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FYI: I viewed the video of Gustavus college's freshman orientation with disgust, and waited to see the reactions from others. Pr. Scott Grorud, Faith, Hutchinson, whom I'm sure you already know, has responded so well for us all. After his response you can view the Gustavus material yourself. Pr. Grorud's point is well taken. Norm----- Original Message -----
From: Scott Grorud
Subject: FW: [Boardtalk] Fw: "Rated R" at ELCA Gustavus Adolphus CollegeOrientation


Dear Friends,

This e-mail has been making the rounds this weekend, but if you haven't yet seen them, the two videos linked at the bottom of the message below are a tragic witness to the theological vacuum that has entered so many ELCA and other mainline Christian institutions. They are not easy to watch, but the saddest part is at the very end of the second one.

What I find most troubling about them is not the material presented. Sadly, our young people hear such messages constantly from the culture. What is most troubling is the complete lack of any Christian convictions or any moral context to analyze, critique or oppose this cultural rot. (The videos are excerpts, but they give little reason even to hope that a countering message was also presented.) The individual and his/her desires/thoughts/ideas have become idols. Plenty of this concerns the Sixth Commandment (adultery), but much more of it concerns the First (no other gods). That this can be presented at a college that still claims to be Christian and Lutheran reveals just how big a battle we're fighting for the soul of Christianity today.

As the parent of a college student, I can't help but wonder, too, about the tens of thousands of dollars being shelled out by faithful Christian parents who are taking false comfort from the fact that their children are attending a "Christian" college. Where is the obligation of the college to live up to its own mission and claims about itself? If you are an alumnus/a, a parent of a student or a donor to GAC, I hope you will make your convictions known to the administration.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Scott


Subject: Fw: "Rated R" at ELCA Gustavus Adolphus CollegeOrientation



"Rated R" at ELCA Gustavus Adolphus College Orientation
To:
Date: Thursday, September 30, 2010,


Warning: the content of these videos taken at this year's Freshman Orientation at the ELCA's Gustavus Adolphus College is graphic and, in my opinion, vulgar, appalling, disturbing, tasteless, degrading, and completely unbefitting the sacred trust given to a Christian college and an institution of the ELCA. Sadly what is seen on these videos is not likely limited to GAC. You are an adult -- you can decide whether to watch these or not, but I hope you will understand why I felt it important for you to know what is happening on even one ELCA Church College campus.


President Ohle read a letter to me which he had prepared concerning this matter. I invited him to email me a copy and said that I would send it to those with whom I communicated in this regard. If & when he sends me this letter, in which the aforementioned presentations were described as "light-hearted," I will forward it to you.





GOOGLE: You Tube and search by the following titles or the links in the press release below.

1) Freshman Oreintation at Gustavus Infiltrated by Student w/video 6:27 minutes

2) Freshman Orientation at the Lutheran Gustavus Adolphus College 4:25 min.

3) Gustavus Freshman Orientation: Other Clips from Inside Scoop 5:58


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 21, 2010

Contact: Phil Cleary (GRA Vice-President) * Gusties Restoring America

Email: pcleary@gustavus.edu

Sexual Indoctrination at Lutheran College's Freshmen Orientation Caught on Tape

Saint Peter, MN – The freshman orientation activities that incoming students at Gustavus Adolphus College participate in were caught on camera by a student attending the seminars. According to the student with the camera, Phil Cleary, “the seminars filmed featured a series of skits with sexually explicit scenes and patently vulgar language.”

The first video, from a seminar titled the “Inside Scoop” features a series of sexually suggestive skits explaining to incoming students such things as where to get free condoms on campus, how to signal to your roommate that you are busy having sex (so he waits until later to come in), and how to tell your roommate you're gay (as well as the appropriate response you ought take when receiving such information).

The second video is from a seminar titled “E Pluribus Gustavus” and goes a bit further than the first, educating students about distinctions between gender and sex (as well as how to celebrate "LGPBBTTQ&A"), testimonies from gay, lesbian, and atheist students, and a call censor the content of speech after screaming cuss words at students in the dark.

Cleary commented, “This is propaganda that one might expect be taught in a Gender and Sexuality course at a secular, state institution. However, Gustavus is a Lutheran school in southern Minnesota founded by Swedish immigrants in the 1800’s, and these shameful seminars are presented during the first few hours and days that students are on campus before classes even begin.”

A book published by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) alerts young people to be aware of the “use of coercive tactics that violate the individual rights of students to formulate their own beliefs” during orientation programs on College campuses. Also discussed in FIRE’s Guide to First-Year Orientation and Thought Reform on Campus is “diversity training that aims to intimidate students into abandoning deeply held beliefs so that they will adopt the university’s preferred political stance.”

More details and the videos can be viewed at the following links:
http://gustavus.campusreform.org/group/blog/freshman-orientation-caught-on-tape
http://gustavus.campusreform.org/group/blog/video-inside-freshman-orientation


Gustavus Adolphus College is a church-related, residential liberal arts college firmly rooted in its Swedish and Lutheran heritage that aspires to be a community of persons from diverse backgrounds who respect and affirm the dignity of all people and is a community where a mature understanding of the Christian faith and lives of service are nurtured and students are encouraged to work toward a just and peaceful world.

*Gusties Restoring America is an independent, non-partisan student group at Gustavus whose mission is to promote the conservative worldview and its principles in the community at Gustavus Adolphus College.