Recent Articles
But, We Have Lost The Way
The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls…Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. – Charlie Chaplin
This is an excerpt from the comedy The Great Dictator released in 1940. If you haven’t yet seen this movie, I would highly suggest watching it. One very inspiring rendition of the speech that I quoted above can be found on youtube and is entitled “The Greatest Speech Ever Made” which has garnered over 13 million views as of the writing of this post.
I must admit, I had not seen the movie let alone heard the speech until just a few months ago. When I finally did, I was really captured by each and every word that was spoken in Chaplin’s speech. In fact, it brought an extreme variation of emotions to the forefront of my mind. I felt everything from despair and shame to courage and hope.
Interestingly, the context of the movie/speech is that it was produced during the beginning of World War II. Although it is labeled as a comedy, the film ideologically opposed the rising Nazi regime and therefore had a serious undertone to it. Even though it had a noticeable application to the World War II era, I believe that we can apply the words from this speech to our society today.
The Diversity of Diversity: Why Unity is Necessary for Progress
By: Christian Shahzade & Derek Schoffstall (originally written as a response to an open letter written to our college about racial and ethnic minorities)
We can all agree that the Gordon community has confronted a provocative, potentially transformative discussion surrounding individuals’ ideas about racial and ethnic diversity. However, as a developing conversation, it is imperative to incorporate varying perspectives into our understanding of this topic and its resulting implications. For this reason, it is our intent to demonstrate an alternative approach to the concerns that have been laid out by our friends within the Gordon community. Ultimately, we aim to advocate for a unification of our community that avoids polarization, while embodying Christ-like love and understanding.
Disclaimer
The ideas and thoughts expressed in these posts do not reflect the beliefs of any organization or individual, except my own. Ironically enough, however, these posts may not even reflect how I currently think or feel. I have grown and changed over the years - and rather than delete or edit old content I have decided to leave my posts as I originally wrote them to preserve their authenticity.