is just to “knock on wood.” Most of us believe that there is, somewhere, a force greater than us. There are a lucky few raised in the church who can claim faith as their own without some sort of deconstruction. I came to Greenville to major in psychology, and in the process discovered that I do not want to become a psychologist. As I have wrestled with understanding the broader purpose of the last three years, I realized that I came here to learn more about my faith than anything else. The last few years have been a time for me to step away from the Christianity I knew, and to learn a new way of thinking about humanity, growth, and how these things converge with our spirituality. This experience was a long time coming. A few months ago I spent time browsing through my highschool journals. Most of what I wrote at that time consisted of mundane descriptions of the day to day. But throughout the entire journal there was an undertone of desperation. Something was wrong, but I lacked the ability and insight to fully express it. Almost every entry ended with some form of prayer or scripture. In the back of my mind I believed that if I just prayed enough, if I had enough self-discipline, I would suddenly feel this intense connection with God and understand the purpose of my life. But nothing changed. Christianity was a belief system and that’s all it was. It was not the transformative relationship that many of my close friends claimed to have. Worst of all, I felt alone in this experience. Coming to Greenville, it was really easy to step away from spirituality, outside of attending chapel, and still maintain the appearance of having faith. I would not say that I ever completely walked away from Christianity. But for about two years I just stopped trying. It was after stepping away from most forms of spirituality that I discovered my deep-seated respect for the spiritual. I realized this when I looked at the literature, people, and experiences that have been the most impactful and inspirational in my life. Then I began to understand that in many ways, the western church does not represent the Christian faith. And from there I began to separate my cultural values from my faith. This is an ongoing process, but after beginning it, I began to find peace and reconciliation. The things that anger me about Christianity, the things that have felt unjust, they are the result of human failure to live out sacred spiritual beliefs. They are not the beliefs themselves. All of these realizations are still extremely fresh. It’s still difficult for me to articulate exactly how this transformation came about. But I know what it means. It means that I have the freedom to ex-
plore spirituality in freedom, without fear of getting it wrong. I have the freedom to keep knocking, knocking, knocking. I have the faith that God is love. And if God is love then God will reveal the Spirit, and the Spirit is what transforms our way of being. Faith and skepticism can coexist, though one must sometimes submit to the other. This is not a cop out or a way to ignore the harsh realities of this life. It is a way to face those realities with courage, with sustainable hope, with strength to work out the miracles of restoration day to day. So whoever you are, it is okay to take a step back. It is okay to stop trying for a while, as long as you keep your eyes and your mind open. Look for God in all things. Look for the Spirit in all things. They may show themselves in unexpected places. Don’t stop knocking. Don’t stop asking questions. You will find what you are seeking.
Spiritual
When I came to Greenville, I thought I had already weathered the proverbial attack on my faith by attending a Christian school of a different denomination and arguing theological differences with the religion teacher. These next four years, I believed as I moved into Burritt as a freshman, would be for delving into the evangelical environment on campus and finally fostering the deep, personal relationship with God that I had never been able to sustain, despite my best efforts.
spent three days alone, sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Calabrian Sea in the northeast of Spain. When I remember those days what strikes me most is that I felt full of something I had been missing for a long time, some communion with a God I wanted to know again. When I came back to the States for the spring semester, I was empty. I recognized the familiar signs of depression, but this time it was worse than anything I had experienced in my childhood or in high school.
Except that’s not what happened. As I settled into my schedule freshman year, I attended almost every chapel, and in my mind Vespers was practically mandatory. I went to my floor Bible studies and gathered with friends around the Burritt fire pit to sing worship songs. I worked at a local church teaching Sunday school despite a complete lack of qualifications. And when my ill-advised first-semester relationship inevitably began to crumble, I persuaded him to meet me at Jo’s in the mornings to read the Bible together, because I believed that would fix our fundamental incompatibility.
The next year was the darkest of my life, and I am coming out of it desperately wanting the community of the church and the comfort of the liturgy. I have taken some more theology classes and learned a little more about the nature of God. I slowly, sporadically, am attending church again. I wish I could tell you that I figured out how to address the wrongs of the church and still be a part of it, but I haven’t. What I have figured out that God is a God of love, mercy, and justice, and that knowledge sustains me.
Somewhere along the way, I realized that while I appeared to be active in my faith life, it was at best a performance. I was learning in my classes about structural injustices and the church’s role in upholding them, and I struggled to reconcile my faith with the information I was gaining. I learned about Biblical interpretation and came to recognize that what I had been taught to believe about gender roles, or sexual ethics, or the meaning of sin, or what it means to live a Christian life were only some of a diverse range of beliefs someone could hold and still be a Christian. My sophomore year was when I reached a critical moment in which I felt I had to decide whether I wanted to continue as a Christian. I began to wonder what exactly I was worshipping — the Bible told me God was loving, but the actions of the church were often violently the opposite. My worldview had completely changed as I began to de-link from my conservative evangelical roots (a process that is ongoing years later as I prepare to graduate). While I could construct a new understanding of the world that paid attention to my privilege and to the systems of injustice in which I am complicit, I no longer knew how God fit into the picture. During my junior-year semester in Madrid, I
Recently, like Kalei, I was flipping through my old journals. It was jarring to realize that depression has been a part of my life for a very long time. I wasn’t given the vocabulary to understand what I was feeling; instead, I was writing day after day that I had failed, yet again, to choose happiness. I wrote down prayers asking God to give me more faith and strength so that my sadness, an obvious sign of a lack of trust, could go away. It was heartbreaking to read and remember how insufficient and worthless I thought myself to be. To know that I could have received the help of a counselor, as I do now, many years ago if I had been given the knowledge to understand that what I felt was not a result of some sin I had committed against God — that it was a health problem, and not a faith problem. I’m still figuring things out now, but I am so grateful for what I have been able to learn about mental health and the help I have received. I am able to understand that my depression is not a punishment and my God is not a vindictive judge. Over and over again I have been given quiet reassurances that the prevailing nature of God is love, and I am learning to trust that principle as I navigate how my faith will impact the rest of my life.
happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, eat American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of e to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free; one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation the chains of discrimination; one hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity; hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. So we’ve come here today ramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent ds of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is ous today that America has defaulted on this promissory note in so far as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, rica has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice ankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we have come to cash this check, eck that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the ce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the mises of democracy; now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice; now is the time to lift nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood; now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children. It ld be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there n invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off am and will now be content, will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America l the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice rges. But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the worn threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and red. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into sical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy, which has ulfed the Negro community, must not lead us to a distrust of all white people. For many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, e come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We not walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the otees of Civil Rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police tality; we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels he cities; we cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one; we can never be satisfied as long as our dren are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”; we cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro in Mississippi not vote, and the Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No! no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls n like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is emptive. Go back to Mississippi. Go back to Alabama. Go back to South Carolina. Go back to Georgia. Go back to Louisiana. Go back to the slums and ghettos ur Northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, ven though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” I have a dream t one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of therhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged he color of their skin but by the content of their character. I HAVE A DREAM TODAY! I have a dream that one day down in Alabama — with its vicious racists, h its Governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification — one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black s will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I HAVE A DREAM TODAY! I have a dream that one day every valley ll be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be plain and the crooked places will be made straight, “and the glory he Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be e to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful phony of brother-hood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for dom together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will be the day. This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new ning, “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let dom ring.” And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire; let freedom from the mighty mountains of New York; let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania; let freedom ring from the snow-capped kies of Colorado; let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia; let dom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee; let freedom ring from every hill and mole hill of Mississippi. “From every mountainside, let freedom ring.” when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will ble to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and
BL A C K HISTORY ONTH
Every year in the month of February,
communities around the country gather in honor to celebrate the important people and events accomplished by members of the African Diaspora. Widely known as Black History Month(BHM), also called African-American History Month. This unique time of the year is designated to contributing special attention to learning and paying respect to those who’ve left an unforgettable imprint on history. From growing up as a young boy celebrating BHM, to currently engaging with the annual holiday as an adult; I’ve come to notice the subtle divide in feelings towards BHM between members of the African American community who either fully support the holiday or find defects in its true impact on society. After investigating both sides of the spectrum, the tale of these two perspectives provides an interesting insight on how the black community views its national holiday. Prior to the creation of BHM in 1970, in 1926 Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History proclaimed that the second week of February be Negro History Week. The idea of this week was influenced and centered around the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. With the idea of celebrating and acknowledging black accomplishment annually, this event later gave birth to BHM. Since its creation, BHM now is not only celebrated solely in the United States. Similar to the US, Canada also celebrates the holiday in the month of February. Also the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Ireland participate in the celebration but in the month of October. For over four decades the black community has found an abundance of reasons why BHM continually provides society with the opportunity to recognize the substantial accomplishments of
A Tale Of Two Sides Josias Parker
black people. One reason many people adore celebrating BHM is the ability to commemorate and honor the historical leaders from the black community. Paying homage to those leaders who led the frontline fight of the: Slavery, post-emancipation, civil rights era and present day, as a means to never forget the stepping stones they set for future generations to continue the fight. BHM also allows us members of the black community to evaluate and appreciate the privileges that we’ve acquired from the catastrophic circumstances our ancestors endured. Recognizing all of the systemic battles fought for educational, political, and social equality gives us a well rounded sense of humility. Considering that the public school system does a particularly inadequate job at teaching black history. We look to BHM as a time to highlight the untold, uncommon, and overlooked accomplishments and aspects of black history and culture. Without this annual holiday many significant perspectives and stories of black achievement would systematically be forgotten. Without a doubt, very seldom talked about, BHM brings awareness of rich black history not only to the black community but also to society at large. Finally BHM reminds us that black history is not inclusive only to the black community but is also our American history. By not considering the impact African Americans have made in this country is to ignore the complete cultural conscious and story of our nation. Though BHM brings various communities to recognize the beautiful and impactful achievements of African Americans. Those who question the true impact of this holiday take the perspectives of the devil’s advocate. Not utterly rejecting the idea of BHM, but rather critiquing areas where as a society we can engage more properly with black history. Though BMH was created in February for specific reasons. Many argue that
limiting the celebration of black history to the shortest month of the year doesn’t allow a reasonable amount of time, due to the already lacking presence of black history in society. As we continue to grow socially with mass and social media, a second argument questions the public’s participation and engagement with the holiday. For example, every year when beloved holidays such as: Christmas, the fourth of July, or New Years arrive. Nationwide there’s a collective boom of advertisements, decorations, and celebrations for these events while BHM receives relatively minimal support in comparison. Given that these other holidays are restricted to one single day is a huge factor that sets BHM apart from the rest. Institutions such as historically black colleges tend to utilize every single day of BHM, celebrating with events and lessons to pass on through education. As a society we cannot rely on solely black institutions to fully engage with the entire holiday but we must strive, collectively as a nation, to honor BHM as a means to heal the wounds of systemic injustices. Reconsidering the lack and inadequate teacahing of black history in general schooling. BHM can tend to be the “token” time designated to recognize black achievement, rather than confronting the fickle attention given to honoring black excellence. It goes without saying that annually BHM continues to inspire and spark affections of self-love within the black community. We appreciate and honor those brave black pioneers that fought, battled, and lost their lives with a brighter future in mind for all. Whether you see BHM as a cup half empty or half full, every month of February communities around the world will gather and rejoice in honor of the lifetime achievements of members of the black diaspora.
WITH
PROBLEM
THE
A Message
CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC
From A
conservative
JJ Smith Vulnerability, honesty, and the story are the most important parts of lyrics. When lyrics don’t come from the heart, the result, more often than not, is uninspiring and lifeless music — the kind of music that might live on the radio for a little while but will ultimately be forgotten. Songs with simplistic or meaningless lyrics, songs that don’t push boundaries, will eventually fade in our memory, because no one has a reason to hold onto them. This is the problem that I see at times in the contemporary Christian music industry. I grew up listening to artists like TobyMac, Newsboys, Hawk Nelson, and Francesca Battistelli. I remember going to many Christian concerts, like Winter Jam, that came through my hometown, Peoria, IL. But more and more, I find myself resisting popular Christian music. It’s not because the artists are any less talented or that their shows are dull. On the contrary, I find that contemporary Christian artists are quite musically talented, and they know how to put on an energetic show. But I find that their lyrics are often much too simplistic. There is usually limited vulnerability, honesty, or story in the lyrics. Most of it sounds exactly like secular pop but with a slightly “Christian” spin. It perpetuates what I like to refer to as the Christian suburban mom lifestyle. The problem with the way the genre’s music has developed is the stigma it creates around vulnerability. According to this lifestyle, image is everything and if you struggle at all, you can’t tell anyone because it seems unchristian to struggle.
I think it’s important to clarify the difference between music for corporate worship and Christian pop music. Worship music written for a congregation is a prayer. I believe that this music is based on scripture and theology; it is rooted in the living God. It has depth, retells the story of Salvation, and expresses beliefs of the faith. It is often repetitive; however, it uses repetition to reinforce the message and to give a voice to the congregation. Christian pop music, on the other hand, often lacks these redeeming aspects. Instead, the genre expresses an extremely watered-down version of the faith that, while it sounds nice, does little to support or challenge the community of faith. For instance, at times Christian contemporary music ignores the struggle with sin, which is central to the actual Christian narrative. For these reasons, I believe that Christian contemporary music can be as mind-numbing as the secular pop songs that we all tire of hearing on the radio. However, because this genre is designed to address issues of faith and speak to the community that holds the faith, we should expect more from CCM. Songs that live on push creative boundaries, tell a story, and express the songwriter’s heart with sincerity. The contemporary Christian music industry, and those of us who engage with it, would benefit greatly from songs that push boundaries.
Logan Murphy
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” This quote from Steve Jobs sums up what I and many other conservative college students feel as if we experience on a regular basis. In this article I will share my own personal experiences and suggest change that I feel could start a dialogue. This dialogue could help to create a more accepting and less unwelcoming environment between those who align differently on the political scale. Flashback to the fall of 2016: I arrived to campus with high expectations as I was ready to get my first college semester off on the right foot. The campaign season for the presidential election was in full swing. Coming from Indiana — one of the more conservative states in the U.S. — I naturally grew up in a conservative household with conservative values. I knew who I was voting for in November, but what I didn’t know was the amount of political based disagreements I would find myself embroiled in.
execution of these discussions has left something to be desired. This does not occur in every single one of my classes, nor is it a daily occurence, but it does happen often enough to have left me feeling upset. I feel as if at times, my voice is not properly heard in political discussions.
No one should have to conform to the beliefs of others or keep their beliefs private in order to thrive on a college campus.
At Greenville University, one of the more popular topics on campus is how our faith integrates with our political views. These discussions arise in a variety of forms like colloquiums, university chapels, and even in class. I don’t think that this is a bad thing to discuss, but at times the
It is during these moments that I realize that I feel as if there are not enough outlets on this campus for those that are conservative. There is not a place for dialogue to happen among those who differ in political beliefs. I feel as though something has to change. We as a campus have many outlets for discussion based learning, and I believe that this area of discussion has not yet been given a space. No one should have to conform to the beliefs of others or keep their beliefs private in order to thrive on a college campus.
Interaction between two students who disagree politically doesn’t happen often, but when it does, in my experience it is rarely productive. I feel as if we as college students must create a place for this kind of dialogue. We have to be more accepting of other people’s views. We don’t have to like what others believe but we can have the decency to treat them as a human being. I believe that Greenville University can be a community of loving, accepting, and truly diverse christians. I believe we can in fact live with and around each other not just in a civilized way, but in a loving and thriving environment.
Summer Mengarelli Shelby Farthing EDITOR
EDITOR IN-TRAINING
Dear readers, This semester we have chosen “Collide” for the VISTA’s theme. The idea is that we are shaped and transformed by the collisions that we have with other people, with new places or challenging concepts. We wanted to orient this semester’s magazine toward the idea that even conflict and difficulty are imbued with the possibility to bring forth something beautiful and important, and I hope that we have captured this idea in the stories we tell in these pages. I write this note only weeks away from my graduation. Working on the VISTA this semester has led me to reflect on my own collisions, including those that I have had at Greenville. Throughout my four years here, I have collided with knowledge and experiences that challenged every facet of my life, from my career goals to my relationships, and perhaps especially in my faith. What I have learned is that collisions are crucial to understanding. I have learned that I cannot understand what I believe or what I care about unless I collide with someone who feels differently. Often, that experience has meant recognizing where my previous belief was misguided. We hope that we have packaged some of these experiences for you in this semester’s VISTA. The writers and I hope to challenge you, surprise you, and encourage you. Ultimately, we hope that your collisions with these stories will be meaningful, and bring forth something beautiful. Happy reading, Summer Mengarelli Content Editor
DISCLAIMER: The view and opinions expressed in this and all other issues of the Vista are those of the student writers, and do not necessarily reflect the values of Greenville University
Jeremiah Smith WRITER
Josias PArker
Logan Murphy
Kalei Swogger
Josh Robinson
Johnathan Goodenow
WRITER
WRITER
WRITER
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WRITER
The Vista Magzine | Issue 116 no. 2
