Talk:Morrison Christian Academy

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The site has a lot of good information. There is one correction I see needs to be done. Dr. Tim McGill needs to be changed to Mr. Tim McGill.

Contents 1 This article violates WP:NPOV 2 Rampant vandalism 3 Neutral Point of View 4 Christian Fundamentalism / Intolerance 5 Quotes from High School Student Handbook 6 Quotes from High School Student Handbook 7 Morrison's Policy vs. Mainstream Policy 8 it is MORRISON ACADEMY--there is no "Christian"

[edit] This article violates WP:NPOV

This article consists mostly of verbatim regurgitations of text from the Academy's web site. That's inappropriate as a Wikipedia article — especially because the text isn't quoted (e.g. the mission statement), making it appear that Wikipedia endorses a particular religious point of view. =Axlq 16:27, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Necessary changes will be made directly. Chrissu 17:18, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

I just changed the mission statement section to indicate that it's being quoted. The school's web site should be checked carefully to make sure other text isn't merely copied from there to here. =Axlq 18:17, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rampant vandalism

This article seems to have been heavily vandalized, in particular the "School culture" section and other places. This article needs massive re-work. =Axlq 16:36, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

The vandalism has been fixed. Chrissu 17:18, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Good job. I see you fixed the infobox too. =Axlq 18:17, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Neutral Point of View

MCA teaches the "five fundamentals" thus is a Fundamentalist Christian school.

1. Inerrancy of the Scriptures
2. The virgin birth and the deity of Jesus
3. The doctrine of substitutionary atonement through God's grace and human faith
4. The bodily resurrection of Jesus
5. The authenticity of Christ's miracles (or, alternatively, his premillennial second coming)

Morrison Christian Academy exists as an organization and a school that is tolerant of many different facets of Christianity, including Mormons and other Christian sects. It is inappropriate to categorize Morrison Christian Academy under a label like Christian Fundamentalism when in fact the atmosphere at the school is spiritually tolerant. Morrison Christian Academy does not coerce students to follow Christianity, nor does it exhibit the signs of Christian Fundamentalism as the Wikipedia page points out (for example, the school does not criticize evangelicals such as Billy Graham, amongst numerous other differences). The five tenets that you pointed out are central to many different sects of Christianity and your assumption that the school is Fundamentalist Christian possesses no claim. It is absurd to say that because Morrison Academy observes such standards (amongst many other Christian principles) then the school should be labelled as Christian Fundamentalist. For example, one of the branches of Christianity that also observes those five standards is the Baptist sect. Yet, they do not refer to themselves as "Christian Fundamentalists." Christian Fundamentalism had become a pejorative word to those who oppose Christianity or understands little about the inner mechanisms of Christianity. This statement in no way reflects the Christian ambience of the school and not only inaccurate, but degrading. In addition, please stop vandalizing the pages with your unfounded edits. You are not adding to the Wikipedia community through your heavily biased views. Keep your views to yourself or discuss them here. Thank you. Chrissu 11:31, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Christian Fundamentalism / Intolerance

Morrison Academy is not tolerant, I know, I was a student at Morrison Academy for more than 7 years. Fundamentalist Christian is a term used by the secular world to describe certain beliefs and dogma held by some Christians. It is assumed one would not label one self as a Fundamentalist Christian or a Islamic Fundamentalist. Thus the claim that the Baptist sect is not a fundamentalist sect because they do not identify themselves as such is ludicrous. Your edit of this article is biased as it contains your views as an inside observer. I have observed Morrison as spiritual member and as an objective third party. For the sake of the article's neutrality, stop removing the POV tag.

How is Morrison Academy intolerant? According to your reasoning, all of the Christian sects that currently exist in the world will most likely be labeled as Christian Fundamentalist because they follow the five tenets that you had listed above. If you carefully scrutinize the article on Christian Fundamentalists in Wikipedia, you will see that Morrison Academy does not adhere to a dogma that is as myopic as Christian Fundamentalism. Your labelling of Morrison Academy as a Christian Fundamentalist sect is extremely narrowminded and incorrect to a significant degree. I point out numerous instances:

-"ardently oppose alternate approaches such as old earth creationism and non-theistic evolution, which fundamentalists often refer to as Darwinism."

• Morrison Academy does not "ardently oppose" evolution. In fact, the science classes are not barred from discussing evolution. The study of evolution is given three to four weeks in a regular biology class, and although the teacher's personal beliefs may conflict with the material presented, the school does not disallow the study of evolution or force students to adhere to Creationism.

[edit] Quotes from High School Student Handbook

"Bible instruction is a regular part of the curriculum at Morrison Academy. Bible classes are required for all students. The school generally uses the New International Version (NIV) for the sake of uniformity and ease of understanding. The school provides each new student with a personal Bible. During your child’s course of study he/she will be confronted with the following concepts:

1. There is one true God. 2. All things were created by God.

- "Confronting" sounds like a pretty strong word to me.

-"Some fundamentalists have endorsed strict codes of conduct that prohibit even moderate consumption of alcohol and tobacco, dancing, gambling, or engaging in secular cultural activities such as watching movies or listening to rock and roll music. These codes may also require adherents to dress in certain ways going beyond simple modesty (for example, by prohibiting women from wearing pants or men from having long hair)."

• Do you see this happening at Morrison?

[edit] Quotes from High School Student Handbook

"The following, whether occurring on or off campus, can result in an immediate severe suspension and/or expulsion: smoking, drinking alcohol, ..."

- What? One puff or one drink and I could be outta the school?

"The keynote of any production or publication must be wholesomeness. Therefore, the following should be omitted:

1. All references to speech or materials that are encouraging immoral conduct. 2. Blasphemy, profanity, vulgarity, or any misuse of God’s name. 3. Any material that might be contrary to upholding a Biblical position. 4. Anything that focuses on or encourages practices of a questionable nature, such as smoking, drinking, drunkenness, drug abuse, etc.

-"some fundamentalists have become anti-intellectual to the point of looking down on those with higher education from secular institutions. The King-James-Only Movement, referring to fundamentalists reject later biblical translations in favor of the King James Version of the Bible could be said to be an example of this. They reject the scholarship that has led to these later translations, which frequently base themselves upon newly discovered Bible manuscripts. Because, for instance, those manuscripts do not contain a reference to the Trinity in 1 John 5:7 and the scholars who produced the newer translations omit the Trinitarian part of the verse, which they believe to be corrupted (compare the NIV footnote[5]) - along with many other evidences of corruption, they allege."

• Once again, is this true?

Certain members of the school community may be Fundamentalist Christians, but the school as a whole is religiously tolerant (I completely do not understand why Morrison Academy is intolerant) and does not shove religious dogma down students' throats. Many of my peers are not Christians and they have not been persecuted or ostracized by the school community.

Moreover, please stop vandalizing this page. Your previous so-called "school culture" section is absurd to the greatest degree. You possess significantly biased views and you are not adding to the article by flaming the school. Chrissu 14:06, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Morrison's Policy vs. Mainstream Policy

With your idea of a "normal" school, I think most prep schools, international schools, and parochial schools should be labelled as "Christian Fundamentalist." Do you actually think Morrison's rules are that stringent?

• On Your Dissent of Smoking/Drinking and Suspension/Expulsion

I quote from TAS (Taipei American School)'s Policy Manual:

"In support of this expectation, a student may be suspended should he or she exhibit behavior that

2. Clearly demonstrates a conscious failure to live within and abide by TAS core values."

TAS's core value includes the value of "respect," "honesty," and "responsibility." TAS expresses that a student may be suspended if the student fails to live within TAS core values. Most students in the high school are under 18 and are not of age according to Republic of China law. Therefore, underage smoking and drinking is not only breaking the core values of TAS, it is also violating the laws of the Republic of China. TAS already communicated through their statement that if a student "[consciously fails]" to "live within and abide by the TAS core values [of respect, honesty, and responsibility]" then a student could be suspended. Do you honestly think that underage drinking falls into respectable and responsible behavior? It is not unreasonable for a school to list this expectation as one of the rules in the handbook. If TAS could suspend their students for drinking and smoking, do you think MCA's standard is anymore stringent?

I quote from IASAS (International Association of Southeast Asian Schools) policy on their intermural events:

"Smoking, drinking of alcohol, drug abuse and any unauthorized absence will not be permitted during any TAS sponsored event."

"When a student commits an infraction relating to alcohol, tobacco, drug, abuse, cheating, deceit, disrespect, flagrant curfew / “off limits” areas violations, as well as aiding and abetting any of the above, the following shall apply: (4/05)."

"g. Other Individual School’s Consequences: Depending on the severity and specifics of the infraction, individual IASAS schools may levy other consequences as per their school policy/handbooks, eg. out-of-school suspension, exclusion from all IASAS events for one year."

This demonstrates a couple significant points. Smoking, drinking of alcohol, and drug abuse of any kind is NOT tolerated by IASAS and TAS. The MCA's handbook warning students that they may face expulsion or suspension is merely a reflection of this point. This is not being "Christian Fundamentalist" as you pointed out. If you peruse many other school handbooks in America (for example, Philips Exeter and Philips Andover), you will find similar statements to MCA's school handbook. The expectation that MCA has on its students is not a reflection of the Christian spirit at the school, it is merely an expectation on the high quality of conduct that many private schools demand of their students. Many British boarding schools also enforce these rules (like Eton). Would you say they are "Christian Fundamentalist"? Or rather, they might just have a higher expectation of their students?

Besides, it is not true that a "puff or one drink" could get you expelled at Morrison. Morrison Academy, like I just pointed out with many other schools, expect highly of its students. Even this year, a group of nine individuals in the high school had been caught smoking and drinking on a school activity. However, they had not been expelled by the school. Your "image" of Morrison as a hellhole of sadistic Christian teachers is completely unfounded and only exists in your imagination. Chrissu 08:30, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

• On Your Dissent of Religious Principles

"Confronting" is in no way a "strong" word as you pointed out. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "confronting" is "to cause to meet : bring face-to-face." The connotation that you suggested is this one, "to face especially in challenge." Morrison Academy is a dynamic institution that seeks to challenge students in their views. This is NOT the negative connotation of "intolerant" as you pointed out. What you are expressing is an exaggeration of the literal value of words. Now, if the handbook read, "Morrison Academy coerces" or "Morrison Academy enforces," then your claims are valid. Morrison does not try to force religious dogma down students' throats, as I had pointed out before. You are free to believe in what you believe and the school community does not "ostracize" or "bully" you as you have pointed out in your previous "school culture" section. Inevitably you will be presented with views of Christianity, but does the school force all students to sign a pledge or recite a statement that declares they are Christians? Does the school reject student applications on the basis of their religion? I do not understand why you harbor such a resentment against the Morrison community.

• On Your Dissent on Guidelines for Student Work

Because the school is founded on a Christian basis, it is reasonable that Morrison expects certain criterion of its students. However, here, you must determine between the radical "Fundamental Christian" sect that you are referring to and general mainstream Christianity. Just because Morrison presents guidelines on student work is no grounds for labelling the school as the fanatical "Fundamental Christian" sect. As in many other Christian schools over the world (Faith Academy, Sacred Heart, Wheaton College, Calvin College, Bethel College...and others), it is reasonable to expect that the school will issue some standards regarding the use of the name of God in their publications. This is part of the workings of a Christian school and the article had already been appropriately labeled as such. The Morrison article does not claim to be representing a non-secular international school when it isn't. However, you need to distinguish between the difference of a "Christian" and a "Fundamentalist Christian" school.

Once again, Morrison Academy does not enforce or coerce students to abide by these guidelines. Notice the word "should be," rather than "demands," or "requires," or "mandatory." You pointed out also the clauses "drinking" and "smoking." I ask you, which Christian school in the world do students submit papers on the "focus[ing] on or encourag[ing of]" drugs, alcohol, or tobacco? This is not an exception that Morrison is following here. By labelling Morrison as "Christian Fundamentalist," you are claiming that the school does not tolerate any mention of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco in any student publication. This is not true. Student papers on those topics had been submitted, and this guideline merely asks students not to submit papers that encourage these practices. This is not fanatical Christianity -- it is common sense. If you endorse the practice of drugs, alcohol, and smoking excessively in your student work, you may even be subject to censorship by the school officials in public school districts in America. Morrison is not straying away from the beaten path.

Moreover, you seem to suggest that alcohol, smoking, and drugs are taboo subjects at Morrison and eternal damnation befalls those that commit such heinous acts. This is not true. Many staff members drink in their off time. Morrison does not reject teachers just because they drink alcohol. Now, if Morrison was truly a Fundamental Christian school, do you think this would still be tolerated? Do you think that students could still be discussing evolution and abortion in Biology class? Do you think agnostic or atheist students could still be attending the school? Chrissu 09:43, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] it is MORRISON ACADEMY--there is no "Christian"

The name of the school is MORRISON ACADEMY. It is created by an organization named "Morrison Christian Association." That is where the acronym MCA comes from. Look at the official school seal. it says "Morrison Academy." This is a confusion between the acronym "MCA" and that school name. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 160.39.212.46 (talk) 15:25, 30 January 2007 (UTC).