Is This Really A Good Thing?

An article in the Galesburg Register Mail, written by Jay Redfern in his blog which is attached to the RM, points to a recent story in The Huffington Post which reported on "Best Kept Secrets: 10 Colleges You Should Know About."  Personally, I don't see this article as all that flattering to Knox College or even Galesburg for that matter. Here is a quote from the article, which quotes the Huffington Post:


"Knox College is for the intellectual, liberal, passionate student who avoided the popular/jock high school scene."   Then it quotes a student: "We are a quirky school with a long history of unique traditions."  The article goes on to say, "Knox isn't worried about fitting in as it is eager to stand out with it's small, tight knit community of intellectually curious, offbeat personalities." Quoting a student it says, "At Knox, I have always felt free to be myself, however weird and wacky that might be." Yet another student adds, "A large percentage of the student body comes from the outcast school role, so there are a bunch of 'oddballs' here. And we all get along famously." The article goes on to say that the college attracts those who desire to be "movers and shakers who will make a difference in the world."


So, let me get this straight, the movers and shakers who will make a difference in the world are liberal outcasts, the oddballs and the quirky?  Isn't this exactly what the Huffington Post is saying in this article? Doesn't it say that the "movers and shakers" are people who are not interested in fitting in with the world around them?  Could this possibly be a very strong indicator of exactly what is wrong with our political system right now? People from both sides of the political system are now screaming that the Obama administration is "out of touch" with the populace, which is why his approval numbers are plummeting. Hey, if you know me, I am all about individuality and about being real and being yourself... but all the while being relevant to the society around us, not trying to make that world conform to our belief.  We Christians are constantly attacked and accused of being "intolerant" of others. In fact this week, on four separate occasions I've been attacked for speaking my mind, saying that as a pastor I have an obligation to keep my mouth shut on these issues. So tell me: who is being intolerant? The far left wants a free run to scream their liberal agenda... even from the pulpit (hello? Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Jeremiah Wright and countless others.) but they want to demand that the conservative voice of the church be silenced.  Something is wrong with this picture!


Anyway... back to my point of this article. 
I don't see this article as a very flattering picture of Knox College unless that is their target crowd... which it apparently is.  But it also goes on to say something about Galesburg that I find very derogatory. Here is the quote, speaking of why students may do well in their studies:
"It also helps that Galesburg, Illinois, the town that Knox calls home, offerers few escape options. 'Galesburg is in the middle of nowhere, and the campus is not situated in the safest of neighborhoods. There really isn't anywhere to go even if you do leave campus."


Yeah, that ought to make a lot of people want to come here. I'm floored that people would see this article in the Huffington Post as a positive thing, either for Knox or Galesburg.