Stand Up, Speak Out, Grab the Chalk... Whatever it Takes

We all know we should be wary of viral videos and forwarded emails or messages -- well, everyone except my dad, unfortunately. (Love you Dad, but you have to be more discerning!) It often turns out that the info imparted is not entirely accurate, if at all.

So here's the latest video that was passed on to me by a friend:

As someone who would have loved to have been that student, and fully believes we should never fear  standing up -- I have to report that according to Snopes (yes, I know they're left-leaning, but they're pretty reliable although the snarky comments were totally unnecessary) this story is fictitious and its origin is decades old.

But still, that doesn't make the story -- even if it is just a parable -- any less compelling.

There are professors out there who need to be challenged, and our young people need to stand up to them. I was happy to see this story on the news earlier today. Who knows for sure what impact these students will have, but they at least are standing up to unnecessary political commentary by their educators. It's a lesson that we should pass on to all students at every level.

As I watched this video, I wondered if I would have stood up to that professor. I like to think I would. I did stand up to a prominent professor during a lecture in a religion class once.

The subject of abortion came up and one of my classmates -- who I knew was a conservative Christian -- weakly brought up the notion that we should allow abortion in the case of rape. The prof responded, can we really expect a woman to continue such a pregnancy? I was stunned when no one spoke up.

So I said, "Are you being rhetorical, or do you really want a response?" he said that he was speaking rhetorically but if I had a response...

I said that the baby had just as much right to live as any other, and that -- as a victim of such a horrible crime -- the mother should be supported in any way she needed to get through the pregnancy and afterward. Financially, emotionally -- whatever she needs.

I don't know if I changed any minds -- but that day, I stood up. No one should fear doing so. If you have children -- no matter what age -- teach them well to respectfully disagree. Show them this video, give them the courage.

But I would add this to the parable -- There was another option: I wouldn't have stood by and let the chalk drop -- I would have marched up there and took it from his hand and declared "God made me do that. His will stopped it from dropping... Who's the fool?"

Sometimes it's not enough to step back and let God take care of everything -- sometimes just standing up isn't enough either. Sometimes, we need to be his instruments and take action.

Comments

[ChunLing]

You know...actions speak louder than words, but there is something to be said for using your 'indoor voice' in a classroom setting. So to speak.

Which is just to say, I usually raise my hand first and remain seated. It's true that usually I don't need to to anything more dramatic to make a point. But it's also the case that, if you're too dramatic, the point can kinda get lost in the shuffle.

Of course, the fact that I exist at all is sufficiently discomfiting to most people. I suppose it must be nice to be the sort of person that other people don't instinctively fear. But even so...advancing on some old guy and forcibly taking his instructional material out of his hand does seem a bit much.

[Colette Moran]

If you actually watched the video, you'd know the prof in the parable asked anyone who still believed in God to stand up. And then he said if there was a God, He would stop the chalk from falling to the ground.

The prof was challenging his students and God -- stepping forward and saying "I believe in God and will do His will to fight those who would deny Him" and taking the chalk from his hand wouldn't be "a bit much" it would be totally appropriate.

Point being: How often have people stood by hoping for divine intervention or someone else to do the right thing -- when they have the power within themselves?

[ChunLing]

I don't believe it's God's will to fight those who deny Him. And I wouldn't stand up at the behest of some guy whose business it is not to find out my opinion on God. I'd raise my hand and ask him why he thought it was appropriate for him to ask such a thing. I might or might not suggest that he hand out little felt badges to pin on the believers, while he was at it. But I wouldn't be addressing his lack of faith. I believe that it is the God-given right of every human being to believe what they will about God. Which cuts both ways.

By the way, why is this story now a parable? I'm a little curious. I always thought it was just a sort of anecdote, an illustration of what is clearly the primary topic of the story itself.

My eventual answer to the professor's challenge would be epistemological, what is the basis for believing that God doesn't want the chalk to fall. At that point I'd turn the chalk into a sort of a parable for the professor's soul, what reason does he have to believe that God wouldn't want him to fall into disbelief? I might make a snarky comment about how, if I were God, I might not try all that hard to keep the professor around me for eternity either.

I just think that sometimes people start missing the point in all the controversy. If God wanted to force people to believe in Him, He could do that easily enough without your help. But as Christ pointed out, there's no virtue in belief unless it is voluntary. The devils also believe, and tremble (because they won't be saved by that belief). But you can stand for the freedom to believe...and in this particular case that would mean remaining seated...and challenging the real offense.

Of course, it's always easier to win an argument if you can make the other party look like a Nazi. That's why Go...what's his name who said that eventually any internet discussion will bring up Nazis. But the thing to remember is that there are some specific things that the Nazis did which makes us all remember them ever so fondly as we do.

[MarciaDay32]

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