Ergun Caner controversy

He Better Come Clean Soon

Caner has to be feeling the pressure. Maybe some of his friends are telling him :"Relax,it'll blow over." Others may be advising him to confess,turn about and do the right thing by resigning. Liberty is now complicit in this whole sordid affair. Up to now though armed with the facts it has chosen to sweep it all under a rug. But what a big lump remains!

Pretty soon secular news outlets will be on to this story big time. Al Jezera has the perfect right to investigate. The BBC may get in on it.Will Fox (which has been friendly toward Caner) be fair and balanced? What about MSNBC?

I have a couple of Muslim friends here. They are all nominal in their faith. But one in particular has disgust for Christianity when a liar who grandstands is treated like a celebrity.

Are any of you old enough to remember 1987 in particular? Jim and Tammy Baker,Jimmy Swaggart were big names back then. Most non-Christians identified Christianity with those individuals. You can also add Jerry Falwell,Oral Roberts and Pat Robertson.

I have never been ashamed to be a Christian. However, the disgrace that some of these people brought upon Christ's Name was terrible. It's happening again.

 

I don't think the Caner controversy is anywhere near the level of a Bakker or Swaggert. First, sex isn't involved (that's always good for a few Nielson points). Second, the popular culture just doesn't care or know much. Everyone saw at least a glimpse of Jim and Tammy or Jimmy on their tvs. Ergun isn't on tv every week. He is known to mostly those within the walls of the church at best, and more likely those in the academy and clergy.

What Ergun is likely counting on is that this will blow over because the only thing that will force this onto the front page is if he does resign. Smartest thing he could do is come clean, take a censure, and move on if possible. That's the best that could happen to him at this point, save amnesia on everyone's part.

If this does grow legs due to his being from a fair sized town (suburban Columbus, OH) due to people talking, then it gets more serious. But I've yet to see anything anything near what went on in the late 80s.

 

Tom
I agree that this is a totally different situation from the infamous infidelity of the 1980's. Still, I am less concerned with Liberty being defamed in the national media...they would love to knock it down a notch or two, but, then again, they don't think a great deal about it to begin with. The real hit will be among baptists. I know that there are still some Southern Baptists that do not realize how good a school Liberty is. A huge gain has been made from the point when people would openly say the school was "a joke run out of Falwell's basement" (actually heard this said once). Such ignorance was largely quieted with accreditation and growth...but as you know Tom...it doesn't take much to undo decades of progress. I am praying that if these accusations are true, the University will deal with Caner before too much damage is done.

 

I agree that I think Liberty doesn't get credit due. You have to admire Falwell. At a conference, he told of a day when thousands would attend, NCAA division I athletics would be played, and thousands more would attend via distance learning. People chuckled all over the room - and the room was filled with people were friend, not foe.

Lo and behold.....here it is, with a Law school, a good business school, grad school, and an accessible seminary.

This school is not my first choice, but it's a sister school in the faith. So, I don't want anyone bringing it down. My fear is Ergun could be doing this. This is fixable. But it's a lot easier to do it now than after the damage has been done.

I think you and I couldn't agree more.

 

They're still FCS in football, and they bball team has made it to the NCAA a time or two (the women's team is a fixture there).

I couldn't agree more about the fact that the stakes are too high for LU to lose.

 

Now CT has gotten wind of this. Bad news for Liberty.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/mayweb-only/28-11.0.html

 

Caner has posted a youtube response on his channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrErgunCaner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7WRKgF4grc

 

I wish the video was captioned but it is not. However, this got my attention:

"Let me be clear: this program exists to discuss theology and the dangers of Calvinism! This program is not about me or the attack videos that are circulating the internet about me. Due to abuse in the comments, they are now shut off. So "document" that haters!"

This guy is a seminary president??

I am disappointed in LU. IMHO if they do not investigate and bring the facts to light promptly they will lose a lot of credibility.

(Edit: From the CT article it appears that LU has done all of the "investigating" that they intend to do. Shouldn't a man who is influential in the training of pastors be 'above reproach' himself?

 

I just watched the video. Whatever you say about Caner, you have to admit he's pretty funny!

 

I couldn't get the link to the first one you mentioned; but the second one is a pretty funny spoof. It's not Caner.

 

The real Caner is funny too. It's a shame he does his comedy act behind a pulpit.

 

I did not realize that...

 

This was the first video of Caner I've ever watched. Or at least I thought it was the first one of him I had ever watched. Apparently I've been tricked!

 

haha, OK, I can't imagine having so much time on my hands as to make a spoof video

He does look like him though - I was fooled . . .

 

The first link didn't work because I put a : at the end. Why? I don't know.

http://www.youtube.com/user/DrErgunCaner

We'll see if that one works. I should have known something was up IF I'd bothered to see there are only 2 videos on it.

 

Yeah, Rippon says this is a spoof. Do you have any real videos of Caner addressing his situation?

 

I did acknowledge that in an earlier post.

I am so terribly sorry.

No, I don't have any real ones, but if you do a search on youtube for Ergun Caner, you will find some of him really speaking.

Again, my apologies.

 

There are none whatsoever. Ergun Caner is not a candid kind of guy. But let's see if his heart changes. I wish that he was open about his deceitfulness. But with this latest statement from E.T. it will give E.C. that much more excuse to hide from the inevitable. This story is building every day. Liberty is protecting Caner -- it's the old Richard Nixon stonewalling method.