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comment by thenewgreen
thenewgreen  ·  4622 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Chinese Atheists Lured to Find Jesus at U.S. Christian Schools
I like you lessismore, in fact I think you are awesome!! But...
    When I buy a bag of sugar from the local store and it is labeled as so, but I find flour inside, I would indeed be very surprised
. Is such a flawed analogy, I can't let it be. It's not labeled as "sugar"; it's labeled as "christian" and the product is "christian". Have you looked at their website? They are overt in their intention to turn all of their students in to christians... not floury versions of sugar... CHRISTIANS! They are SO UP FRONT ABOUT IT. WHAT AM I MISSING? Where is the disconnect? Christian in ANY language is christian, right?

Also, you rule and I'm a little drunk.





lessismore  ·  4612 days ago  ·  link  ·  
    “Relying on recruiters who do not emphasize their schools’ religious focus, Chinese parents perceive these schools as ’safe’ and ‘family-oriented’ places where their children will get a typical American experience,” she said in an e-mail. “They have no idea how religion permeates the day to day environment. I would no more place a Chinese student in an evangelical Christian school than in an orthodox Jewish school.”

What they are selling to the unsuspecting parents and students is an "American" education, not a religious conversion. Their website say that it is a Christian school, but they are certainly not selling a religious conversion.

thenewgreen  ·  4611 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I think that we essentially agree on this 100%. I think that what the school is doing is wrong. The reason they are going after chinese students is because of the language barrier and easy access to an impressionable and eager audience. It's predatory, no doubt about it. My only point is that with just a slight amount of investigation on the parents part, it becomes somewhat obvious what the agenda of the school is. -However, this is a totally ethnocentric thing to say. It's obvious to me because I have experience with christians and christianity. It would be far less obvious to someone from China that doesn't have this experience.

Still, your claim that they are selling an American education and not religious conversion is somewhat false. This is the second sentence in their "about" section from their website:

    Our school offers a rigorous academic program anchored in a foundation of biblical truth. We purpose to promote and develop faith in Jesus Christ through academics, co-curricular activities, leadership development, and personal relationships.
This seems pretty overt in their intentions to "develop faith" anchored in "biblical truth", right?
lessismore  ·  4611 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Our viewpoint on this is very similar, but I stand by my opinion that what they are doing is fraud. In my mind, it is no different than predatory lending.
thenewgreen  ·  4611 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I don't disagree, it's predatory and you're right that there is likely some fraudulent behavior. When you are under the impression that you are doing gods work, you tend to use any and all means necessary. -Not a good thing.

aside: you sure you don't want in on the NHL brackets ;-)

lessismore  ·  4611 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I wish I can, but unfortunately I will not be able to. As you might have noticed, I have not been very active here for the last week or so. I will likely be even less active in the next coming few months. I will be going on a very long trip shortly and there are a lot of things I need to get in order.
thenewgreen  ·  4611 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Safe travels my friend.