Fascinating documentary on life at a Fundie "University"

[wayward]

As a precinct committeeman in a hotly-contested congressional district (IL-13), I've met a number of of professional political operatives. True, you don't have to have a degree from an accredited school to do that kind of work, but it's a tough life. There's little financial security, and they move all over the place and work very long hours. Is this one of the career paths for PHC grads?

[DomWackTroll]

That creeped me out. My mental alarm bells went off immediately when the politicians and school founder were explaining why they love homeschool kids from this university so much. I'm sure those kids are smart but that cannot think for themselves without the assistance of the bible.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Hoax or real? http://queerphc.wordpress.com

Real, IMO. This all becomes too much to bear for these kids and they start sending out signals and speaking in coded language so that they can find one another. Hell, they can't even stop speaking Closet when a camera is right in front of them!

"I was having bad thoughts that I needed to get rid of..."

"I had to learn to not be too good at frisbee..."

"The same-sex marriage issue is one that is very, very important to me..."

Now, these were three different kids in the movie, and of course I don't know that any of them are gay. But I do know that they are exhibiting that kind of "cry for help" behavior that gay teens in fundie hell often do. How many het male teens do you know who describe preventing gay marriage as "very, very important" to them? Why would it be? They may show a mild distaste for gay sex, but it is not something they dwell on. They've got other things on their mind, like-- well, p*ssy.

Ironically, it's these radical-right parents and "educators" who are "shoving homosexuality down their throats 24/7," not the godless liberals or the media.

[musicmommy]

Wow, just finished going through the documentary. (and couldn't help but watch the related video on the dorm rooms) One of the quotes that caught me, and I'm paraphrasing here went something like this: "All this students came here independently, on their own to submit to the authority of the school leaders." I know I didn't get it quite right because I think he also said something about free thinking to bring them to that decision. Really? Do they really believe that this kids chose this path on their own, through their own thinking?

So many comments were made during the video that made me want to smack someone upside the head. Maybe knock some sense into these kids. How is this not considered a cult? If there was a similar university set up for a different belief system acting in the same way, you can bet the fundies would be calling it out.

[YPestis]

I remember reading an article about PHC. Under the Bush administration, their students were given preferential treatment by the White House as part of Bush's evangelical outreach. I doubt the school is as successful under Obama. As for their political influence....it's a school whose main goal is political influence, so it's normal to expect some of them will end up working in politics. However, that's different than actually wielding political power. I just don't see a school which provides such a biased and restrictive education sending their grads to very high places. Maybe a few will reach somewhere important, but compared to Stanford, MIT, UofPenn etc? There's nutty people in every profession, but I don't see PHC graduates from those academic powerhouses in science, business, or law.

[erunerune]

With that kind of accreditation, what law schools will take their grads? How can a Christian law school ever hope to be able to defend itself against the laws, which are secular?

The "science" lesson made me want to pull my hair out. How can supposedly educated people teach young earth creation? Hell, their justifications for everything were laughable.

I remember the Harris twins went there, already expert debaters before they set foot on campus. I wonder what they're doing now that they've given up the Do Hard Things: The Tour! gigs?

One of the Harris twins is at Harvard Law now.

[salex]

I remember reading an article about PHC. Under the Bush administration, their students were given preferential treatment by the White House as part of Bush's evangelical outreach. I doubt the school is as successful under Obama. As for their political influence....it's a school whose main goal is political influence, so it's normal to expect some of them will end up working in politics. However, that's different than actually wielding political power. I just don't see a school which provides such a biased and restrictive education sending their grads to very high places. Maybe a few will reach somewhere important, but compared to Stanford, MIT, UofPenn etc? There's nutty people in every profession, but I don't see PHC graduates from those academic powerhouses in science, business, or law.

And, how many are working in Obama's whitehouse? They have to be playing the long game. IN the book I read about this college (God's Harvard, I think) the loss of the Virginia gubenatorial campaign shocked a lot of them more than was portrayed in the movie...

I suspect the Tea party will absorb a number of them, but I wonder how they will line up their religious beliefs with the massive moral compromises inherent to political campaigns... even if they demonize their opposition, there will be days that they have to choose to accept something they may not agree with to placate a major donor.

[Black Aliss]

The Christianity is old so it must be right argument made me laugh. I always counter this with "So does that mean Hinduism, Buddhism & Judaism are even more right?" Amazing how many Christians, even liberals, are unaware of how much older the Asian religions are. (I am Christian but I have actually bothered to learn something about other religions.)

And the Pagans are the most right of all. Give me that old-time religion; it's good enough for me!

[mockingbird]

Just watched the first part... one thing that struck me as odd even for many of the fundy families on here is how blasé the new freshman's parents seemed about his career. For those that haven't watched, they just talked about the opportunities at the college and how it would be "interesting to see where the Lord takes him". While the "Lord has a plan" thing isn't new (and maybe parents talking to their kids about career options is too much to expect from these families!), usually I feel like a lot of the fundy teens and their parents don't miss an opportunity to brag about their huge talents and ambitions/"callings". Besides the fact that his dad thought he seemed like he could be a "leader", this guy's parents just came off as really ambivalent about their son's future, just like eh whatever he picks, we don't have to worry about it now that he'll be out of the house. (Maybe he'll choose to do something non-fundy. LOL) The kid himself drove me crazy too. It always bothers me when people don't seem to have a personality outside of their religion. I guess that's kind-of the point though...

[GenerationCedarchip]

With that kind of accreditation, what law schools will take their grads? How can a Christian law school ever hope to be able to defend itself against the laws, which are secular?

The "science" lesson made me want to pull my hair out. How can supposedly educated people teach young earth creation? Hell, their justifications for everything were laughable.

I remember the Harris twins went there, already expert debaters before they set foot on campus. I wonder what they're doing now that they've given up the Do Hard Things: The Tour! gigs?

Surprisingly, a lot of decent law schools have taken PHC grads. I know of a handful who have gone to Harvard and Yale. Of folks that I know personally, there are folks who went to Regent, UNC, William and Mary, Washington and Lee, George Mason, UVA, and University of Alabama. For such a small school, they're developing a frighteningly huge reach.

[emiliawasframed]

If you want to learn more about life at PHC, read Hanna Rosin's book God's Harvard.

[bbfreethinker]

The Christianity is old so it must be right argument made me laugh. I always counter this with "So does that mean Hinduism, Buddhism & Judaism are even more right?" Amazing how many Christians, even liberals, are unaware of how much older the Asian religions are. (I am Christian but I have actually bothered to learn something about other religions.)

You would think that Christians would at least know that Judaism is older.

[lizziesmom]

I remember reading an article about PHC. Under the Bush administration, their students were given preferential treatment by the White House as part of Bush's evangelical outreach. I doubt the school is as successful under Obama. As for their political influence....it's a school whose main goal is political influence, so it's normal to expect some of them will end up working in politics. However, that's different than actually wielding political power. I just don't see a school which provides such a biased and restrictive education sending their grads to very high places. Maybe a few will reach somewhere important, but compared to Stanford, MIT, UofPenn etc? There's nutty people in every profession, but I don't see PHC graduates from those academic powerhouses in science, business, or law.

I think we all need to be very cautious in underestimating the collective force of PHC, Liberty, and some others. The German people and much of the world thought Hitler and the Nazis were a big joke. Turned out not to be so funny. Should the fundies control our government I don't see anyone other than US citizens lining up to fight against them.

[Verin Sedai]

You would think that Christians would at least know that Judaism is older.

The fundie canned answer to this objection is that Old Testament Jews were basically just retroactive Christians, so Christianity still wins oldest.

And pedantically, from the perspective of religious studies, the Israelite religion described in the OT/Torah is technically a different religion from modern-day Judaism. The Israelite religion is impossible to practice anymore due to the absence of a properly consecrated temple or accurate priestly genealogy. /nerdhatoff

[Miggy]

Hinduism is still older if you believe scientific evidence or its own count, as the OT is only 6000 years ok'd according to fundies.

[Verin Sedai]

They'll count all the way back to the garden of Eden and any other "older" religions are just a corruption of the one true one. I recently proofread a dissertation for someone to that effect.

[Miggy]

My logic is that;

(A) liberal Christians don't count Old Testament as Christianity so the religion is 2000 years old

(B) evangelical Christians who count Old Testament as Christianity believe the world is 6000 years old

Neither of which come near the length of time Hinduism has been practiced (or paganism or a few others. I pick on Hinduism because my best friend is Hindi.) My church friends get upset with this argument because they say you can't have religions older than the world (as they date it) but I'm going with science on this one.

*Also, I've got a lot of indigenous students and they've been here for 30,000. They would find it hysterical if I told them the world was only 6000 years old!

[marmalade]

Surprisingly, a lot of decent law schools have taken PHC grads. I know of a handful who have gone to Harvard and Yale. Of folks that I know personally, there are folks who went to Regent, UNC, William and Mary, Washington and Lee, George Mason, UVA, and University of Alabama. For such a small school, they're developing a frighteningly huge reach.

That is indeed frightening. Even more frightening is the Harris twin at Harvard Law (as posted, supra). I could totally see either of them going somewhere in Tea Party politics (provided the Tea Party can survive the backlash it's taking on all fronts due to the Shutdown). They were seasoned debaters even before setting foot on the PHC campus. They're seasoned speakers with their traveling circus tours. They may have learned the art of nuanced argument at PHC if they are such a great competitor in debate competitions, and learned something about arguing both sides of a case in the Moot Court. Of course, in controlled circumstances, such as the school, the "liberal" argument isn't going to necessarily be true, merely FAUX News soundbytes of what is believed to be true to make their side right. However, debating someone from Harvard, you better have some real facts and statistics at your disposal to back your side of an issue, even if it's the side you disagree with.

[salex]

http://judgepedia.org/index.php/Caleb_Stegall

This is a new judge appointed in Brownbackistan. He can at least string words together, and seems to be intelligent and has an agenda. He is "anti modern" and believes in very small locality control, though he has not yet used the term county rights where I've heard him. But, he's very much of the same cloth as many we snark on here.... and I suspect he'd welcome a theonomy and is put in place in part to create one.

[smittykins]

So how *does* a cell know to become the leg of a fly? "God told it?" :orly:

[August]

My logic is that;

(A) liberal Christians don't count Old Testament as Christianity so the religion is 2000 years old

(B) evangelical Christians who count Old Testament as Christianity believe the world is 6000 years old

Neither of which come near the length of time Hinduism has been practiced (or paganism or a few others. I pick on Hinduism because my best friend is Hindi.) My church friends get upset with this argument because they say you can't have religions older than the world (as they date it) but I'm going with science on this one.

*Also, I've got a lot of indigenous students and they've been here for 30,000. They would find it hysterical if I told them the world was only 6000 years old!

Sumerians Look On In Confusion As God Creates World

According to records, Sumerian farmers, priests, and civic administrators were not only befuddled, but also took issue with the face of God moving across the water, saying that He scared away those who were traveling to Mesopotamia to participate in their vast and intricate trade system.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/sumeri ... worl,2879/