6 thoughts on “About”

  1. Hi there,

    My name is Christina and I’m a freelance writer for The San Francisco Chronicle, Hemispheres In-Flight, Conde Naste, The Oregonian and many other publications.

    I’m currently working on a database of world festivals for a high profile site called http://www.fest300.com I’m doing a write-up of Neewollah and am hoping to get in touch with someone about plans for the 2014 festival and to ask some specific questions.

    Would you mind if I quoted parts of your blog entry about the Neewollah Festival?

    Looking forward to hearing from you.

    cheers,
    christina

    Reply

  5. I came across your blog this morning on the subject of Ozark Bible (now Christian) College. I was a student there in 1977 and transferring there from a university was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made. You speak of “good times” there. Such was not my experience. But the lack of caring shown to a friend who passed away does sound like typical Ozark to me.

    When I first arrived at Ozark, I was met by some scowling people at the Administration building and at Williamson Hall where I was assigned (I was living as a “male” then, even though few accepted that I was that at all). Entering the dorm was like being a stranger entering a Southern bar with all the patrons staring back with obvious hostility. From that time, the majority who greeted me only did so with a put-down. A few extended put downs at dorm devotions which I eventually declined to attend. I have also been assaulted on that campus.

    The real kicker came with instructors teaching, “The Bible was not written for us today. The promises don’t belong to us except Acts 2:38, 39” I gave up a university degree for this? If a missionary is to operate on faith, there must be promises to stand upon and I no longer was allowed the right to make them. One said, “O, that’s just for Hermeneutics. In practice you can claim what you wish.” Excuse me? Ozark flew against other churches for anything considered “unscriptural”. If it doesn’t jive with Hermeneutics, then it’s clearly a double standard in play. You can’t put down other communions and give yourselves a disparate leeway. It’s hypocritical.

    Within a year I was totally demoralized, unable to justify faith at all. Y’shua (sorry, I don’t use the words “Jesus” or “Christ” because they’ve too often been used along with “faggot” to beat my face in. I use the Hebrew equivalents). I didn’t come to the conclusions the teachers demanded. Then one day in Seth Wilson’s office, we discussed the soul. He drew up a model more common to Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh-Day Adventists. His answer? “The Bible was written in the language of the day so we must interpret the way people like Plato used words.” I was shocked. You’d think internal evidence should take priority over the definitions of a philosopher. But nope. Those sources were his dictionary. The slogan was, “If it’s Bible you want, come to Ozark.” But at Ozark, the Bible lost both relevance and vitality,

    Only 1 person ever stayed with me from Ozark: a manipulative and clingy woman who saw my vulnerabilities as a social zero and depression. She used me as a jail break to get out of her parent’s home because she didn’t want to work in a factory. In fact, she never in her life did an honest day’ work. Ozark married us off. But after that she went to work at seducing a minister.

    The university would not readmit me. Ozark completely ruined my educational prospects. I remain without a degree today, having had to live by working rotating shifts that made classes impossible to schedule. Ozark’s legacy in my life is a profoundly evil legacy.

    I would say that anyone interested in serving Y’shua and wants to know the Bible well should find another school more genuinely akin to both.

    I have changed my name because of continued threats against me. Sorry, I can’t subscribe to your blog because I’m not a member of WordPress and WordPress won’t permit the subscription without a membership to which I will not agree.

    Reply

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