{"id":3119,"date":"2022-06-01T09:21:32","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T15:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thedesertsanctuary\/?p=3119"},"modified":"2022-06-01T09:21:32","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T15:21:32","slug":"a-generalization-about-seminary-professors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thedesertsanctuary\/2022\/06\/a-generalization-about-seminary-professors\/","title":{"rendered":"A Generalization About Seminary Professors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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Photo by Yan Krukov: https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/professor-in-black-turtleneck-sweater-holding-silver-macbook-in-classroom-8197513\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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In all my discussions in the desert, discussing spirituality and beliefs and such, the group I least like to have discussions with are theology professors.<\/div>\n
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They tend to assume their conclusions and methods are above everyone else and they seem to find it easy to be condescending.\u00a0 \u00a0Most of us that attended seminary,\u00a0 realized later that we were simply parroting our most recent mentors, and that our methodologies all had inconsistencies and inherent flaws.<\/div>\n
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There are as few exceptions like Pete Enns<\/span><\/a> and Jared Byas<\/span><\/a> who haver already suffered because of speaking up against the machine.<\/div>\n
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The things that I write are very simply my impressions of the world.\u00a0 I am open to hearing different views based on what I write, but I don\u2019t need my character evaluated or for my paper to be \u201cgraded.\u201d\u00a0 I certainly don\u2019t need to be gaslighted or discredited.\u00a0 In short, if I didn\u2019t ask for your criticism, it\u2019s probably not welcome.<\/div>\n
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The second most annoying are pastors<\/em> defending their institutional bias. They can\u2019t evaluate any criticism of organized religion because they are vested in that system and cannot even imagine that it might be irrelevant in the 21st century.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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People accuse me of generalizing. I do this because generalizations are generally true. There is at least enough evidence to have an honest discussion about them and that\u2019s why I breach the subjects.<\/div>\n
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That leads me to some of the worst statements I hate hearing. Some of the most common are statements like \u201cthat is not our experience.\u201d People get anxious when you challenge their beliefs. I understand that, but unless we honestly challenge our beliefs, we won\u2019t know whether they are solid.<\/div>\n
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So I don\u2019t necessarily want people to stop being seminary professors or pastors, although I think we need a lot less of them than we used to. So in the 21st century, we not only need to be doing things differently, but we also could be having different kinds of conversations.<\/div>\n
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So now that you know how I feel, it\u2019s your choice. You can choose to gaslight me and try to avoid the real topics here. Or you can start your sentence with \u201cI think\u201d or \u201cI feel\u201d or \u201cthe way I see it is.\u201d\u00a0 You can dismiss me as a generalizing simpleton, or you can avoid criticizing me all together and just give your opinion of the subject at hand.<\/div>\n
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When people say that you can\u2019t have real discussions or real conversations online, I don\u2019t believe them because I have had some great conversations online and especially through podcasts. The challenge is not being in person or not. It is whether or not we\u2019re genuine human beings.<\/div>\n
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Real discussions have more to do with respect than they do with the media we are using. The fact that we can access so much information should be a benefit, not a deficit.\u00a0 Immediate feedback can be beneficial, even if it\u2019s sometimes humbling.<\/div>\n
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If you are a seminary professor or a pastor, you folks have had a pass for too long.\u00a0 \u00a0The rest of us have something to say, and we don\u2019t care if you don\u2019t like the way we said it.\u00a0 \u00a0Please don\u2019t treat us poorly if you want us to respect you.\u00a0 Maybe you should just listen and realize we will survive without your input.<\/div>\n
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We can do better,<\/div>\n
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Karl Forehand<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Order Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity<\/a><\/h4>\n
Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father\u2019s Heart and The Tea Shop. He is the creator of\u00a0The Desert Sanctuary<\/a>\u00a0podcast. He is married to his wife Laura of 32 years and has one dog named Winston. His three children are grown and are beginning to multiply!<\/h5>\n

Support us on Patreon<\/a>\u00a0 *\u00a0 \u00a0The Desert Sanctuary Website<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In all my discussions in the desert, discussing spirituality and beliefs and such, the group I least like to have discussions with are theology professors. They tend to assume their conclusions and methods are above everyone else and they seem to find it easy to be condescending.\u00a0 \u00a0Most of us that attended seminary,\u00a0 realized later […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4370,"featured_media":3123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1436,574],"tags":[1442,1439,128],"class_list":["post-3119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seminary","category-theology","tag-professor","tag-seminary","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nA Generalization About Seminary Professors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In all my discussions in the desert, discussing spirituality and beliefs and such, the group I least like to have discussions with are theology\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thedesertsanctuary\/2022\/06\/a-generalization-about-seminary-professors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Generalization About Seminary Professors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In all my discussions in the desert, discussing spirituality and beliefs and such, the group I least like to have discussions with are theology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thedesertsanctuary\/2022\/06\/a-generalization-about-seminary-professors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Desert Sanctuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-01T15:21:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1333\/2022\/06\/pexels-yan-krukov-8197513-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"418\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Karl J. 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