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Monticello and the Jefferson Paradox
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal… -- Declaration of Independence
The Christmas break last week afforded a family escapade to western North Carolina, where Andrea, the girls and I visited with my parents and their new dog, Sassy. This year I opted to drive, and thus we embarked on a 650-mile trek across six states and a vast expanse of the American landscape. It is on these trips that I am reminded of the physical beauty of America; of the rugged grandeur of the Shenandoah Valley, the majesty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the lush greenery of the Virginia countryside. We ventured through old industrial cities, past small towns that haven't changed for 50 years, and beside countless farms, valleys and rolling hillsides that seem straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. On these drives, one becomes rooted to a deeply American story, a pathway of time and history that connects us all as one nation.
At the week's end, we chanced a stop in Charlottesville, Virginia, to walk the historic grounds of the University of Virginia, designed and founded by Thomas Jefferson. A genuine intellectual, the man who would write the Declaration of Independence and become the third president of the United States believed education essential to a vibrant citizenry, a building block for a modern democracy. "I think by far the most important bill in our whole code," Jefferson wrote George Wythe in 1786, "is that for the diffusion of knowledge among the people. No other sure foundation can be devised for the preservation of freedom and happiness."
Following lunch at a local produce market, we headed to Monticello, the grand and impressive setting from which much of Jefferson's inspiration was born. It was a beautiful December day, unseasonably warm with a bright sunshine glistening from the high, blue sky above. Upon arrival, one finds the plantation situated atop an 850-foot mountain in Virginia's Piedmont region, which in Jefferson's time encompassed 5,000 acres of surrounding land. As I stood in front of his elegant mansion, I sensed the spirit of Jefferson on these grounds and understood immediately why he chose this setting for his magnificent house, working farms and gardens.
The view from Monticello is spectacular, the entire countryside visible from all points. Standing atop the South Terrace, I envied Jefferson who, as much as anyone, embodied the notion of a meaningful life. He recognized politics as a public duty, an obligation of citizenship, and he possessed a broad and expansive view of an intellectually engaging life. A lover of books, a prolific writer and public philosopher, an architect, scientist, and lifelong student of literature and the arts, Jefferson was a true renaissance man. And he was a rational thinker and voice of reason when America most needed one. It was an age of revolution and radical change.
Walking the grounds of Monticello, I could almost experience the daily rhythm of his life; waking at sunrise, reading and writing until noon; long afternoon walks and rides on horseback exploring and surveying his vast property. In the evening, he entertained distinguished guests with French cuisine and the finest wines inspired by his years in Paris. And through it all, he attended to the affairs of a young nation.
Jefferson envisioned and articulated the high ideals of the newly formed United States, and put into words the principles to which we as a people have aspired in our best and brightest moments. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." These are the most uniquely American of aspirations and embody to this day the promise that is America. Through his written words, he bequeathed to the nation a lasting legacy, a progressive vision of equality and liberty for all.
To examine the life and accomplishments of Thomas Jefferson is to be impressed. Author of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, founder of the University of Virginia (the three accomplishments he permitted on his tombstone), thoughtful writer and thinker on politics, philosophy, religion, and science, a man of refined tastes, Jefferson was a true national leader and admired public figure. He was all of these things and more.
And yet…there is always "and yet" is there not? To visit Monticello today requires one to reconcile the many contradictions and hypocrisies of Jefferson's life, and to reflect on another, darker side of Jefferson's character. This becomes immediately apparent when one discovers that the mansion he designed and built sits atop a long tunnel through which dozens of slaves, unseen, labored all day in tight quarters preparing meals, cleaning linens and tableware, and serving the needs of Jefferson and his guests. Dozens of others toiled in the tobacco fields and, later, wheat farms spread across the plantation's acreage. The same man who wrote of equality and the natural rights of mankind owned over 600 enslaved African Americans in his lifetime.
As he began to craft the words that became the Declaration of Independence on his way to Philadelphia in 1776, he was accompanied by some of his personal slaves. In later years, when many of his contemporaries, inspired in part by the words of the Declaration, freed their slaves during and after the American Revolution, Jefferson by the time of his death freed just nine. Through his inaction, Jefferson effectively condemned to the auction block another 200 human beings.
Like all other southern plantations, violence was used at Monticello to enforce productivity and to discipline Jefferson's human property. It was a necessity of the slave trade. And though as a young man he denounced the morality of slavery and occasionally advocated for its abolition, in his lifetime he did nothing personally to end the institution and benefited profitably from its existence.
As president, when Jefferson acquired the Louisiana Territory and thereby doubled in one stroke of the pen the entire landmass of the United States, he did nothing to prevent the spread of slavery into what he called the vast "empire of Liberty." In one ten-year period, Jefferson sold 85 of his slaves as chattel so that he could raise cash to buy wine, art, and other luxury goods. And he carried on a 40-year sexual liaison with his slave mistress, Sally Hemings, with whom he fathered six children. Defender of liberty. Proponent of religious freedom. Slave owner. This is the great paradox of Jefferson and Monticello.
The view from Monticello approaches the perfection of Jefferson's high ideals, but his life and times are a stark reminder of the imperfection of man. Jefferson was a paragon of virtue in his public life and written testaments. But history and time have exposed him also as a man of enormous vice. As Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (Random House, 2012), has explained, Jefferson "allowed himself to be trapped by the economic, political and cultural circumstances into which he was born." It was a trap that the great Thomas Jefferson, a man of enlightened idealism, the founder of a nation and a great university, and a leading proponent of individual liberty, was unable to overcome. Whether a product of pure hypocrisy or selfish aggrandizement, it is a complexity with which we must contend, as Americans and as human beings.
Walking the grounds of Monticello, I thought of the many complexities, the shades of gray that so often permeate the human condition. Is anyone really ever the embodiment of pure goodness, or pure evil? So often, we place people and nations in black-and-white boxes, for it is easier to justify our actions when we do so. It is how nations build support for warfare and organized violence. It allows us to place on pedestals our own designated heroes. But rarely are the people who occupy the nations with whom we disagree full of pure evil, or the people who inspire us made of pure goodness. Criminals and prostitutes, businessmen and thieves, generals and inspiring leaders – all are at one time infants and children; all at some point in life long for the loving embrace of a mother or the prideful moments of a child's accomplishments; and all are imperfect.
Jefferson was a complex man. His greatness remains, as does his legacy to America. But just as it does a disservice to our ideals to ignore the blemishes of American history and the shortcomings of our democratic tradition, so too does it ill-serve us as a people to ignore the sins of Jefferson's past. We can never know how Jefferson's thinking may have evolved over time. I would like to believe that, had he lived another half century, Jefferson would have been horrified by the contradictions between his spoken ideals and his lived reality. It is a testament to those who run Monticello today that we are blessed with a complete picture of Jefferson the man, Jefferson the public servant, and Jefferson the slaveholder. It is the blessing and the curse of America, and a legacy we must continue to address.
Posted by Mark J. Ehlers at 2:01 PM No comments: Links to this post
A Time to Forgive
Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within. – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Life is a series of one act plays. Strung together, they accumulate into days and months; then seasons, years, and decades. What we learn along the way, how we respond and react to the many experiences and people we encounter, determines how valuable are the lessons learned. The paths we choose and moments we remember are connected and intertwined with our lives in ways we do not often realize until many years later. There are people we remember fondly and those with which we must come to terms.
When I was a sophomore in high school, Charlie Galbraith, the varsity basketball coach approached me one afternoon and asked me to suit up for that night's varsity game. With a decent jump shot and agile feet, I was then a starting forward on the junior varsity team. But I was not a star and, in my mind, not yet varsity material. The varsity team played in prime time before the largest crowds, which partially filled the wooden stands of the rectangular gymnasiums in which we appeared. The high school band played rowdy, spirit-building music that infused the gym with energy and heightened intensity. The varsity cheerleaders were more mature and attractive. Unlike the mismatched hand-me-downs worn by the freshman and JV teams, the varsity uniforms were a crisp white with solid numbers and blue trim. And, most of all, the warm-up sweats, which only the varsity players could wear, were bright and colorful and made the players who donned them feel like part of a special and select group.
It was a significant step up from JV ball and an honor to be asked. I would become one of only a handful of young men in Hightstown High School history to play on the varsity squad as a sophomore. And yet, I was filled with unease.
As that night's game approached, the butterflies in my stomach intensified. My anxiety was not so much about the game, for I was not likely to get much playing time. The starting five was a formidable group of juniors and seniors. But I did not know how I would be accepted by my new teammates, which for a 15 year-old kid is all that really matters. I do not recall if we won or lost that night or if I even got in the game. But the memories I did retain haunt me still 40 years later.
The players dressed in the small varsity locker room that was set apart from the main lockers. As we changed into our uniforms and engaged in last-minute preparations before the pre-game warm ups, some of the more senior players joked and carried-on among themselves. I quietly went about my business and maintained a low profile. Everyone seemed oblivious to my presence. I could hear the band playing in the muffled background, the noise level increasing whenever someone opened the locker room door that led to the main stage.
As the time to take the court approached, I tied the laces on my Converse All-Stars and pulled up my socks. A pile of freshly laundered warm-up sweats were neatly folded and placed on top of a bench in the middle of the room. Uncertain of the proper protocol, I watched a few players grab a pair and slip into them. Should I simply take a pair, any pair? Were they one-size-fits-all, or was there some pre-arranged assignment of who is entitled to which pair? I had received no orientation, no instructions, on the proper etiquette of the varsity basketball locker room.
Standing near me were two of the friendlier players on the team – Tyrone Riley, a junior with a large 70's Afro, and Kevin Doyle, a backup forward better known for his football skills. Trying not to draw attention to myself, I asked in a polite, soft-spoken tone, "Do we just take one?"
No one answered. Riley and Doyle may not have heard me. I asked again, this time in a slightly louder voice. Before anyone else could answer, Michael Johnson, a junior guard who never liked me for reasons I never understood, looked at me disdainfully and snarled for all to hear, "WE DON'T WANT YOU!"
The locker room went uneasily silent. Several players stopped what they were doing and turned their gaze towards Michael and me. I felt the blood rush to my head and I am certain my face turned bright red. I laughed in embarrassment, desperately hoping that Michael was simply attempting humor at my expense. But the look on his face said otherwise. It was no joke. "We don't want you, man," he repeated in a high-pitched voice of contempt accompanied by a sarcastic snicker. "You sorry ass…."
I was embarrassed and humiliated, and maybe a little in shock, as my worst fears and intuition became reality. I was never good with fast reprisals and quick-witted responses. Truth is, I did not know how to react when caught off-guard to such an unkind and unexpected assault. I stood there mute.
Coach Galbraith stormed into the locker room, his face stern and serious. Galbraith was 6'9" and a former player for Hightstown High. A lanky, socially awkward white guy, only five years removed from high school ball, he never developed the level of respect he deserved from this crop of brash, racially mixed players. The locker room again turned silent. The rest is a blur to me. Galbraith said something about "team" and "no place for that" and other well-intentioned statements that made me even more isolated and self-conscious.
But then it was over. I grabbed a pair of sweats and slipped them on and followed the other players onto the court for the start of pre-game drills – layups, rotations, and jump shots. Although it was my varsity debut, I could not enjoy the moment. In truth, I had never felt so alone. I was an outsider; an impersonal non-human "other". Worst of all, not one teammate came to my defense or said a kind or encouraging word.
This was not my first run-in with Michael. Three years earlier, when I was in the seventh grade, we played together on the middle school soccer team. One day, during afternoon practice, there was a brief pause in the action as several players gathered mid-field. Michael stood a few feet from me with a soccer ball resting under his arm. He was apparently upset because the coach had announced that I would start at center halfback, an important position with key offensive and defensive responsibilities. It was the position Michael believed he was entitled to, since he was a year older and, in his opinion, the best player on the team.
Michael went on one of many tirades against me that year, proclaiming I was "sorry" and a "pussy" and "sucked." When I responded with a weak rebuttal, Michael stared me down contemptuously. From three feet way and without warning, he flipped the soccer ball at me, hitting me in the groin. The ball fell limply to the grass below. The other players looked at me, anticipating a sharp rebuke, or the start of a fight. Instead, I just stood there, red-faced and in shock. I thought about punching him, but I did nothing.
I do not suggest that these were life-altering events. I understand it is part of growing up. All of us can point to bad experiences when we must confront ugly behavior in our fellow human beings. I remain uncertain of what response to Michael's outbursts against me would have been appropriate. And I have often wondered why Michael did not like me, or what he had against me.
"We cannot be kind to each other here for even an hour," wrote Alfred Lord Tennyson. "We whisper, and hint, and chuckle and grin at our brother's shame; however you take it we men are a little breed." I do not know how Michael's life turned out. We had few interactions after the high school locker room incident (much to my relief, I only suited up for a few more varsity games and was back on the JV team the remainder of my sophomore and junior seasons). Two years later, my family moved away from Hightstown. I never saw or heard from Michael again.
I have always hoped that, in later years, Michael matured as a man and overcame his anger and resentment. I would like to believe that he came to regret his actions towards me. But I realize now that these incidents, as painful and hurtful as they were, had little to do with me. They were instead a likely reflection of Michael's pain, his hidden demons, with which he was too young and unguided to contend. What sort of life had he led? Perhaps I failed to see the larger picture, the full context of his life. The racism and perpetual humiliations he had endured as a black man in a white man's world. I know now that I could not have possibly assessed his life or circumstances fairly and accurately. I had never really tried. I never knew the real Michael and he never knew me. We did not know each other or our individual stories, our hopes and dreams and shared goals. Perhaps this was the root of our troubled co-existence.
I sense that Michael was as lonely in his life as I felt that night in the locker room. After all, I still had a loving and supportive family to which to go home; perhaps he did not. Maybe Michael had an undiagnosed chemical imbalance, or was simply an insecure, scared, anxious kid who did not know how to control his unkind impulses.
I realize now that Michael, too, was just a kid with a steep road to climb. Perhaps he saw the obstacles in his way more clearly than did I. By his junior year in high school, when he lashed out at me in the locker room, it was clear to all that his dream of NBA glory and fame, of the life he had envisioned, was not to be. I had no such illusions. Maybe at that moment Michael had no backup plan; and that he feared the best and most glorious years of his life were finished at 17.
As the years pass and the insecurities of adolescence fade, I have entered into a separate peace with Michael Johnson. I hope that he, too, has found peace and fulfillment in life. It has taken me a long time. But today I think I understand him and can finally forgive him. And for that, I am grateful.
No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not work those who work with him. Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself. – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Posted by Mark J. Ehlers at 11:11 AM No comments: Links to this post
On Religious Extremism and Misunderstanding Faith
Considering how effortlessly religious dogma has become intertwined with political ideology, how can we overcome the clash-of-monotheisms mentality that has so deeply entrenched itself in the modern world? Clearly, education and tolerance are essential. ― Reza Aslan
As the son of a Lutheran minister and the father of two Jewish daughters, I have been intimately connected to religion and faith for most of my life. I have attended many worship services in churches and synagogues and have attempted to educate myself on the diverse religions and tapestry of faith that make the world a uniquely interesting place. I am sensitive to misunderstandings and assumptions made by people of one faith about people of another. Ignorance abounds on all sides. But never is this truer than when discussing Islam and terrorism.
A casual follower of the news could be forgiven for believing that Islam is synonymous with violence, or that all Muslims are extremists who advocate terror and violent jihad. The videotaped beheadings of American journalists and reports of the slaughter of innocents in villages and towns overrun by ISIS forces in recent months were horrifying and shocking. Emotional responses and outbursts are entirely understandable. Indeed, these acts of terror had the intended effect of provoking an American military response and drawing us back into a civil war we hoped was behind us.
ISIS is just another link in a long list of Arab and Muslim terrorist groups. From the "Islamic State" to al-Qaeda and Boka Haram, thousands of self-proclaimed Muslims boast of carrying out God's will as defined by their extremist interpretations of the Quran. Some of the most oppressive societies on Earth are in Muslim-majority countries. Saudi Arabia, certain provinces in Pakistan, and the Taliban regions of Afghanistan are among the worst oppressors of women and violators of international human rights. And while all major religions have fundamentalist, rigid, and oppressive elements, it does seem that Islam must contend with religious extremism to a far greater degree.
And yet, I am deeply troubled by the manner in which Islam is so often painted with an unfairly broad brush, as if all of the world's Muslims share the hateful ideology and deranged notions of jihad espoused by the radicals of ISIS. To brand all of Islam with the ideology of the extremists is not only wrong, it is counterproductive, disdainful of religion in general and Islam in particular, and does nothing to promote peaceful dialogue and understanding.
While much anti-Islamic sentiment stems from the right, none other than liberal comedian Bill Maher has contributed to the recent voices of religious bigotry. Last month, Maher criticized President Obama for contending in a speech before the United Nations that Muslims who adopt the ideology of al-Qaeda and ISIS are "betraying" true Islam, "not defending it." Obama suggested that "Islam teaches peace" and embraces "a great tradition that stands for education, not ignorance; innovation, not destruction; the dignity of life, not murder." He called on Muslims worldwide to "offer an alternative vision" to the propaganda that coerces some "to travel abroad to fight their wars" and pledged that the United States would "increase efforts to lift up those who counter extremist ideology, and seek to resolve sectarian conflict."
Maher insists that Obama is wrong, and that it is time to call Islam what it is: a religion of hate and violence. Of course, Maher is a zealous anti-religionist, an equal opportunity critic of all religion, Christianity and Judaism included. So, it has been amusing to see some on the right embrace Maher's statements concerning Islam, while ignoring his overly-broad generalizations of Christians as essentially anti-science morons who believe in fairy tales. Maher's view of religion is black-and-white; he leaves no room for a nuanced understanding of faith and ignores the many expressions of Christianity that fully embrace science and evolution. He seems not to understand or care about the more sophisticated scholarship historically associated with Catholic and mainline Protestant theology.
His view of Islam is no better. Maher grossly oversimplifies complex events in which religion is but one element, and often a sideshow at that. So intent is he to blame religion that he fails even to properly acknowledge that the forces of extremism are most prevalent in regions of extreme poverty, where violence and oppression have simmered for centuries and where violent upheavals are motivated as much by politics, geography, and economics as by religion. His blanket condemnation of Islam, without distinguishing the peaceful voices of moderation from the radical voices of extremism, is pointless. It obscures an important and necessary dialogue about the role of religion in society, the problem with religious fundamentalism, and the need to better reconcile the modern world with scriptural passages that are so often misinterpreted and misapplied, or viewed literally, without historical context, and without attempting to reconcile conflicting passages.
While extremist ideology is and has been a particularly acute problem within certain Islamic communities, the overwhelming majority of Muslims are not extremists. The religion of Islam embraces more than 1.5 billion people around the world – people from every race and nationality (Americans included). Large Muslim populations exist not only in several Middle Eastern countries, but also in such diverse nations as India, Turkey, Tunisia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, Kosovo, Albania, and other parts of Asia, and north and central Africa. In the United States, two members of the House of Representatives – Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Andres Carson of Indiana – are Muslim. And while the United States has yet to elect a female President, there have been seven female heads of state of Muslim-majority countries.
As author and religion scholar Reza Aslan has noted, many "critics of religion tend to exhibit an inability to understand religion outside of its absolutist connotations. They scour holy texts for bits of savagery and point to extreme examples of religious bigotry . . . to generalize about the causes of oppression throughout the world." The Quran, the Torah, and the Bible each require a large degree of interpretation to make sense of their many conflicting passages, and to render them meaningful in modern times. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the same God that commands Jews to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18) also orders them to kill the Amalekites: "Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys" (1 Samuel 15:3). In the New Testament, while Jesus told his disciples to "turn the other cheek" (Matthew 5:39), he also told them that he had "not come to bring peace but the sword" (Matthew 10:34), and that "he who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one" (Luke 22:36). And the same Quran that warns believers "if you kill one person it is as though you have killed all of humanity" (5:32) also commands them to "slay the idolaters wherever you find them" (9:5).
How we reconcile conflicting passages and religious doctrine with the modern world says far more about us than our religion. American slaveholders frequently justified slavery by citing certain passages in the Bible, while Christian abolitionists presented alternative scriptural passages to passionately condemn slavery. Many passages in the Bible were used for centuries to justify a patriarchal understanding of the relationship between husbands and wives, and men and women. But an alternative vision of feminist inspired theology in the 20th century has led many Christian and Jewish denominations to present a more egalitarian face to religious institutions. The same sorts of conflicts contained in verses within the Quran are being debated today in certain Muslim circles as part of an ongoing Islamic reformation.
In Islam, as in Christianity and Judaism, it is necessary to distinguish how the faithful behave from how the faith teaches them to behave. If you are inclined towards violence and misogyny, you will find scriptural passages to validate your beliefs in both the Quran and the Bible. If you are a peaceful, non-violent person who believes in equality and has compassion for your fellow human beings, you also will find plenty of supporting verses. While one can find passages in the Quran that, interpreted literally, prescribe violence in defense of the faith, there are also numerous passages which ordain justice, mercy, charity, and tolerance.
To simplistically generalize about people of faith and conclude that the worst and most extreme elements of a particular religion represent the entire religion, is the very definition of bigotry and prejudice. Christians in particular should be careful not to paint Islam with such a broad brush. To say that the violent acts of Islamic extremists is the true face of Islam is no different than pointing to the actions of the Lord's Resistance Army, a Christian extremist group in northern Uganda accused of widespread murder, abduction, mutilation, and child sex slavery, as the true face of Christianity. Or claiming that centuries of Jewish persecution by Christians in Europe, from the Crusades to the Holocaust, accurately reflects true Christianity. Or that the people of the Westboro Baptist Church who hold signs at funerals that say things like "God Hates Fags" is somehow an accurate reflection of Christianity.
Fundamentalism is, and always has been, opposed to compassion, understanding, and pluralism. It is true of Christian fundamentalism and Jewish fundamentalism. In the case of Islamic fundamentalism, it is manifested in its oppressive treatment of women and the use of violence to achieve religious and political goals. While fundamentalism must be opposed everywhere, it should not be confused with the fundamental tenets of the religion. Just as there are liberal and conservative, progressive and fundamentalist versions of Christianity, there are "enlightened" and fundamentalist, moderate and reactionary versions of Islam.
Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is a complex religion with a wide variety of interpretations. I believe it imperative that we attempt to better understand the diverse factions of Islam so that we may better engage with the moderate and peaceful voices of the faith, and offer our support in its ongoing struggle with fundamentalism and extremism. There is no shortage of Islamic statements condemning terrorism, and a recently published letter from 120 leading Muslim scholars to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, states unequivocally that ISIS's use of Islamic scripture is illegitimate and perverse. As suggested by Reza Aslan, "What is most desperately needed is not so much a better appreciation of our neighbor's religion as a broader, more complete understanding of religion itself."


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Local Church Discussions > Extras! Extras! Read All About It!
Clearing up something about the Midwest Quarantine...
Extras! Extras! Read All About It! Everything else that doesn't seem to fit anywhere else
OGOP
This has probably already been discussed here somewhere but I tried to search older threads and couldn't find it.
Is there any supporting documents as to why churches were quarantined and stopped being recognized as "genuine churches" by LSM in the GLA/Midwest? If my memory from previous readings I've done serves me correct, churches were quarantined because a) Titus Chu began publishing his own material and b) Churches were not supporting LSM with tithes for the on-going court cases (The Harvest House case.)
Titus Chu's history has obviously been smeared by LSM and LCM apologists, so I'm wondering if there is any documents out there regarding the quarantines to support those who claim the quarantines were unjust? I remember reading about court cases that had LSM suing local churches over property -- is there any documents online regarding these cases? Just looking for something physical/proof to counter the LSM narrative that these quarantines were simply getting rid of "bad fruit"
Thanks and sorry if this has already been addressed!
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Re: Clearing up something about the Midwest Quarantine...
I know where you can get the LC's version of events! Although I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be your first choice or source-ha!
www.afaithfulword.com
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Grateful Servant
Could somebody please take a minute or two and dig up some of the relevant threads for OGOP?
Although OGOP has hit about some of the larger issues, there was a myriad of issues, concerns and contentions surrounding the "quarantine" of Titus Chu (and by extension, many of the MidWest Local Churches).
Now Unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy (Jude 24)
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Location: Natal Transvaal
There is "concernedbrothers.com" versus "afaithfulword.org" Both have a lot of info. Google some of the players and you'll find the appropriate references/links on this forum.
Then there are those in the middle, caught in the proverbial cross-fire. Nigel Tomes and John C. Myer come to mind.
Epilogue, by John C. Myer (from Assemblylife.com) My favourite part bolded.
"I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens;
I am shaken off like a locust"
(Psalms 109:23)
This book was a ridiculous six years in the making. I often fretted about the unfinished parts of it, wishing that I was a faster writer.
During this period of time, I received much correspondence from around the globe. Most urged me to finish Future. A few complained that I seemed obsessed with Living Stream Ministry. I found those to be the most laughable. Could any writer be less engaged with his subject matter than what I had become? I had no personal quarrels with any Anaheim figure and the entire lawsuit debacle was dwindling on the horizon with each passing year. I was also no longer privy to inside events as they happened and the emotional outrage they produced in me. Besides, ministry and new church life were calling me out of that old realm into uncharted joys.
It became clear that I would never complete a book like this one by riding an ongoing torrent of passion. It would take calm commitment and a firm grasp on the object of the book, which was to provide helpful fellowship for those who wished to transition out of LC Movement church life. And so I eventually found it a matter of strictest personal discipline to get to that last page.
Looking back on the entire process, I can't help but see divine wisdom overruling my intentions to quickly get something into print. For one thing, I had unknowingly intended to finish this work before my personal journey in the LC Movement was complete.
That would have left a skewed analysis of the subject matter with the Living Stream Ministry cast as the "bad guys" and a free pass for the LC Midwest region.
It is common knowledge by now that I was handed my hat by Titus Chu and shown the door back in 2010. That effectively separated me from his work. But few understand the dynamics leading up to that point. From the first day I entered the Midwest work in 1988, my role there could hardly have been called routine.
I'll explain. Some corporations have what is known as a "skunkworks" division. It typically refers to a part of the company that flies under the radar and does highly experimental work. In the meantime, upper level management allows and even funds its existence, hoping that there might be a breakthrough behind closed doors—something that would significantly contribute to the future of the entire industry by producing the "next generation product."
I basically lived in the unofficial Midwest skunkworks division together with a few other daring souls, and loved it. Except for low level grumbling from certain senior voices, I was given the freedom to do what I wanted. That generally meant tweaking local church dynamics in order to reach middle America. My efforts were either admired and copied, or greeted with suspicion and secretly criticized. This went on for a good many years. It was accepted that I would never be a "company man." I deeply believed, however, that if I worked long enough and creatively enough, whatever I discovered would become valuable currency for the Midwest, and maybe the rest of the Local Church Movement. No one during that time, however, was subscribing to anything new in a mass market kind of way. I was hardly "hot" in that sense of the word.
Interestingly enough, my skunkworks operation would have dragged along on its belly forever had it not been for the tensions between the West Coast and the Midwest. After Witness Lee died in 1997, the remaining Anaheim cadre accelerated their criticism of Titus Chu and his often independent ways of labor. As they dropped innuendo bombs on "a certain senior brother" or "a certain region" during their messages from the LSM podium, the church life they represented began to smell of manipulation and politics.
I was certainly not the only one to notice. Mass disillusionment set in, triggering what I call "The Midwest Ten Year Window" (1998-2008). During that time, willingness to experiment and break out of the LSM mold soared to new heights.
The Church in Cleveland began a Saturday night ministry for area outreach and revival (called "the Jubilee") that incorporated a guest preacher (for a while, that was me), contemporary hymns, and finally, a band. Later, other localities picked up the model. In the years following, the large Mountaintop and Ignite youth gatherings were started, and churches began to cautiously adopt contemporary Christian music, forming their own bands.
Most of these innovations received Midwest senior level endorsement. But still the changes afoot triggered responses of various kinds. Some were blindly dismissive, leveling indictments of worldliness and "fallen Christianity." Those reactions were obviously easier than researching, processing, and arriving at informed opinions. However, with the launch of the Concerned Brothers website, there promised to be an overall rethinking of attitudes. My skunkworks almost dissolved as its contents threatened to go mainstream in the Midwest local churches. Naturally, I was thrilled. In certain respects we were beginning to behave like evangelical congregations. I cannot claim credit for the positive and exciting things happening during that time. There was no solitary hero. It seemed that people were investigating and adding their own innovations.
Then, the worst possible thing happened—around 2007, the rift between the LSM-dominated West Coast churches and the Midwest local churches took a definite turn. Titus Chu was quarantined, finalizing the formation of two separate regional entities. Along with those developments, the impetus for learning new things rapidly died down. Gone was the competition between the two areas and the resulting rush for research and development.
The chronology of articles on the "Concerned Brothers" website reflects the cooling trend toward new thinking. The initial period had been well represented by articles responding to LSM attacks against Midwest practices (like Mountain Top, etc.), and critiques of LSM's call for cookie-cutter uniformity. However, the initiative that promised to reevaluate accepted teachings drooped. After the West-Midwest split the number of contributors dwindled down to one, Nigel Tomes (This book in its earlier stages had already been removed from the site for being too controversial).
The Midwest became its own country, reviving a definite and growing interest in preserving "the family traditions," "the particular heritage," and "the distinct identity" of the Local Churches. The window of opportunity quietly shut. My experimental work continued, except this time not with a wink from benevolent seniors, but with uneasy feelings that I might be doing work as an enemy of the newly formed state. I had moved beyond bands and Sunday morning preaching, and toward things like decentralization of churches and evangelical church planting models. It was too much for Midwest seniors, especially since they saw themselves as the new caretakers of orthodoxy.
It came as no surprise then, when I was called to Cleveland one day, accompanied by a Columbus elder. We both knew what would probably take place—I would be questioned and found guilty. The ride up north was by no means quiet. The elder expressed all sorts of sentiments supportive to me. But as we gathered in that room with Titus Chu and an extremely loyal Cleveland elder, the big talk noticeably disappeared. My Columbus elder friend put his head down and silently looked at the floor as if he were a puppy spanked with a newspaper. The interrogation had begun. I honestly laid out what I believed, which comprise the contents of this book (apparently no one in the room had bothered to read it, even after it had been posted online for years).
At the end of the session I was politely told my view of the local ground was inconsistent with theirs. Titus embraced me for the last time while his Cleveland assistant refused even to shake my hand. After so many years of service together, the dogma of the local ground had separated yet another group of brothers.
The drama was yet to play out, for back in Columbus another elder confronted me, stirred by his interpretation of the events, and bent on straightening me out. He made a number of uncharitable accusations, including that of financial impropriety. Apparently the brother had forgotten that for over a decade I had lived in humble church property, had no retirement, no savings, and nothing whatsoever to show for over 20 years of service in the local church. The man had been a friend of mine, yet since he was under the influence of religious politics none of my protestations even made a dent. His allegations didn't need to be true, anyway. It has long been a popular way of discrediting ministers to either affix sexual or financial misconduct to them. Given the baser instincts of man (and the poor track record of some ministers, it is true), the immediate assumption is that all such claims must be valid.
"You were doing your own work all along," voices said. My response was, "Of course!" Independent thought is what skunkworks is all about. Anyone who knew me and claimed that they thought I was marching to the beat of either Anaheim or Cleveland had to be insane. Ironically, while the experimental, progressive climate among the Midwest churches had been in vogue, some of those same voices had celebrated my activities. Regardless, by summer, 2010, it was over for me both at the regional and local levels.
Collateral damaged ensued. Those who had labored in close proximity to me were given ultimatums and told to either choose alignment with my work or the Midwest work. For practical, worldly-wise individuals, it should have been an easy decision. I had nothing to offer financially, no large numbers, no global opportunities, and no promise of success. Even the minor influence I once exercised in the Midwest had all but disappeared under the weight of warning words and private "fellowship."
Still, a few who had labored with me chose the costly and difficult compass described in this book. Over time, others, to a greater or lesser extent, have done the same. All have paid the price of being shunned—that is, unofficially ostracized.
Up until this moment, change has occurred among Local Churches in different parts of the globe, even if reluctantly. Some LC's have derived assistance from Future in transitioning from their former patterns of practice. At the very least, they were helped to make sense of the system in which they spent so many years. However, the book certainly was not an all-purpose tool.
For instance, I frequently receive critique for not aggressively calling out particular leaders on bad conduct issues. From this book's very conception, I consciously determined not to make personal cases against individuals. Such writing would have an incredibly short shelf life as the guilty parties and the people directly affected by them passed off the stage. Instead, I focused on the errors of the Movement itself.
More than a critical review of the past, though, I wished to offer alternatives that leaders might take and seriously implement. The easiest position in the world to play is armchair quarterback—to watch others and become professional critics of their moves. Even the ability to portray what is right needs an effective translation into the real world. It is possible to wax eloquent on the fine nuances of scripture here and there, to display superiority of insight, and still succeed in doing nothing. As demonstrated in the book of Acts, three-dimensional clarity about spirituality, the church, etc., occurs in the very matrix of mission (the preaching of the gospel and the discipling of others). Otherwise, we end up with a beautiful and correct description of how things ought to be, yet without anything tangible in our hands—the error of theory without practice, or, "faith without works."
I have received something of an education during these last six years while on the LC Movement bench, and then the last two while completely outside the stadium. Much of my observation has had to do with how human beings deal with disappointments. In the beginning of my personal LC exodus, I hoped that exmembers would provide a groundswell of support for new evangelical beginnings and new church initiatives. That was, unfortunately, naïve. Instead, there was widespread attrition; saints left the Movement and subsequently fell prey to various things.
Cynicism was one of them, as it bred a reluctance to trust anything or anyone ever again. Sadly for some of my disillusioned LC friends, suspicion hovered even over the Scriptures. Then there were those who embraced a casual form of antinomianism (Lit. "against law"), rejecting carte blanche all structure and leadership models of nearly every stripe. "Freedom" became the slogan that replaced "God's economy," but was just as empty. And finally, the so-called "Prosperity Gospel" claimed ground with a few. That curious blend of motivational speaking, self-help therapy, deism, multi-level sales schemes, external Old Testament promises, and a thousand inspirational one-liners moved saints away from the hope of eternal life to the hope of things in this life.
I quickly found that appealing to bright new plans within these souls was going to be an ill-fated effort. But I sympathized with them all the same. Many ex-LC members no longer had their youth to throw into anything. It was a fact I myself acutely felt when considering a new church plant at 46 years of age (the average age for that kind of labor tends to be 30).
I began to wonder if it really was all over—if there could ever again be new enterprises in the house of God, at least among us. Others who have wished for the same in recent years sought to restore Local Church momentum by resurrecting "sacred cows" from the scrap heap. For instance, they assigned blame to those who messed up the local ground pattern found in Nee and Lee's early writings. Their logic was that the teaching was right but the people were wrong and so, "Let's try again, but harder this time!" Then they issued solemn assurances of blessing to those who returned to the local ground blueprint. This, however, hardly constitutes a promising course of action. The new thing would simply be an old thing reloaded and set to explode in the face of yet another unsuspecting generation.
So why bother with any version of an LC future? Well, the desire for a church restart, complete with reupholstering and rebuild, I believe, is a wish for something redemptive. We hope that after all the time, the energy, the tears, the prayer, the sacrifice, and the difficult decisions that made up LC life, something might arise to keep it all from seeming a colossal waste. I am among those hopeful hearts.
Since 2006, the vast majority of people contacting me about Future have been individuals. Alone and displaced, they are not necessarily interested in starting anything. Where possible, however, I encourage them to do so, even if it just means launching a small group. A living room Bible study can easily turn into a thriving, growing fellowship. I will always support these efforts (personally, if possible), as long as the group isn't trying to be a small scale LC museum or an encounter group where the errors of the movement are rehearsed ad infinitum.
At the time of this writing, the number of ex-LC leaders has increased. I consider myself privileged to be in touch with a few. Some still shepherd clusters of saints. That makes transitional challenges for them even more formidable. In a group setting, it is obviously no longer one person processing former difficulties and making plans. A good leader will need to help others debunk old fears of the past and cast a vision for the future (as shown earlier in this book). No one, however, can simply subsist on dreams. A leader must be able to guide those with him to the elements of healthy community, Word, and service—tasks much easier said than done.
I lived through an epic transition for years in the Church in Columbus. The most dangerous phase was not in "leaving Egypt," but stalling in the gray zone outside it. That is where a transitioning local church founders in a muddle of sentiment about the good old days, misapplied scripture, psychologically conditioned feelings about things (which they call "life"), and a semi-revulsion to any influence from other Christian groups. The effects are measurable: the transitioning group in question either disintegrates or fossilizes. The urge to dig in right outside of the LC periphery is reflex-oriented. We all feel safer staying close to what we know, even if much of it drained us of spiritual vitality in the past. But given the dynamic nature of the Spirit's work, none of us has been called by God into such an entrenchment strategy.
I spent years trying to navigate the gray zone, only to encounter a final stop sign, saying, "This far and no farther." Unfortunately, it fell short of anything I might have called the Good Land. Why continue the journey anyway, some of us wondered, when there was still some manna in the desert? Without LSM domination, a handful of the old LC conventions were paying off again, if only in nickels and dimes. A trickle of vitality had returned. And so we settled for less. Or at least, some of us did.
In surveying this sometimes frustrating recent past, I am grateful for the lessons learned. I received an education in the complexities of the human heart, especially as it had been imprinted with Movement dogma. I was also primed for further experiences. As an ex-LC leader, I had the joy of starting a new non-LC congregation composed of mostly non-LC people (2009). The learning curve was incredibly steep. Insulation from outside concerns had retarded my overall preparedness for the challenge, and so I rushed to make up for it. On the outside, there were larger and more critical issues swirling around than I had been forced to consider while sequestered away in Movement "fellowships." These were matters that threatened the very soul of the present Christian generation—things like post-modernism, religious pluralism, and basic Bible illiteracy. Other Christian workers had been fighting these great fires out in the field for a long time. Compared to such crises, insider concerns like the onepublication edict and other pedantic LC controversies sank into utter insignificance.
If negative challenges weren't enough, positive ones certainly were. These related to gathering people, feeding them, and then equipping them for biblical service. All the fancy spiritual talk in the world just withered in the face of that kind of intense practical necessity. I had to seek a broader base of education and experience—daunting for someone already seasoned in a certain style of Christian work. But maybe the only thing that ever really gets old with a man is his heart. I've found that as long as youth can be preserved there, new things can flow without ceasing.
No one can say that the people of the LC Movement aren't a committed bunch. Sadly, this loyalty has been paid to a system that will give back to them less and less over time. There are signs of it now everywhere, including inside the large breakaway regions. Perhaps at some point, the same misapplied devotion shown to the Movement will find its rightful place within a more kingdom-minded church community—one that locally expresses the gospel shoulder to shoulder with others.
Although every top level local church worker believes some form of local ground teaching, according to my observation, not one of them practices it. This is never more apparent than when workers enter a city to start a new church. Most establish a group that will be loyal to them, attend their conferences, participate in their trainings, and buy their books and tapes. It is thoroughly, in every sense, a ministry church. The most egregious examples are workers who disregard the efforts of others (including those who have already "taken the ground") and set up their own fellowship. The excuses are always that the ground is exclusive or divisive or lost or too narrow or too broad. Therefore, the ground, they say, needs to be taken or retaken. In one city of this general area, four churches claim to be the local church in that city! The doctrine seems to have become a license for workers rather than any real constraining principle of oneness. Alas, self-contradiction is always the fate of those who insist on rigid church structure formulas!
"Freedom is free. It's slavery that's so horribly expensive" - Colonel Templeton, ret., of the 12th Scottish Highlanders, the 'Black Fusiliers'
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Location: Greater Ohio
Originally Posted by OGOP
I read too many articles on this "divorce" coupled with Plymouth Brethren history of the prior century, and came to the simple conclusion in both cases that the root cause of the quarantine / excommunication was a power struggle between leaders in Anaheim and Cleveland. All the complaints, tract wars, Bible verses, expositions, etc. were mainly smokescreen for this lust for power. The Lord Jesus warned about this when He spoke of "not ruling like the Gentiles." (Matt 20.25)
Ohio's motto is: With God all things are possible!.
Keeping all my posts short, quick, living, and to the point!
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Originally Posted by Ohio
. . . a power struggle between leaders in Anaheim and Cleveland.
People who want power show that they lack power.
"You want what you do not have". ~James 4:2
Originally Posted by aron
The treatment of John Myer also displays this.
Recently I had an old LC friend of mine in my ear shouting, "everything JM wrote on that internet amounts to nothing more than a 10 foot high pile of s**t!"
Paul, on the other hand, told us, "Love is patient, live is kind." (I Cor 13.4)
There is an almost 5 hour video on YouTube (here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbNrSHXxxBo) of the LSM brothers explaining the quarantine of Titus Chu.
Does anyone know what James Lee refers to (rather, the brother he is translating for....not sure if it's Wu or Lin Hong) around the 19:50 to 20:50 mark? They speak in a lot of generalities like "TC's work gave WL a bad impression" or "WL was very concerned about TC" and "what TC was doing was dividing or cutting up the churches in Taiwan", without giving any details about what that actually means. Does anyone have any more info or can point me somewhere to any further info about that in particular?
Last edited by Trapped; 05-06-2018 at 05:12 PM. Reason: grammar
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OGOP, I have heard these two complaints before, and they are mostly misinformed.
Let me say this plainly -- the Quarantine of Titus Chu was NOT about money!
This understanding is far too simplistic and obfuscates the real events.
Firstly, for many years NYC, the biggest LC in the US, was ambivalent about LSM, and they suffered no repercussions.
Secondly, after Lee passed, the Midwest was hugely supportive of the LaPalma campus. TC was very supportive of that property.
Yes, TC and the Midwest did not support the Harvest House litigation for truth reasons of principle, but all the LC's were instructed by TC to send money to DCP for legal expenses
Yes, TC had a limited number of books, but Reetzke in Chicago was also writing and had books too.
Saints from the Midwest regularly participated in LSM events and were signed up for the standing book orders
The quarantine of TC was the elimination of a potential rival. TC was more gifted, experienced, and spiritual than any of the Blendeds. Most of the Blendeds had never even started a church from scratch or shepherded one. Plus TC was a Chinese-American. He had traveled extensively around the world, and was well respected in many foreign LC's.
After the death of WL, there was a grassroots movement overseas to "nominate" TC as successor. There was a growing clamor, "Nee, Lee, Chu," that began to scare the powers that be at LSM. They knew TC had little respect for the cadre of Blendeds. TC would have fired most of them and "drained the swamp" at LSM. BP, RK et. al. saw the handwriting on the wall, and it weren't good for them.
TC had to go, even if it cost them the entire Midwest. I'm sure there was push back from some of the Blendeds, but then something happened in Chicago in their favor. Reetzke had long supported the right to publish saying "Christians have died for this right." Sounds great but the man lacked a spine. The real driving force in greater Chicago was a relatively unspiritual man named Bill Barker, a former executive at Sears, married to Gene Gruhler's sister, but who almost never gave messages. His was the gift of administration.
True to form, one day TC rebuked Bill B. publicly in a leaders' meeting, shaming him, over some local matter really none of TC's business. TC rebuked brothers because he could, and he did. Barker, however, had enough and decided that LSM 2,000 miles away was a better option than TC 300 miles away. That was all LSM needed. Even though about a dozen full-time workers and their families left greater Chicago for TC-friendly LC's, LSM had minimized their losses, and decided to initiate their quarantine.
Then they actively looked for spoils in all TC-friendly LC's with whom they could effect numerous coup d'etat in order to secure property and people for their cause.
Originally Posted by Trapped
Titus Chu's history has obviously been smeared by LSM and LCM apologists, so I'm wondering if there is any documents out there regarding the quarantines to support those who claim the quarantines were unjust? I remember reading about court cases that had LSM suing local churches over property -- is there any documents online regarding these cases? Just looking for something physical/proof to counter the LSM narrative that these quarantines were simply getting rid of "bad fruit."
Yes, no details were given, rather all subjective feeling. We have heard this all before.
Translate: Titus Chu was fruitful in Taiwan, restoring and connecting the saints with the Lord and His word first, and then to Lee and LSM. Anyone who would do this gave WL a "bad feeling."
Note that the turmoil in Taiwan, alluded to (~17:34 minute), was over absolute allegiance to WL and his many "flows," a recurring theme in the LCM. TC testified on occasion that during this storm in Taiwan, nearly his entire generation were "lost" to the recovery except for him, as he came to the US in 1963. For decades, (1953-1997) TC remained a faithful and fruitful "son" to WL. This is how WL "rewarded" him.
This explains why WL regularly condemned TC for being "ambitious," and "doing his own work," and he constantly sowed suspicions into the other workers concerning TC. WL demanded all the glory be given to him, and would never share that with the Lord (or another worker.)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Google Inc (GOOG): Winners in Streaming Entertainment
Published on May 22, 2013 at 11:34 am by The Motley Fool in News
More end users are switching to streaming television and movies. This has caused problems for television providers, but companies that have a strong presence or are poised to expand have a great opportunity ahead. Here are the companies that are in play in the streaming entertainment industry.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is the giant when it comes to online streaming entertainment. The company suffered when it changed its subscription services about a year and a half ago, but in the last year the stock has grown by over 250%. User subscriptions are continuing to grow in the last few quarters.
Net income has suffered this past year due to the higher cost of goods. The company has been signing new agreements to deliver content from production companies. This has caused its gross margins to drop. The company's net profit margin has dropped to just 0.65%–in 2010 the net profit margin was 7.4%. These margins will likely stay low as content costs remain high.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) now has an exclusive deal to stream content from The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS). No other online service can stream its content. This is a huge benefit for Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) in attracting families and young subscribers.
The new content will bring more users this year, and international subscribers are expected to double this year. Total earnings are expected to grow by 300% or more this year. Investors should definitely look for big gains this year as long as costs don't rise.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) owns the content delivery site YouTube. YouTube just announced that it will offer a paid-for subscription service for content producers. The content providers will be able to charge between $0.99 and $9.99 per month for unlimited use of content.
This can allow different forms of video to be uploaded and monetized by content providers. Feature films can be revenue generators for producers on YouTube now. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) hasn't announced what percentage it will take from this subscription, though a common content subscription fee is 30%.
YouTube currently generates its revenue from advertising before and during its short videos. YouTube itself will continue to be free, just like other Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) services. There is now going to be an upgraded "freemium" service. Users can pay to have access to more and specialized content.
This may drive some additional revenue for the company, though it likely won't be too much of an impact considering Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) earns over $50 billion per year. This is a sign of Google serving the demands of its users and content providers. With so much attention on streaming entertainment, this is a positive sign for investors. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is moving with the needs of the time.
Google Inc (GOOG)NASDAQ:GOOGNASDAQ:NFLXNASDAQ:YHOONetflix Inc. (NFLX)Yahoo Inc (YHOO)Show more...Show less
Apple Inc. (AAPL) News: Steve Jobs, Senate Permanent Subcommittee, Customer... Will Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) Fail? By Moving to Acquire Tumblr, The Reasons to Own Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) Have Completely...
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO): Making A Clean Sweep Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) or Netflix, Inc. (NFLX): Who Wins In This Key Space... Pandora Media Inc (P): The Data You Need To See


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Kaspersky Internet Protection
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Author Supplied Abstract The observed correlation between poverty and lack of homework completion may have caused an achievement gap between students from poverty and those from middle class. The factors contributing to this achievement gap such as available resources and socioeconomic value systems may also lead to a similar correlation between student-led conference attendance and poverty. Specifically, the researcher wanted to answer the following question: Can a student-led conference system be developed ensuring student participation? For the purpose of this project students living in poverty were identified as students receiving free and reduced lunch. Considering his previous experience with student-led conferences, the researcher expected to develop a system encouraging participation with accommodations for students living in poverty. In other words, the researcher hypothesized that participation in student-led conferences can be achieved regardless of socioeconomic background with the properly designed system.


The regulator issued a license to Coinbase on October 23.
Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC) to be supported on Coinbase custody services.
The regulator issued a license to Coinbase on October 23 which gives the company the mandate to offer custody services for most of the top six cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC).
The addition of Ripple to the list of supported assets comes as surprise to many cryptocurrency enthusiasts. This because regulators have not made up their minds if Ripple (XRP) should be considered as cryptocurrency that is decentralized or a security token. This could also mean than Coinbase exchange is laying the ground in preparing of the official listing of XRP.