Are We Making a Difference?
Stop 3: Lee University, Cleveland, TN
Friday, 17 March 2006
We arrived at Lee University after a nearly 14 hour bus ride.
(That needed to be a paragraph all by itself just to give you, my gentle reader, time to contemplate what life must be like with 35 people on a 55 passenger charter bus from 8am until 10pm.)
Bone weary, we finally arrived in Cleveland and were allowed 30 minutes for dinner, only to discover at our midnight hour meeting that Lee University had rescinded the agreement we had reached and that we would no longer be able to give any presentations or be recognized in any official way by the university. We were allowed on campus, but only on their conditions. We were not allowed to speak in classrooms, congregate in groups larger than three, or engage with students other than on a one-on-one basis.
Yet with all these restrictions, we still managed to rise to the occasion. The students thronged to see us, largely because the administration, in an attempt to diminish the impact of our visit, had spent weeks preparing and scaring their students about the Soulforce Equality Ride visit. They had chapel services entitled, “How to Deal with Equality Riders,” their professors were instructed to abandon their classes immediately if any of us were to enter the rooms and speak, and outside speakers such as Exodus were given the open forum we were denied. Of course, these preparations only served to pique the students’ curiosity of this traveling circus—the Equality Ride.
When we entered campus yesterday morning, I was worried. I knew how to show resigned indignation when I was arrested, but I didn’t know how to change the hearts and minds of those Christians who might seek to oppose me or ensnare me with a tangled web of convoluted and distorted scripture passages. I didn’t know if I would be able to dialogue effectively with students to indicate that there are other interpretations of those six or seven scripture passages used to condemn me and those I love. But I should not have doubted, for the Lord was there to guide me throughout the day, and when I stumbled looking for the right words to say, His angels were there to catch me.
* * *
Today, I ended up spending my time with Lee students. We had a jolly time talking during our visit to campus. When the bus was heading back to the hotel, my new Lee friends invited us bowling. But the fun didn’t stop there. Before our heads could finally connect with the plush pillows at the Jameson Inn, we ended up back on campus for a St. Patty’s Day Bash and also found time for a post-dinner snack at IHOP.
But at the end of the day, I was left wondering, “Did we really do anything?” We spent nearly two days with these Christians in Cleveland and had a great time, but by the end of the visit, our beliefs still differed. They still thought that my homosexuality was a sin. They thought I was a sin. So what had we really done other than show them that we are people too. They would still vote against my marriage. They would still pressure people to “change.” They still couldn’t affirm my humanity or believe me when I said that the Lord loved me as I am without reservation.
Yes, I intend to leave you in this quandary with this constant wondering and questioning of myself and of the ride. The beauty of grass roots activism of this kind is that there will always be uncertainty. We make up the rules as we go along, and we may make the wrong decisions sometime, but one thing is certain—we will always pick ourselves back up, dust ourselves off, and keep right on going. We are on a mission. We have a message to bring to Christians young and old. Although I may not feel confident and secure today as I write this entry, I have faith in the system of nonviolent resistance and relentless love, I have faith in people, and I have faith in God.
Stop 3: Lee University, Cleveland, TN
Friday, 17 March 2006
We arrived at Lee University after a nearly 14 hour bus ride.
(That needed to be a paragraph all by itself just to give you, my gentle reader, time to contemplate what life must be like with 35 people on a 55 passenger charter bus from 8am until 10pm.)
Bone weary, we finally arrived in Cleveland and were allowed 30 minutes for dinner, only to discover at our midnight hour meeting that Lee University had rescinded the agreement we had reached and that we would no longer be able to give any presentations or be recognized in any official way by the university. We were allowed on campus, but only on their conditions. We were not allowed to speak in classrooms, congregate in groups larger than three, or engage with students other than on a one-on-one basis.
Yet with all these restrictions, we still managed to rise to the occasion. The students thronged to see us, largely because the administration, in an attempt to diminish the impact of our visit, had spent weeks preparing and scaring their students about the Soulforce Equality Ride visit. They had chapel services entitled, “How to Deal with Equality Riders,” their professors were instructed to abandon their classes immediately if any of us were to enter the rooms and speak, and outside speakers such as Exodus were given the open forum we were denied. Of course, these preparations only served to pique the students’ curiosity of this traveling circus—the Equality Ride.
When we entered campus yesterday morning, I was worried. I knew how to show resigned indignation when I was arrested, but I didn’t know how to change the hearts and minds of those Christians who might seek to oppose me or ensnare me with a tangled web of convoluted and distorted scripture passages. I didn’t know if I would be able to dialogue effectively with students to indicate that there are other interpretations of those six or seven scripture passages used to condemn me and those I love. But I should not have doubted, for the Lord was there to guide me throughout the day, and when I stumbled looking for the right words to say, His angels were there to catch me.
* * *
But at the end of the day, I was left wondering, “Did we really do anything?” We spent nearly two days with these Christians in Cleveland and had a great time, but by the end of the visit, our beliefs still differed. They still thought that my homosexuality was a sin. They thought I was a sin. So what had we really done other than show them that we are people too. They would still vote against my marriage. They would still pressure people to “change.” They still couldn’t affirm my humanity or believe me when I said that the Lord loved me as I am without reservation.
Yes, I intend to leave you in this quandary with this constant wondering and questioning of myself and of the ride. The beauty of grass roots activism of this kind is that there will always be uncertainty. We make up the rules as we go along, and we may make the wrong decisions sometime, but one thing is certain—we will always pick ourselves back up, dust ourselves off, and keep right on going. We are on a mission. We have a message to bring to Christians young and old. Although I may not feel confident and secure today as I write this entry, I have faith in the system of nonviolent resistance and relentless love, I have faith in people, and I have faith in God.
posted by Jacob Neal at 11:28 PM
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