Have you noticed the declining state of males?

Wagner College has and is doing something about it.

A gathering of academicians drawn from a range of disciplines will meet on April 7, 2010, at Wagner College, Staten Island, New York, to examine the declining state of the male, stemming from cataclysmic changes in today’s culture, environment and global economy. The live teleconferenced colloquium will be chaired by Lionel Tiger, PhD, Rutgers University Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology. It will encompass a broad range of topics relevant to the study of boys and men in contemporary society ranging from their roles in the family and workforce, as well as their physical and emotional health, to the growing problem of misandry—the hatred of males, an unacknowledged but underlying socio-cultural, economic, political and legal phenomenon endangering the well-being of both genders.

The goal of the April colloquium is to consider the nature and structure of male studies programs designed for institutions of higher education. It follows on the current experience of the On Step Institute (OSI), which supports graduate fellowships at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education, Culture and Human Development. It will seek to generate a cross-disciplinary community of scholars in male studies and establish a series of networks enabling scholars to become acquainted with each other’s work. The Chair of OSI, Edward Stephens, MD, who has organized the consortium, finds that while a handful of schools now sporadically offer courses dealing with males in traditionally unrelated departments – for example, literature, history, anthropology, psychology and sociology – the courses are unequal to providing effective insight into the immense problems confronting males in the 21st century which requires an integrated approach incorporating a multiplicity of academic disciplines.

Don't you feel better about a gathering of academicians drawn from a range of disciplines coming together to save the males? Man, I sure do.

Scott Brown, candidate for U.S. Senate, was a "Cosmo" centerfold

Let us suppose that a physically attractive 50-year-old woman had posed for a magazine when she was in her early 20's. A magazine that was geared towards men. For this particular picture, she does not appear to be wearing any type of clothing, but her hands are modestly covering her "female parts." And let us say that this woman is now running for the U.S. Senate. What kinds of things might be said about her? How often would that picture be shown? What kinds of questions might she be expected to answer? If she was directly questioned about it, would she have a "meltdown?"

And now let us suppose that a man... Oh, we don't have to suppose. We have a man like that. A man who's running for the U.S. Senate. Who reportedly had a "meltdown."

Katie Connolly thinks there's a double standard:

Jokes aside, that this racy pic has been circulating for years and hasn't hampered Brown's career perhaps isn't that surprising. "It's a pretty tame photo compared to what you might see at an NFL halftime show," says campaign spokesperson Eric Fehrnstrom. "The fact is, when Scott was 22 years old, he was footloose and carefree." That may be so, but how would he be treated if he were a woman?

Although a nude centerfold might not kill a female politician's career, it would most certainly prompt questions about her character. Was she unacceptably promiscuous? Did she have a wild, compromising youth? While we scoff at the exploits of young men─they're allowed to be "footloose and carefree"─women are rarely afforded that luxury. For Brown, who just turned 50, it's a case of "boys will be boys." We can giggle at Brown's treasure trail and not think twice about how the sight of it affects his political career. But when Sarah Palin's head was Photoshopped on the body of a gun-totin', bikini-clad babe, it served as evidence for many of her unsuitability for office. Even when the photo was proved to be fake, it continued to haunt her. Palin's sexuality was at once titillating and threatening─for as many fans as she gained for being attractive, there were as many who used it in building the case against her. If Barbara Boxer had posed nude in her youth and declared her love for "buff boys," I predict her voters would be collectively horrified, and she'd probably never shake the crass jokes that would follow. As a culture, we simply don't like our female representatives to be publicly sexual.

(Via Althouse)

Hey, married people: want to improve your sex life?

Land an airplane on the Hudson River, and have no fatalities or injuries. Then you can have "rock-star sex," whatever that is.

Tim Tebow: virgin Heisman winner

The celebrated, Heisman-winning college football quarterback is gracing the cover of the latest Sports Illustrated. He talks about his football and his faith, and his father talked about his beginnings:

Watching Tebow zip passes into the seams of opposing defenses, lower his shoulder in short yardage and exhort his teammates like King Henry V on St. Crispin's Day, one might think that he was put on this earth just to run coach Urban Meyer's spread offense. Watching him pace the floor of a gymnasium packed with 660 wayward men hanging on his every syllable is to realize that regardless of what position Tebow eventually plays in the NFL, and for how long, the football phase of his life is merely a means to a greater end.

The man on the other end of the line is calling from the Philippines. He has taken time from his missionary work to reply to a reporter's e-mailed questions. Now Bob Tebow has a question of his own: "Have you heard the story of Timmy's birth?"

Even if you have, it's worth hearing from the mouth of his father: "When I was out in the mountains in Mindanao, back in '86, I was showing a film and preaching that night. I was weeping over the millions of babies being [aborted] in America, and I prayed, 'God, if you give me a son, if you give me Timmy, I'll raise him to be a preacher.'" Not long after, Bob and Pam Tebow conceived their fifth child. It was a very difficult pregnancy. "The placenta was never properly attached, and there was bleeding from the get-go," Bob recalls. "We thought we'd lost him several times." Early in the pregnancy Pam contracted amebic dysentery, which briefly put her in a coma. Her doctors, fearful that medications they had given her had damaged the fetus, advised her to abort it. She refused, and on Aug. 14, 1987, Pam delivered a healthy if somewhat scrawny Timothy Richard Tebow.

"All his life, from the moment he could understand, I told him, 'You're a miracle baby,'" Bob recalls. "'God's got a purpose for you, and at some point I think He's going to call you to preach.'

"I asked God for a preacher, and he gave me a quarterback."

Tebow's also answering questions about his sexuality, questions that aren't usually asked of college - or even professional - players:

Let's talk about sex, baby

...in church, no less.

And on the seventh day, there was no rest for married couples. A week after the Rev. Ed Young challenged husbands and wives among his flock of 20,000 to strengthen their unions through Seven Days of Sex, his advice was — keep it going.

Mr. Young, an author, a television host and the pastor of the evangelical Fellowship Church, issued his call for a week of “congregational copulation” among married couples on Nov. 16, while pacing in front of a large bed. Sometimes he reclined on the paisley coverlet while flipping through a Bible, emphasizing his point that it is time for the church to put God back in the bed.

“Today we’re beginning this sexperiment, seven days of sex,” he said, with his characteristic mix of humor, showmanship and Scripture. “How to move from whining about the economy to whoopee!”

And you thought Christianity was full of prudes...

homosexuality

Pastor Bill Rudd has written down his thoughts about homosexuality and the Christian. I find much here with which to agree. You'll find them in three parts: 1, 2, and 3.

Earlier this year, Soulforce went on a bus ride in order to visit 32 Christian colleges and universities with policies banning the open enrollment of openly LGBT students. They visited Cedarville University, my alma mater, in April (read about it here).

On Thursday, April 19th, 2007, Soulforce Equality Ride visited Cedarville University and had a great day of dialogue. The day began with a breakfast for Riders and student hosts. Two panels were held with Equality Riders and Cedarville faculty discussing homosexuality and Scripture, human rights, and a Christian response. Equality Riders also hosted a presentation on the effects of spiritual violence. There was wonderful dialogue with students throughout the day, including many great conversations over lunch, dinner, and coffee (Cedarville definitely took good care of us).

The day on campus was followed by a community rally on April 20th at Antioch College's Coretta Scott King center, where Soulforce Equality Riders had a time of informal fellowship with Cedarville students and alum, Antioch College students, and members of the community.

For any Cedarville students or alumni who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender or who are supportive of LGBT people, check out http://www.cedarvilleout.org/.

Also: Is "Christian" the new "gay?"

the lowdown (or downlow) on jeans

In a growing number of communities, a person wearing sagging jeans can be charged with a criminal offense.

JAMARCUS MARSHALL, a 17-year-old high school sophomore in ansfield, La., believes that no one should be able to tell him how low to wear his jeans. “It’s up to the person who’s wearing the pants,” he said.

Mr. Marshall’s sagging pants, a style popularized in the early 1990s by
hip-hop artists, are becoming a criminal offense in a growing number of communities, including his own.

Starting in Louisiana, an intensifying push by lawmakers has determined pants worn low enough to expose underwear poses a threat to the public, and they have enacted indecency ordinances to stop it.

Males in Delcambre, Louisiana who are charged with this crime (let's be honest, these are males that are doing this - I've never seen a female wear their pants below their hips) may have to pay a $500 fine or spend six months in jail. The Louisiana town of Mansfield has lesser fines and a reduced time in jail.

The article mentions that the phenomenon of sagging pants began in prison, when inmates often wore baggy clothes without belts (this was done out of fear of suicide). It doesn't mention, however, that inmates often took someone wearing sagging pants as a sign that he wanted sexual relations. We've all learned this week that tapping one's foot in a bathroom stall can be seen as a sign of sexual desire. In today's world, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find something that isn't associated with sexuality.

the Hoosier controversies

Ah, Indiana. We have so many things happen here, don't we?

We have billboards all over the city that some people have thought worthy of defacement.

And we have license plates that have received notice by the folks way out in L.A.

this Sunday's sermon: "The Greatest Sex You'll Ever Have"

Do preachers really require sensationally-titled sermons to pack their church's pews on Sunday? It is apparent that Tim Kade thinks so. I think these titles are more appropriate in the sexuality section of the local bookstore, not on the church sign.

Speaking of the sexuality section: why is it frequently located near the children's books? Several bookstores around Indianapolis are set up this way.

(HT: Mark Byron)

gay evangelicals

Intriguing article here about evangelical Christians who claim to be homosexual.

Justin Lee believes that the Virgin birth was real, that there is a heaven and a hell, that salvation comes through Christ alone and that he, the 29-year-old son of Southern Baptists, is an evangelical Christian.

Just as he is certain about the tenets of his faith, Mr. Lee also knows he is gay, that he did not choose it and cannot change it.

To many people, Mr. Lee is a walking contradiction, and most evangelicals and gay people alike consider Christians like him horribly deluded about their faith. “I’ve gotten hate mail from both sides,” said Mr. Lee, who runs gaychristian.net, a Web site with 4,700 registered users that mostly attracts gay evangelicals.

Justin believes that God "blesses" same-sex unions - his essay is on that very topic is here. His opening statement is this:

As many of you know, I'm fairly conservative in my theological views. I believe that the Bible is morally authoritative, that sex is for marriage, and that promiscuity is harmful to everyone involved. For many years of my life, I also believed that all homosexual behavior was wrong - whether it consisted of anonymous hookups or committed relationships. I believed, based on what I had read in the Bible, that even the most loving and monogamous of same-sex relationships was evil in God's eyes. But as I studied the Bible, my view on that subject changed. I now believe that homosexual behavior is appropriate within the confines of a committed, loving, monogamous, lifelong, Christ-centered relationship. Essentially, I'm arguing that a Christ-centered marriage is a good thing, regardless of the gender of the people involved.

Ron Belgau, a member of GayChristian.net, believes that a gay Christian must be celibate - his essay on that topic is here. One of his concluding statements is this:

For myself, I finally came back to the view that the Bible forbids gay relationships, in part because though I could see the reasons to doubt the traditional position, I couldn’t see any solid evidence to support the idea that God blesses gay marriages. And the more I sought to find in the Scriptures principles which could be used to support gay marriage, the more I realized that the basic principles in the Scripture for guiding sexual expression would rule out gay relationships.