Utah's culture has been a difficult culture for me since 2000. Sometimes I am amazed that I am still here, still finding the culture difficult. It is also lovely in many ways--both in setting and people; I guess that explains why I have not run away screaming yet. Because apparently there is enough loveliness to compensate for things that are difficult.
I went to a faculty meeting today for pre-CFS people like myself. It was interesting. Our topic of discussion was supposed to be--I thought--how to help students who are struggling with their faith at our religious school. The topic actually being discussed was more like which ways to incorporate faith into the classroom are most appreciated and best received by the students. Which was also interesting.
They had a couple of teachers who have scored high on student evaluations for "spiritually strengthening" talk about what they do in their classrooms. One of them talked about being genuine yourself, and letting the students know things about you. After, when the floor was opened up to comments, this one fairly new law professor said that during the US election last year, he had a small class of 6 students. One was black, one was hispanic, one was a woman, and three were Utah white men. The three "others" in the class were profoundly disturbed by the election, and worried about--you know, what actually ended up happening--and so he put himself out there, to let them know that they were not alone. That others, including him, were experiencing the same worries. He explained that he leans left, but that apparently in Utah, he is really left. Well, his perception was that the class had a good discussion, and that the three "others' (that is my way to express it; he was more politically correct) felt safer in this class, so he thought what he had said and done had been helpful. Until he got the student evaluations for the class. One evaluation (and of course they are anonymous) spent two long PARAGRAPHS explaining what was wrong with this professor, and calling into question why was he even at BYU, and saying that this man could not possibly have a testimony of the gospel AND have these terrible political views.
The law professor was deeply disturbed. Not worried that he would lose his job, but disturbed that this student left his class with the idea that he did not have a testimony of the gospel, and getting political viewpoints all mixed up with what is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I find that a bit disturbing, too.
Others chimed in with their experiences--the one who talked about being genuine--said that he teaches a career prep class for science majors. He told them that much as he loves the church, and much as they might love the church, the discussion of religion in a job interview is out of place, inappropriate and illegal--well, unless you are being interviewed by a religious school or something--but he meant in most offices and businesses. And he had students who interpreted this to mean that he was ashamed of his church membership, or that he was not standing up for the church at all times and in places. And they said so in their student evaluations--but fortunately, he always does midterm evaluations, so he could address the problem. "An evaluation said this...this is why I do this...this is what my testimony is...this is how business and a testimony are separate..."
A female microbiology teacher said that her students have evaluated her poorly because she is a working mother. She obviously does not understand the Proclamation on the Family, or she would be at home and not working. In all their 18-25 year old wisdom, they thought they had her life figured out, I guess. She said that she makes a point of sharing with them why she works, and how she balances her career and her family.
Another female teacher, a chemistry teacher, has had bad evaluations over teaching about global warming!!!! Because clearly if you believe that global warming is a thing, you...don't have a testimony of the gospel? She makes a point of explaining that the discussion of global warming is from a chemistry point of view. It has nothing to do with politics. And wherever they sit on the topic politically speaking, they can sit there; she is simply going to teach the scientific facts of global warming from a chemical point of view. She also quotes the D & C, for example 59:20: And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.
My own recent experience with totally being judged by students involved movie ratings. I was teaching the library portion of a TMA class, and the students had been assigned to watch a movie and critique the costumes. Several students mentioned being interested in the costumes used in specific films, but lamented that they could not watch them because they are R-rated. So I chimed in and said that the MPAA rating system is only one rating system; that other countries have different rating systems, and so whose rating system do you use? Should all members of the church, regardless of where they live or their nationality, use the AMERICAN system? That is ridiculous. I mentioned that the only conference talk that directly said "don't watch R-rated films" was a talk directed to the Aaronic priesthood young men, and then later in a different talk to the young women. And the intent was not to draw a line in the sand, but to give an idea of how to apply a principal. Here is a recent discussion of the topic that I think is reasonable.I could see by the look on one girl's face that she thought I was pretty evil for having that opinion. Seriously, it is irritating to me that BYU doesn't allow R-rated movies in our library collection (except for faculty use only) when the students at BYU are supposedly all adults. But I understand the why--it is to protect us (the librarians) from the judgy people!
Anyways...I was just kind of disturbed and blown away by all the judginess! Holy cow--do we ever need a lesson about the mote in our brother's eye being obscured by the beam that is in our own! Political ideas, job applications and interviews, working mothers, global warming, and movie ratings. None of these are the gospel of Jesus Christ! What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
1. It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16).
2. It is the news of the coming of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15), and of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and its purpose in restoring people's relationship with God.
3. The gospel of Jesus Christ is our Heavenly Father’s plan for the happiness and salvation of His children. It is called the gospel of Jesus Christ because the Atonement of Jesus Christ is central to this plan. According to His plan, our Heavenly Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to show us how to live meaningful and happy lives and experience eternal joy after this life. Through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, you can become clean from sin and enjoy peace of conscience. You can become worthy to live in Heavenly Father’s presence after this life.
But, each person's relationship with God is their business. It is not up to me to decide for another person whether their political views are in line with the gospel, or how they write their job application, or if they are a working mother, or if they believe or disbelieve in global warming, or if they will or will not watch an R-rated movie--each person decides those things for themselves, among all the many other things that adults need to decide. When my children are still in the nest I provide, I can teach them my opinions about these things, and I can try to lead and guide them to think and decide in ways that I think are right, but ultimately, I hope that I have taught them TO THINK and TO DECIDE. Not what to think or what to decide, but HOW TO think and HOW To decide for themselves. I probably have not done that well enough.
Anyways. I just listened to all the people in the meeting today, and I felt less alone. Sometimes, living in this state, in this country, I feel SO JUDGED. I feel trapped by the judgy thinking. It was nice to know that others feel some frustration that way, too. And also to talk about how we can, with more clarity, explain to students and others that we may not agree with their points of view exactly on all issues, and yet we can all have a testimony of Jesus Christ and his gospel, despite our differences.
I went to a faculty meeting today for pre-CFS people like myself. It was interesting. Our topic of discussion was supposed to be--I thought--how to help students who are struggling with their faith at our religious school. The topic actually being discussed was more like which ways to incorporate faith into the classroom are most appreciated and best received by the students. Which was also interesting.
They had a couple of teachers who have scored high on student evaluations for "spiritually strengthening" talk about what they do in their classrooms. One of them talked about being genuine yourself, and letting the students know things about you. After, when the floor was opened up to comments, this one fairly new law professor said that during the US election last year, he had a small class of 6 students. One was black, one was hispanic, one was a woman, and three were Utah white men. The three "others" in the class were profoundly disturbed by the election, and worried about--you know, what actually ended up happening--and so he put himself out there, to let them know that they were not alone. That others, including him, were experiencing the same worries. He explained that he leans left, but that apparently in Utah, he is really left. Well, his perception was that the class had a good discussion, and that the three "others' (that is my way to express it; he was more politically correct) felt safer in this class, so he thought what he had said and done had been helpful. Until he got the student evaluations for the class. One evaluation (and of course they are anonymous) spent two long PARAGRAPHS explaining what was wrong with this professor, and calling into question why was he even at BYU, and saying that this man could not possibly have a testimony of the gospel AND have these terrible political views.
The law professor was deeply disturbed. Not worried that he would lose his job, but disturbed that this student left his class with the idea that he did not have a testimony of the gospel, and getting political viewpoints all mixed up with what is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I find that a bit disturbing, too.
Others chimed in with their experiences--the one who talked about being genuine--said that he teaches a career prep class for science majors. He told them that much as he loves the church, and much as they might love the church, the discussion of religion in a job interview is out of place, inappropriate and illegal--well, unless you are being interviewed by a religious school or something--but he meant in most offices and businesses. And he had students who interpreted this to mean that he was ashamed of his church membership, or that he was not standing up for the church at all times and in places. And they said so in their student evaluations--but fortunately, he always does midterm evaluations, so he could address the problem. "An evaluation said this...this is why I do this...this is what my testimony is...this is how business and a testimony are separate..."
A female microbiology teacher said that her students have evaluated her poorly because she is a working mother. She obviously does not understand the Proclamation on the Family, or she would be at home and not working. In all their 18-25 year old wisdom, they thought they had her life figured out, I guess. She said that she makes a point of sharing with them why she works, and how she balances her career and her family.
Another female teacher, a chemistry teacher, has had bad evaluations over teaching about global warming!!!! Because clearly if you believe that global warming is a thing, you...don't have a testimony of the gospel? She makes a point of explaining that the discussion of global warming is from a chemistry point of view. It has nothing to do with politics. And wherever they sit on the topic politically speaking, they can sit there; she is simply going to teach the scientific facts of global warming from a chemical point of view. She also quotes the D & C, for example 59:20: And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.
My own recent experience with totally being judged by students involved movie ratings. I was teaching the library portion of a TMA class, and the students had been assigned to watch a movie and critique the costumes. Several students mentioned being interested in the costumes used in specific films, but lamented that they could not watch them because they are R-rated. So I chimed in and said that the MPAA rating system is only one rating system; that other countries have different rating systems, and so whose rating system do you use? Should all members of the church, regardless of where they live or their nationality, use the AMERICAN system? That is ridiculous. I mentioned that the only conference talk that directly said "don't watch R-rated films" was a talk directed to the Aaronic priesthood young men, and then later in a different talk to the young women. And the intent was not to draw a line in the sand, but to give an idea of how to apply a principal. Here is a recent discussion of the topic that I think is reasonable.I could see by the look on one girl's face that she thought I was pretty evil for having that opinion. Seriously, it is irritating to me that BYU doesn't allow R-rated movies in our library collection (except for faculty use only) when the students at BYU are supposedly all adults. But I understand the why--it is to protect us (the librarians) from the judgy people!
Anyways...I was just kind of disturbed and blown away by all the judginess! Holy cow--do we ever need a lesson about the mote in our brother's eye being obscured by the beam that is in our own! Political ideas, job applications and interviews, working mothers, global warming, and movie ratings. None of these are the gospel of Jesus Christ! What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
1. It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16).
2. It is the news of the coming of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15), and of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and its purpose in restoring people's relationship with God.
3. The gospel of Jesus Christ is our Heavenly Father’s plan for the happiness and salvation of His children. It is called the gospel of Jesus Christ because the Atonement of Jesus Christ is central to this plan. According to His plan, our Heavenly Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to show us how to live meaningful and happy lives and experience eternal joy after this life. Through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, you can become clean from sin and enjoy peace of conscience. You can become worthy to live in Heavenly Father’s presence after this life.
But, each person's relationship with God is their business. It is not up to me to decide for another person whether their political views are in line with the gospel, or how they write their job application, or if they are a working mother, or if they believe or disbelieve in global warming, or if they will or will not watch an R-rated movie--each person decides those things for themselves, among all the many other things that adults need to decide. When my children are still in the nest I provide, I can teach them my opinions about these things, and I can try to lead and guide them to think and decide in ways that I think are right, but ultimately, I hope that I have taught them TO THINK and TO DECIDE. Not what to think or what to decide, but HOW TO think and HOW To decide for themselves. I probably have not done that well enough.
Anyways. I just listened to all the people in the meeting today, and I felt less alone. Sometimes, living in this state, in this country, I feel SO JUDGED. I feel trapped by the judgy thinking. It was nice to know that others feel some frustration that way, too. And also to talk about how we can, with more clarity, explain to students and others that we may not agree with their points of view exactly on all issues, and yet we can all have a testimony of Jesus Christ and his gospel, despite our differences.
