Spirituality and Character in Fraternities...

[elwoodpfiggs]

I can't say I agree with you, Fratty; some of the most exciting stories I know are in the Bible!

As for the show on the Discovery Channel...I haven't seen it. I'd like to, though. The folks who made it (the show) may have had some preconceived notions before they started; I wouldn't be surprised if they did not have a few biases/prejudices of their own. I suppose the Discovery Channel is just like all other networks: trying to keep their content compelling to reenforce ratings. Advertising is the name of the game, so you've got to keep people watching!

(This is off topic, but didn't things get out of hand/downright MEAN on the thread about whether fraternities help guys find girlfriends? It got way off topic, and then people got really hateful. I don't there's any reason for that. It's not what I come here looking to find, so I'm just not going back to that thread.)

Phil

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by elwoodpfiggs

I can't say I agree with you, Fratty; some of the most exciting stories I know are in the Bible!

As for the show on the Discovery Channel...I haven't seen it. I'd like to, though. . . .

Phil, surely you didn't take his post seriously. 'Cause it wasn't worth taking seriously.

[Tom Earp]

I guess then, it is in the eye of the poster.

All GLOs were started with a Religion back ground whether Christian or Jewish.

Being reborn again, I am not really sure what that means?

Were those before nothing but sinners?

Do they beleive in a Single God?

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

All GLOs were started with a Religion back ground whether Christian or Jewish.

No, Tom, they weren't.

The earliest GLOs, starting with Phi Beta Kappa, were started with an Enlightenment, humanist or rationalist background. After all, the very motto of Phi Beta Kappa, "Philosophy, the Guide (Helmsman) of Life," is a challenge to the view that God, Scripture or Religion is the "Guide of Life." The earliest GLOs were cut from a similar Enlightenment/rationalist/Deist cloth. It wasn't until later that GLOs began to take on a more Christian, and later Jewish, focus.

And many GLOs were were specifically founded with a non-sectarian focus, seeking to overcome divisions based on religion.

[BYXEagle]

Drinking in letters is a choice BYX as an organization made. I understand that drinking in letters has nothing to do with Christianity. I do agree that being in a Christian fraternity does not mean you are a Christian. There are some of those Christian fraternities that call people who don't believe the same as them non Christian but that is an individual chapter thing not a national thing. I think it's perfectly possible to be in a regular Greek Life organization and be a Christian. Life is about choices, and if you make the right choices then you won't have to sacrifice your morals or things like that. We call ourselves a Christian fraternity because we are different from any other regular fraternity. If that offends people then that sucks. And to cover the question brought up earlier as far as what defines Christian acts etc. I don't have a problem with drinking. I have a problem with drunkeness. I don't believe that sleeping around is Christian. I know you may say that is stereotypical, but it does happen. It's not all that happens, but at some fraternities it does happen. I don't know why regular fraternities and Christian fraternites won't commit to building better relationships and working together.

[SWTXBelle]

BYXEagle - "sucks" what? I've always forbidden my children and students from saying "That sucks" because of the origin of the phrase. So I'm interested in the fact that you used it when discussing your Christian organization.
And, long story short, the conflict between the so-called Christian fraternities and traditional ones comes from any GLO acting holier-than-thou. Once you start deciding who is a Christian and who is not you are bound to engender ill-will. I think Christ-like humility would go a long way to fostering relationships with other groups.

[AlexMack]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

BYXEagle - "sucks" what? I've always forbidden my children and students from saying "That sucks" because of the origin of the phrase. So I'm interested in the fact that you used it when discussing your Christian organization.
And, long story short, the conflict between the so-called Christian fraternities and traditional ones comes from any GLO acting holier-than-thou. Once you start deciding who is a Christian and who is not you are bound to engender ill-will. I think Christ-like humility would go a long way to fostering relationships with other groups.

Wait? Am I finally going to get an answer about why the phrase 'that sucks!' is so offensive in the US? I'm not being snarky, I really don't know.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by porkfriedrice

Wait? Am I finally going to get an answer about why the phrase 'that sucks!' is so offensive in the US? I'm not being snarky, I really don't know.

Oral sex? I always assumed that.

ETA: Hence, that "blows" being equivalent.

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

No, Tom, they weren't.

The earliest GLOs, starting with Phi Beta Kappa, were started with an Enlightenment, humanist or rationalist background. After all, the very motto of Phi Beta Kappa, "Philosophy, the Guide (Helmsman) of Life," is a challenge to the view that God, Scripture or Religion is the "Guide of Life." The earliest GLOs were cut from a similar Enlightenment/rationalist/Deist cloth. It wasn't until later that GLOs began to take on a more Christian, and later Jewish, focus.

And many GLOs were were specifically founded with a non-sectarian focus, seeking to overcome divisions based on religion.

What do you mean by your last sentence?

There I may disagree with you as most have a Religious of sort back ground in their Ritual and Tenents.

That is what they Were based on, not what goes on today?

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

What do you mean by your last sentence?

There I may disagree with you as most have a Religious of sort back ground in their Ritual and Tenents.

That is what they Were based on, not what goes on today?

I could ask you the same thing -- I have no idea what you mean in your last sentence.

What I meant when I said "And many GLOs were were specifically founded with a non-sectarian focus, seeking to overcome divisions based on religion," was precisely that. Starting in the early 20th Century, a number of GLOs were founded on an explicitly non-sectarian basis, so that members of any religion (granted, at the time, that would mainly have meant Protestants, Catholics -- the two groups had little to do with each other then -- and Jews) could be members and could participate without either compromising their own religious values or feeling coerced into religious practices not their own.

And you may disagree if you wish, but the earliest Greek groups had a more philosophical basis as opposed to a religious basis. Your statement, to which I was responding, that all GLOs were founded with a religious background is, like most overgeneralizations, simply not true. Had you said many rather than all, there would be no disagreement.

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I could ask you the same thing -- I have no idea what you mean in your last sentence.

What I meant when I said "And many GLOs were were specifically founded with a non-sectarian focus, seeking to overcome divisions based on religion," was precisely that. Starting in the early 20th Century, a number of GLOs were founded on an explicitly non-sectarian basis, so that members of any religion (granted, at the time, that would mainly have meant Protestants, Catholics -- the two groups had little to do with each other then -- and Jews) could be members and could participate without either compromising their own religious values or feeling coerced into religious practices not their own.

And you may disagree if you wish, but the earliest Greek groups had a more philosophical basis as opposed to a religious basis. Your statement, to which I was responding, that all GLOs were founded with a religious background is, like most overgeneralizations, simply not true. Had you said many rather than all, there would be no disagreement.

Great points, MysticCat. The only thing I'd add right now is that the founding of "explicitly non-sectarian" social GLOs began in the late 1800s, just a little before the "early 20th century." For example, say, Pi Lambda Phi. Admittedly, more were founded a few years later, in the time frame you mentioned.