It is good to see some Christians whose vision is not reduced to oppoing gay marriage, abortion, proclaiming their piousness, and supporting Bush. ******** Protesters line roads with signs Sunday, May 22, 2005 By Ted Roelofs The Grand Rapids Press It is perhaps to be expected that a visit by President Bush would attract a crowd of demonstrators. All his trips as president have sparked some kind of local dissent. But it might surprise some that people like Linda Bradford, a 1969 Calvin College graduate, were among those raising their voices against Bush on Saturday. Bradford, 58, traveled all the way from her home in New York City to make sure people know Bush does not speak for all of Calvin. "I want to take a stand for the Calvin I know and love," Bradford said. "I think it will be a signal to the rest of the country that Calvin is not just like Liberty University and other right-wing schools." While Bush imparted his words of wisdom to Calvin's graduating seniors, Bradford was one of many Calvin alumni who stood on the edge of campus, eliciting everything from honks of support to obscene gestures from passing motorists. They were joined by several hundred marchers from across West Michigan who demonstrated Saturday. The peaceful demonstration stretched from the East Beltline Avenue to Burton Street to parts of the campus, representing groups including Confronting Empire and the West Michigan Justice &Peace Coalition. Grand Rapids police reported no arrests. Standing in the median between lanes on East Beltline, 1984 Calvin graduate Julia DeJonge saw the president's visit as one more attempt by Republican strategists to hijack Christianity for their political ends. Given the reaction by some faculty and graduates, DeJonge believes Bush political strategist Karl Rove may have misread Calvin. "I am deeply disturbed at the way religion and Christianity gets represented in the media," said DeJonge, 42, a resident of East Grand Rapids. "There are more concerns that people have other than abortion and gay marriage. I would like to think that people are motivated by more than hate," she said. "Those are issues that people respond to emotionally. "It's hard to get emotionally excited about health, about poverty. So I think it's exploitation, that's what it is." Even before the demonstrations, Bush's appearance touched off a fierce debate among Calvin students, faculty and alumni about his choice as commencement speaker. On Friday, the names of 823 faculty, alumni and friends of Calvin appeared in a full-page ad in The Press with an open letter saying they were "deeply troubled" by his visit. That was followed Saturday by a half-page ad listing a third of Calvin's faculty, who welcomed the president to Calvin, but expressed their disagreement with a number of his policies. Calvin graduate Irene Wiersma, class of 1951, said some folks have the wrong idea about Calvin. Holding a sign that read, "Where has Calvin College Gone?" she conceded many of its students and faculty might be considered conservative. One informal sampling of graduating seniors estimated 80 percent support Bush. But Wiersma, 75, insisted there are many who share similar concerns about tax cuts for the wealthy, health care and the president's environmental policies. "There are some extremely conservative folks on the staff," said Wiersma. "But there are a good many liberals." link
"I want to take a stand for the Calvin I know and love," Bradford said. "I think it will be a signal to the rest of the country that Calvin is not just like Liberty University and other right-wing schools." "There are some extremely conservative folks on the staff," said Wiersma. "But there are a good many liberals." Maybe you should see this thread. The whole point of their protest is Christian doesn't equal consertative and it definitely doesn't equal right wing.
eh, sorta. It didn't state the political orientation of the protestors. It was likely a mix of left and right, since it did state that most of the school was conservative. I assumed that there were a good many right-wingers in there as well given the school's nature.
