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huntunderironskies · 5 months

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A Call to Action

Hi all.

I wish I had better news to give. I thought long and hard about whether or not I should share this because I will be functionally doxxing myself when I do. But I've had several days to sleep on it and think about what to do. I've come to the conclusion that this is more important than me. This will be a long post but I urge you to read all of it. I'm afraid I have to be thorough here given the situation.

I think everyone who has been following me for more than a week knows how much I love religious studies as a field. It is my single greatest passion in life.

Unfortunately my school, UNC Greensboro, is trying to eliminate our department under claims of it being "not financially justifiable," among others (including anthropology and all Korean language classes.) These claims are highly spurious. Debunking this in full will take some time but I'll try to cover as much ground as I can in the relatively short space I am given and provide some sources. If anyone needs further elaboration, I'll report to the best of my abilities.

This is all to lead into the fact that I would like to provide some opportunities for people to help us out over here, which I will cover at the end. The shortest possible version is: please signal boost this. I do urge you to read it in full, though.

With the first introduction out of the way...

A Second But Very Brief Introduction to Religious Studies and a Justification of Its Presence in Academia (Given the Natural Bent of this Site is Sometimes Towards Antitheism)

Feel free to skip this if you have any familiarity with religious studies as a discipline, I'm putting it here because I find that it's often confounded with theology and every time I talk about it someone asks me if I'm going to be a priest (no.)

To be clear, religious studies is not theology. It does not purport the existence of any higher spiritual powers or presences. It is strictly the study of religion and spirituality as a force in human culture. This falls under both negative and positive effects, and covers everything from historical impact to individual psychology to macrosociological effects of religion to the simple understanding and study of mythology and folklore.

While internalized cultural norms are of course an issue that must be overcome by any scholar, for a religious studies scholar the Catholic Worker, the Sikh ragi, and the long-dead Sumerian ašipu should all have their beliefs and inner lives treated with the exact same sort of gravity and understanding, no matter how far their own beliefs might be from our own. It is, in my subjective opinion, the most humanizing of all the humanities because we are forced to operate on a deeply personal, vulnerable level.

I wish I didn't have to explain why these sorts of skills are important, especially given the current climate of intolerance that has been growing across the world and the growth of anti-intellectualism. I recognize that I might have to but I don't want to linger on that given everything else I have to cover in this post. Go ahead and ask as I do love talking about my field but I might take some time to answer.

A Brief Summary of Events Beforehand

My school has hired a firm known as rpk Group (lack of capitalization true to actual title) to restructure school funding financially with a focus on eliminating programs deemed to not earn enough for the school. Here is a brief explanation from the source itself. I apologize if the school website's CSS is still broken and it's difficult to read due to the social media icons being about thirty times the size they should be. Apparently they couldn't find the funding to pay a web designer instead of an expensive financing firm.

Those of you who have kept up with news in American academia may recognize this as the same group that forced cuts at West Virginia University. Please keep that in mind as we go forward.

Here are the high points:

Religious studies attained a passing grade under the rubric set out by the school. There have been active attempts to hide the scoring system from anyone but faculty. The spreadsheet in which the data was published has been password protected (source, which also contains several other refutations to the chancellor's talking points.)

For those who wish to keep score, anthropology did as well and our anthropology program is known for being quite good. This is without going into the other benefits the anthropology program provides the school with, which include such things as a community garden.

There were lower scoring programs that were kept. In other words, the decision-making process has been entirely inscrutable.

This is supported by the fact that the administration has been giving out incorrect numbers regarding program attendance to both news outlets and students, with some programs proposed to be cut having their student enrollment off by several factors.

Religious studies had over five times as many students as was originally reported. The Chinese language minor was reported to have zero students when there were thirty-six. To operate with this level of error from alleged professionals beggars belief and undermines any faith I would've had in this process.

The administration has claimed that they used the correct numbers in their rubrics. As they will not publish further data to myself nor the public, I have no evidence this is actually true.

They were going to cut Korean language as a minor. We don't have a Korean language minor. We do have a track of Korean language and I am given to understand as of this semester, culture courses. Which are operated solely by one professor and are consistently full or close to capacity due to popularity. There is no evidence they are losing the school money and I have several testimonials that the Korean culture-related programs have drawn students to UNCG as it is a unique niche the school gives not just over other UNC schools but over other colleges and universities.

Faculty and students were given information about what programs would be cut at precisely the same time, through an email sent schoolwide. Many students and faculty were in class at the time this was sent and had to proceed as if they weren't about to have their programs eliminated.

The administration alleges that current students will be able to finish their degrees. I have little faith this is the case for reasons that will take a while to get into but, to summarize as briefly as possible, completion of a degree here requires certain high-level classes that may be difficult to obtain with faculty cuts.

The chancellor alleges that Jewish Studies and Islamic Studies will not be affected by the elimination of religious studies, despite the fact that they are hosted under the department and Islamic Studies uses the same funding. As such, I believe that the highly technical and academic category used to refer to this sort of thing is "a blatant lie."

The administration has tried to quietly edit out any errors in original reporting. I am pleased to report that, as many of us intensely online people know, the Wayback Machine exists. Here is the original statistically incorrect press release that was given, which they have tried to bury.

While they have held forums, these have largely been ceremonial gestures rather than serious attempts at communication. At the one I went to, all non-administration speakers were given only two minutes to speak while the chancellor and dean were given as much time as possible to respond. Their responses to concerns were often dismissive and rarely addressed the necessary issues. I believe any person present will back me up on this, though I am not currently in possession of a voice recording.

I must operate within the evidence I am given. The best-faith interpretation of their actions is that the metrics they were using to determine what cuts should be made are incorrect and must be re-done before going through with any sort of program cuts, and that the administration's collaboration process with the group they employed is poor to nonexistent given the scattershot information provided. There is very, very clearly a communications breakdown somewhere along the line that raises this entire procedure into question.

I think it goes without saying it's all downhill from there. The level of arbitrariness with regards to cuts, lack of professionalism, and total lack of transparency would lead a reasonable person to believe there are heavy political motivations involved here and not simple brute facts. You are welcome to draw your own conclusions anywhere along this spectrum, of course. I encourage you to be skeptical.

Lastly, if I can't convince you that it's worth stopping this process to save religious studies, think about the anthropology department. Think about the languages that are getting cut. Think about physics or mathematics. A large-scale public university without a physics program is quite frankly unreal and the fact it's primarily humanities being targeted runs parallel with some sinister trends within American education. This process should, at the very least, be halted for time being.

What You (the Reader) Can Do

Firstly, be aware that we have until February 1st before decisions are finalized. I apologize for the short time limit. Myself and other members of the community were taken completely by surprise as well, and once again as I mentioned above it has caused some level of cynicism around the motivations of the administration.

With that out of the way...make noise about this. The school administration is making all efforts to keep this quiet. I can say the good news is that according to other people on the ground, they are beginning to lose control of their narrative that they are making difficult financial decisions to keep the school financially solvent.

Believe it or not, the farther removed you are, the better. If this hits a national scale then the school may be finally forced to acknowledge they are rapidly causing the otherwise prestigious UNC system, typically considered to be one of the best public university systems in the US, to be a national laughingstock and that they will lose money as their reputation declines in a way that they would not have if they'd simply carried out this process in a more reasonable way.

You can sign our petitions here and here. Easy enough, takes about three minutes, self-explanatory.

Finally, reach out to an academic or any passionate learner in a specialized field today. A lot of us feel understandably threatened and demoralized. Again, this is not just about me or even about my school. This is about trends within the American education system. Explaining the hows and whys in full detail is not within the scope of this post, but I think a reasonable person can conclude after looking at the current evidence that there is a dismantling of American schools in favor of a corporatized existence. For those of us who love knowledge and learning, this is incredibly sinister. Knowledge should not have a price tag put on it.

A Final Word

I and several other people have Chancellor Gilliam on record saying that he has dedicated his life to working at the collegiate level and towards students. While he and the administration have tried to ensure that their statements outside of highly controlled environments are not easily accessible, I should be able to provide a clip if needed given that this statement was livestreamed and North Carolina is a one-party-consent state in regards to recordings.

They have consistently characterized this process as having to make hard decisions to keep the university afloat. The chancellor is currently the highest-paid employee within UNCG itself and the fourth highest-paid member of administration within the UNC system as a whole (source.) Please be aware this does not include other benefits, which in 2022 put his salary above $500,000 (source.) As others have, I must ask why these "difficult decisions" within the school have not included a salary cut for himself if he is so dedicated to improving the lives of students.

Thank you for your time and consideration. If you've gotten this far, you've already listened more than anyone outside of the academic departments have and that means a lot to me in and of itself.

#religious studies #mythology #college #studyblr #college life #university #north carolina #theology #religion #unc #tagging in as much stuff as i can think of lol #anything is worth a shot at this point #academia

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shamaste · 4 years

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Discrimination and Spirituality. Often it is to see yourself as a victim. But asking yourself is: why and what makes you feel that way. Often made by circumstances, or you got in the way or by others imposing that feeling on you either; by their way of speaking, thinking and doing. Things that make you think and feel differently about yourself, and even starting to bring yourself down. And if you are unsure about yourself, partly because of your past, you feel quickly: disadvantaged, not belonging, discriminated and more.

A group, feels disadvantaged and left out, will be triggered even more in these days, and that will be fueled with Corona as an unwanted ally to use for his own business/purpose and also by using what happens in Europe, especially from the USA, as an excuse overhere.

In the USA rests many deep feelings or are close to the surface, waiting to let it be freed. That is happened, old things. And now people react because of these old feelings. Only now they attach a name to it, it is called ....: discrimination and / or racism. If shops are looted, it is justified? Kristallnacht, ww2, but now the American way.

Social injustice is not yet discrimination. But it is now being brought forward. Everything is suddenly seen as discrimination or explained like that, even when it isn't. Rage, is making blind for judtice and is just for preserving self-interest. Only for a certain group, but I am for everyone, don’t get me wrong. And exclusion is making distinctions, that is, discrimination. Then I also have something for those people and groups who are now so hard on others with regard to discrimination. But .... I don't because I accepted myself years ago, not being a victim. And because of that...I don't live in or am i my past now. Of course it could have been different or turned out differently. But I chose. I have chosen not to judge, to condemn, to discriminate. And you?

Because that is discrimination, a choice! And your life is also about making choices. Just like mine.

Either you choose: to hang around in the past, to be a victim, or to choose to make a distinction, or to choose to blame someone else as usual, or to choose to discriminate. Or whether you choose not, not to be, to do what makes you guilty of that what is written.

Tolerance. Tolerance is tolerating, but no acceptance yet. Often is tolerance to here is not there: not in my street, house, village, town or country. Are you getting too close, then ..? Everything is allowed, as long as I am not confronted with it, you, your kind.

I also don't have to tolerate everything, such as: being left out, discriminated against, ignored and hated for who i am. I won't allow. That is called... free will. It's a piece of humanity to yourself, a form of selfcare. But it should not turn into hatred, disgust, envy, anger, violence and more. And anger is, in this case is... a bad destructive emotion, fueled by fear of?

I was often (as a gay) only tolerated by others. Acceptance, that was only possible if I started to accept myself, and decided not continue to see myself as a victim or as a failure. But just thought myself that I am successful, valuable and a sincerely improved version of my old hurt self, i started to get free as i learn to see who i am. I find myself and I found out ...: I have something to offer!

But if you have something to offer that is successful, you attract people who want it too, a part of it. -in which the other person can quickly make a big improvement, progress and making a lot of money. These factors playing the main role and the tolerance level is because of selfish reasons suddenly higher. Then you can take your place in their circle. But watch out! This is still not an acceptance of you. But make use of you. Its temporarely. Until they get it, and then ..? Then you are pushed aside, thrown out again. This is called social injustice.

Abuse, or call it social injustice, that is to use someone or a situation for personal (ego) purposes and well-being. This has nothing to do with race, religion or whatever the preference are. It's just an ego thing in that other person. You are, have something, and they want to have that something, anyway ... is to benefit themself, because that's what it's all about. Gimme Gimme Gimme!

But sometimes it fails, and then ...! And sometimes it fails more often and suddenly society seems to turn against you and then the terms are used, such as: this is discrimination, racist etc. But forgetting that them selves are the cause of their own disadvantaged. That is forgotten, and which is also not fair to the other. But karma is a bitch. Get the gueste?

Well, sometimes it's not your path. And if your intentions are not pure either, then there is such a thing as karma. Cause and effect. When I do things, I am responsible for that, not the other person. And there I think, it goes wrong. Everywhere. De People do not want to take responsibility for their own actions, or life.

Is it due to this crisis, the coronisation of this society? Beware, don't forget, but everyone is responsible for their own thinking, feelings, behavior and also health, and yes: you are also responsible for what you pass on, and you are responsible for that, not the other person, what you have given and gotten also unwanted - that is without their approval or knowledge also. Like giving covid19 to someone else. Or secretly giving an STD or worse? And thats happening now, are you going to put the blame on that, to them too? Shame on you. Poor human being! So with that, youre building up bad karma. From now on you need al the luck in the world.

Spiritual people cannot afford to do that at all, because they already have a knowledge, its called consciousness. But if you still want to act like that as a perpetrator, without conscience, or responsibility for yourself, you will be thrown back .., confronting all your fears. Then you start complaining and winjng about everything and everyone. Too bad (s).

Injustice or discrimination? There will always be injustice, because it is also determined by other things, like ego and fear. Naturaly, as mentioned before, you possess that the other person don't or that person has something that you do not have, or the other way around, giving and taking, or it is still out of your reach, such as a well-paid job, that car, a beautiful house. But it's also te be in control or decision-making, those rights. Birth rights, such as being happy, free, the right to have a free will and more. But it should not be at the expense of others. Then you are wrong.

That can trigger something in the other, or evoke such things as: envy, jealousy, anger, fear of repetition from the past, that all play a role. This way you get groups facing each other. A kind of (ego) war.

Spirituality is about: to create unity, equality, not to use it to want to (over) rule, (to) judge and yes, even to discriminate. Because now your coming across that line, stepping over that thin line. Really! Spiritual people seem to take the lead in this. When someone is righteous and against everything at the same time, (judging) ..! Discerning, you good, you bad. Shit it is. There is no good or bad.

Spirituality is not meant for that, to upset others, or put people down. But fear has also to struck there. But whether it is real? No. This is called: we are not the past. It is not our war, whatever happened then. This is not us! Because slavery was born in a time of progress, this through discovery, prosperity and domination. They knew no better. Now we do.

This in an laat part of an era and it is still called: the age of pisces. And it stops at 2100. Power, ego and money. We are still in and part in that. This is called the transition phase. And is 100 years long. From 2000 until 2100.

Mother Earth's future depends on this period. That is why everything is discussed and relived again, and before new things emerge, that when the wheat is separated from the chaff. Dutch saying. Get the bad things out. Let the good things in. How annoying it may be. But to enter an era of higher consciousness and spirituality, you must first create space. And humans has no longer natural enemies. Except them selves and diseases. Viruses belong to us, to humans, plants and animals. Therefore, new ones are added all the time, and they mutate. And what do they teach us if you want to learn?

The other and me? Racism and discrimination ar originated from fear, fear of losing something that is valued, such as freedom. Your loved one. And unfortunately it is now often linked to white people. But history also teaches: the Indians also robbed people, especially women, she was called squaws, from other tribes, for their own good;

African chieftains also had their slavery practices, they also had slaves from other countries and / or tribes and traded with white shipping companies for profit;

the Japanese wanted to subdue the Chinese;

in Russia you were or are still murdered because;

and Turkey is still doing it. From power.

Leaders in different countries keep racism / discrimination alive, even TRUMP. But it stays alive as long as your ideas allow you to distinguish them and to justify them. It is good / bad, it is this, it is that ...! Than... ?

See Qatar? And so it is also to watch out for you and me and that an opinion is not a wrong thought, because you make distinctions so quickly.

WW1 / 2. Just before the outbreak of the WW2, the Jews were suddenly victims of violence. That because they were prosperous. Because most of them had shops, they were learned, they were successful because of their drive and hard work. The underprivileged 'German' population, which was abandoned as lowlife and in poverty by 'Der Kaiser' after WW1, was looking for a scapegoat. A deep world recession of 1929-39 followed the WW1. It was poverty against wealth. If you come to me, it will be better. Making promises to the people, the Kaiser was deposed and left for the Netherlands. HITLER rattled at the door of the 'Regierungssitz'. The outcome is still remembered? And in that place, Hitler found his chair and played nicely on that old pain. He found a scapegoat! What have we learned from this? How are you now?

Social discontent. This discontent manifests itself especially at times, when something global happens and that has become this virus Corona, the big motivator. Without this virus, the Floyd case would have turned out quite differently. I know for sure.

Group discontent, group fear, being insecure about themselves and the future, certainly death and life knocking on the door. Suddenly life, it has a different meaning for a certain group. They woke up rough and immediately, because those people realize ..., they are mortal and it suddenly comes very close. Suddenly people started to appreciate and feel their life differently. More prescious then others, now with that fear arose: "I first ...!" Feelings. A lot to deal with and In addition, others quickly forgotten. Survival first. Can you manage it alone? Now and later? No. You need people.

Corona. It suddenly seems like a green signal, of something that was already on orange. The previous economic recession is still fresh in the memory. - My company did not survive that and that is my blessing now. Don't think about having a gym ... at this time. It seems as if anything is allowed to do and must be possible, by a group that feels discriminated against, excluded or limited, and which also limits others by their actions. Who limits who actually, who discriminates?

What is the spiritual lesson of this? That it will last forever when it is fed by ego and fears.

But is that also discrimination? It has to do with fear. You can decide for yourself, and worst of all, you know about yourself when you are a racist or when you discriminate. All colours. And you also know quite well when it is your ego and fears, what you project onto others. This is called self-knowledge. Spiritual people have enough awareness, provided their egos havent got in the way of their fears. And that has already been proven that it is. No wisdom in there, because knowledge is still in their heads and it is not yet in their heart, and wisdom is from the heart. We will go there. Anyhow.

Where there is fear (heart), wisdom cannot rule there, can it? And you are caught. That's where your freedom is. In you. That's why it is important to stop this madness now. To stop scaring yourself, to feed it. It throws you back. There are probably more you can stop doing that. Now! Some tips for you. I wrote them for this moment. These are things to stop saying to yourself.

1. "I'm not good at ..."

Instead, say, "It's just a skill and something I can learn."

Personal affirmation: I am okay!

2. "I'm such a failure ..."

Instead, say, "I'm wrong, and everyone makes mistakes."

PA: I don't make mistakes, I learn.

3. "There's no point in trying ..."

Instead say, "It can be difficult, but step by step I will reach my goal in time."

PA: If the first one fails, then the second time it will not. I can do it.

4. "Everyone hates me; I have no friends ..."

Instead, say, "It doesn't really matter what these people think of me.

There are others who will recognize my worth and true self. "

PA: I appreciate myself just the way I am.

5. "I hate myself. I deserve to be rejected ..."

PA: "I am beautiful on the inside and I have enough self-esteem and self-esteem. I deserve to be cherished and treated well."

Your new life begins here. The better you is how you thinking about yourself, positive, then you feel more powerful, staying strong in your shoes, the less victim you feel. Because you determine how you deal with it. I have let go of my victimrole a long time ago, when will you?

This way you regain and remember your power and strength.

And give yourself the space and space is freedom that you were looking for. No more outside going to your search freedom, it is in you to enter the future correctly. Go inside.

And say, I'm okay. And that is enough.

I'm Hans, Dutch and I'm okay. In every way.

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