The President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University posted the following on his blog, and it is now making national news:
This past week, I actually had a student come forward after a university chapel service and complain because he felt “victimized” by a sermon on the topic of 1 Corinthians 13. It appears that this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love. In his mind, the speaker was wrong for making him, and his peers, feel uncomfortable.
I’m not making this up. Our culture has actually taught our kids to be this self-absorbed and narcissistic. Any time their feelings are hurt, they are the victims. Anyone who dares challenge them and, thus, makes them “feel bad” about themselves, is a “hater,” a “bigot,” an “oppressor,” and a “victimizer.”
I have a message for this young man and all others who care to listen. That feeling of discomfort you have after listening to a sermon is called a conscience. An altar call is supposed to make you feel bad. It is supposed to make you feel guilty. The goal of many a good sermon is to get you to confess your sins—not coddle you in your selfishness. The primary objective of the Church and the Christian faith is your confession, not your self-actualization.
...
Oklahoma Wesleyan is not a “safe place”, but rather, a place to learn: to learn that life isn’t about you, but about others; that the bad feeling you have while listening to a sermon is called guilt; that the way to address it is to repent of everything that’s wrong with you rather than blame others for everything that’s wrong with them. This is a place where you will quickly learn that you need to grow up.
This is not a day care. This is a university!
Link to the blog
NBC article about this
The post, however, wasn't meant to be directed at the student who raised the issue, Piper told NBC News. "This is not a message to my students per se ... This is a message to the broader community."
Piper said he doesn't support "the shouting down of a contrary idea rather than a civil and polite exchange disagreement" because he believes respectful discourse is a foundation of academia.
"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.'"
My bold.
And, I think, exactly correct.
