The blog post gained attention in the wake of a growing number of students protesting racial discrimination and other issues on campuses across the country.
Piper wrote that he chose to share his frustrations publicly after a student, who has not been identified, complained about being "offended" by a sermon given at the Christian liberal arts college.
Piper said on the Pat Campbell Show on KFAQ 1170 AM that when he heard about the incident, he asked to see a copy of the sermon, thinking he might find something sarcastic or abrasive. In his opinion, the message was innocuous, Campbell said on the radio show.
The sermon was on the Bible passage 1 Corinthians 13, which includes the verse "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud." The sermon was about love, Piper said.
"It appears that this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love," Piper wrote in his post. "I'm not making this up. Our culture has actually taught our kids to be this self-absorbed and narcissistic."
"A liberal arts academy is about learning. It's not supposed to be a place to suppress controversial ideas," Piper said. My point was to challenge my own industry — to look my academic peers in the eye and say: 'We've caused this.'"
Piper, who has been the president of Oklahoma Wesleyan since 2002, said in his post that if students "want to be enabled rather than confronted, there are many universities across the land (in Missouri and elsewhere) that will give you exactly what you want, but Oklahoma Wesleyan isn't one of them."
No comments:
Post a Comment