The Pilgrim’s Protest

By Caleb Wimble
Despite still being more than a year away, the upcoming presidential elections are certainly hot on the media radar. As expected, there’s plenty of controversy to go around, especially given the unprecedented level of diversity among the lineup of candidates. And, equally as expected, the evangelical community is once again struggling with the proper Christian approach to the elections, more so than ever thanks to a surprising new twist in the formula. Having received higher than an 11% ranking on the most recent Gallup presidential poll, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney currently finds himself the third most favored Republican candidate by a respectably close margin. Not only have his Gallup rankings almost invariably increased in percentage over the course of the race, but he has also emerged as the landslide “victor” in the Straw Polls. Romney’s list of endorsers grows more impressive by the day, and his level of support among the political right is nothing short of astonishing. The only true obstacle standing in the way of his aspirations, it seems, is the issue of his faith. As most politically active Americans are aware by now, Mitt Romney is, in fact, a Mormon. Which, of course, begs the obvious question: should evangelical Christians be willing to give their presidential vote to a Latter Day Saint?

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By Elizabeth Castellow

In a world of instant news that can be found with only the few clicks of a mouse it is surprising how easy it is to ignore what happens in this country and in the world. CIU itself is commonly referred to as a ‘bubble’ because it is so easy to experience little of life outside the campus. It isn’t difficult for a student to go weeks with little national or world news but this is not beneficial. In light of this, The Pilgrim’s Protest hopes to publish an article in each issue that highlights various news items. As the school newspaper, The Pilgrim’s Protest hopes to be a source of news in a way that it hasn’t been in the past. Also included will be links to various news websites so that further information can be gathered. As readers, if anyone sees a news item that they feel should appear in the next issue, please send it to thepilgrimsprotest@gmail.com.. Links the articles listed here can also be found on our website.

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By Courtney Kilgore

Carrie Caudill is a new professor in the Psychology department at CIU.

How did you meet your husband?
In the nursery at church. He volunteered in the nursery even though he was a single guy. His first words were “I don’t know how to change a diaper”

What motivated you to pursue psychology?
I love to understand how people think and live and how they are affected as a result of that; what makes them healthy and happy and what makes them dysfunctional and miserable. It fascinates me trying to understand who we are and what makes us who we are.
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By Dr. Warren Larson

A Dutch Catholic bishop’s recent admonition that everyone refer to God as Allah produced a storm of protest. The incident illustrates widespread polarization on who should use the term “Allah” and is indicative of the pervasive confusion as to who God really is. A Muslim spokesman for CAIR (Council of American-Islamic Relations) quickly endorsed the comment, a view that seems to be line with the Qur’an: “We believe in the revelation which has come down to us … our God and your God is one” (29:46). According to this theory, all Muslims, Christians and Jews believe in, and worship the same God. At the other end of the spectrum is Robert Morey, who for many years has popularized the theory that Allah was originally the moon god, worshiped in Arabia long before Muhammad. This article will attempt to show that both positions are simplistic and fail to address the most important issues in our discussion with Muslims about God.

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By Courtney Kilgore

I grew up in a missions-minded Southern Baptist Church. I can remember being involved in “Mission Buddies” in kindergarten on Wednesday nights at church, and I spent grades 1-6 involved in GA’s (Girls-in-Action). We learned about missions in different countries and would even write letters of encouragement to International Mission Board missionaries who were serving in those countries. GA’s is, in a nutshell, just like ICS1210 drawn out for 6 years; we read hundreds of books about missionaries and memorized numerous scriptures about missions. We were often told that being a missionary meant you were special. You were the one who was to go to the deepest, darkest jungles and give the message of hope to poor lost souls who had no hope. For many years I believed that if I did not make the effort to go those poor people would die and go to hell; the burden rested on me to go or send. If I did not then their blood would be on my hands. I do not know about you, but I think that is some pretty heavy theology for a 9 year old.

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By Collin Cornell

Presumably the Apostle Paul did not spend his Sunday afternoons writing poetry; nor, I expect, did he daydream of moonlighting as a playwright on the side of apostleship. His life was characterized by a passion so strong that he described it even as a compulsion; he was a man “under obligation” to preach the gospel, set apart from birth for that end, and he took every opportunity, in season and out, to do so. He did not wrangle with the prospect of pursuing a different course in life.

In contrast to the Apostle’s vocational assurance, however, is the tension CIU students often experience. One of my friends recently remarked that she wished she had eight lives to live, so various are her interests and gifts – interior decoration, conference speaking, biblical languages, homemaking, etc. Her diffuse ambition is far from rare here. “I might be a missionary,” many upperclassmen will say, “or maybe something else. I don’t know.” At their introductory chapel, the majority of incoming students cited missions as a dream job; that same majority also stated other life goals, like teaching, or dancing, or skateboarding, or dairy farming. For CIU students, the relationship between these interests is complex and ambiguous: are they exclusive, complementary, successive, hierarchical?
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By Sarah Nixon

Gretchen Wilhelm is a new teacher in the Elementary Education Program at CIU.

How did you start on your journey of teaching?
It was definitely a God thing. In high school I was really resisting being a teacher. I knew I had gifts in teaching—I come from four generations of teachers—but I wanted to try my own thing. I went to a music conservatory and was really pursuing music performance, but then I had terrible tendonitis in both of my arms and God really redirected things. I started teaching music and loved it, and I felt that instead of the performance stage I should be in the classroom. So after I got my bachelor’s [degree] I got a specialty degree in the Masters level for education and taught high school, middle school, and elementary. It was one of those things where God had gifted me but I hadn’t recognized it as God’s course until He slammed on the brakes.
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