Mitt Romney with Jerry Falwell Jr. | AP Photo

Note from Dan: Christina Dietz lives in Blue Ridge.

By Christina Dietz

In response to your requests for “there ought to be a law”  I propose there ought to be a law against tax- exempt religious institutions which receive federal dollars from proselytizing for a particular political party.

In particular I am talking about Liberty University. As a private, non-profit, religious (Christian evangelical, no less!) and therefore tax exempt institution with not just local and national, but international influence, you would think this college would strive to remain politically neutral. As the LARGEST beneficiary of federal funds in the state of Virginia you would think it would feel an obligation to stay away from politics altogether with the exception of teaching its students the basic workings of government.

Not so. Not only has Liberty University NOT remained neutral, it has welcomingly provided Republican politician after Republican politician a platform at its university. It has actually declared in front of television cameras: Read more »

Tim Ross | Wikimedia Commons

Note from Dan: Paul Scott of Roanoke sent this to me recently, regarding Virginia Tech’s plans to play Liberty University in football come 2016. It’s an interesting perspective that deserves a wider view.

By Paul Scott

As a Virginia Tech alumni, I am very much disturbed by the school putting Liberty University on the football schedule. This is another example of a concerted effort to legitimize the militantly homophobic, radically conservative private organization.

Obviously, Liberty has the right to its opinions and goals. However, it is not acceptable for Virginia Tech to give Liberty large amounts of money and a showcase on the football field.

This is a direct insult to all LGBT alumni of Virginia Tech. It should be offensive to non-LGBT citizens as well. Suppose Bob Jones University had a football team. Would the black community be insulted with them on a football schedule? Read more »

Tim Ross | Wikimedia Commons

A subcommittee of the Virginia Tobacco Commission yesterday recommended giving $12 million to Liberty University to help it launch a medical school. Here’s the story from my colleagues Mason Adams and Sarah Bruyn Jones.

But the recommendation, which will be voted on by the full commission Sept. 29, raises this question: why does the proudly “private” evangelical university need any state money at all for this? It’s already flush with taxpayer cash as a result of the “online university” it runs.

Last year, Liberty took in federal grants and proceeds from taxpayer-guaranteed student loans that totaled $445 million. (Just five years ago, its total annual revenues were about $150 million.) Most of that new money comes came from its online operation, modeled after certain other dubious for-profit “online universities” such as the University of Phoenix, Strayer and Ashford universities. Update: Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. disputes these numbers, as detailed here.

Liberty has built a snowless ski slope on Candler Mountain (which it rechristened “Liberty Mountain”) and it’s gobbling up commercial and industrial property in Lynchburg. It’s the biggest business in that city, and it receives more federal money than any educational institution in the commonwealth. Read more »

Tim Ross | Wikimedia Commons

Here’s a little quiz for you today, folks:

What’s the name of the non-governmental entity in Virginia that receives more support from federal taxpayers than any other?

It’s unlikely that you guessed Liberty University in Lynchburg, which was founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. He once wrote that he looked forward to the day when there were no longer any public schools in the United States.

But if you did, give yourself a pat on the back.

In 2010, the proudly private, conservative, evangelical university received $445 million in federal student financial aid, in the form of grants and taxpayer-guaranteed loans. Most of that supports the education of students who have enrolled in LU’s online education programs.

You see, in recent years, Liberty has hopped on the for-profit online university bandwagon. That’s largely a scam, and it’s growing so quickly that last year, for the first time, student loans beat out credit cards as the number one form of debt in this nation.

The scam works like this: online universities hire recruiters, aka telemarketers, who sit in cubicles and make cold calls. Each day, the telemarketers are furnished a list of people who have recently earned their General Equivalency Diploma. Which means in most cases they are high-school dropouts. Read more »

“Not Too Old Yeller”
Set in ancient times, 10,000 years ago, this touching and emotional story follows the relationship between a stone age boy and the gentle velociraptor who mysteriously and stubbornly insists on interacting with the boy’s family. Though reluctant to embrace the beast at first, the young boy, Uriah, finds the spunky therapod an intelligent partner in the quest for food and in the never ending task of protecting the vulnerable cave family. Together, they make a formidable team. But all is threatened when the dark specter of sin changes changes the dynamics of animal and human interaction.
Starring: Ken Ham as both the voice of god and Burly, the cave mouse.
Ray Comfort as the voice of Zebulon, the velociraptor
Benny Hinn as the shaman sorcerer
And making his screen film debut, this little dude as Uriah:
This movie is rated little “s” for sin. Not really bad sins though, mostly eating shellfish and mixing different kinds of fabric, In the end God’s message is more powerful than the witness of such abominations.

Congratulations, Mike Scott! Please help yourself to a prize from Dan’s Bookshelf and email me your choice and snail-mail address.

And thanks to our judge, Roanoke Times reporter Neil Harvey.

Stay tuned for our next, wide-open, graffiti-inviting contest that launches at noon!

If last week’s contest proved anything, it’s that humor and imagination are alive and well in the Blue Ridge (and that certain posters to this blog have neither).

I asked you to dream up some big hits that might come out of Liberty U’s recently announced film school, and you folks delivered with 21 entries.

Here are the 5 finalists as judged by my colleague Neil Harvey, who besides his reporting talents is an experienced film reviewer.

#4  “Gone With the Rapture”
After Scarlett has a child with a returning veteran and her return to Tara, her great-great grandchildren continue to dress up as Civil War reenactors and long for the good old days as they dwell in South Carolina. As “Tea Party” members, and aging, they hold out the last hopes that the rapture will occur soon and save their way of life, as they believe the kingdom that is established will closely resemble the ways in which their progenitor lived.
–by Doug S

#5  “Davis”
Outraged over the new movie on Lincoln being filmed on Confederate soil, the new film school at Liberty U has announced their attempt to tell the true story of the War of Northern Agression through the eyes of Jeffeson Davis.
Starring Morgan Griffith as the dapper CSA President and Ken Cuccinelli as his faithful chef and housekeeper Hop Sing.
According to Confederate activist Jack/Tony/whatever his name is: “Now we have the real story behind the mass murderer that was Lincoln and the essential fact that the war was never about slavery. We’ll uncover the truth faster than you can say ‘Simon Legree.’”
Rated D for “denial.”
–by Morris Fleischer

#40 “Not Too Old Yeller”
Set in ancient times, 10,000 years ago, this touching and emotional story follows the relationship between a stone age boy and the gentle velociraptor who mysteriously and stubbornly insists on interacting with the boy’s family. Though reluctant to embrace the beast at first, the young boy, Uriah, finds the spunky therapod an intelligent partner in the quest for food and in the never ending task of protecting the vulnerable cave family. Together, they make a formidable team. But all is threatened when the dark specter of sin changes changes the dynamics of animal and human interaction.
Starring: Ken Ham as both the voice of god and Burly, the cave mouse.
Ray Comfort as the voice of Zebulon, the velociraptor
Benny Hinn as the shaman sorcerer
And making his screen film debut, this little dude as Uriah:
This movie is rated little “s” for sin. Not really bad sins though, mostly eating shellfish and mixing different kinds of fabric, In the end God’s message is more powerful than the witness of such abominations.
–by Mike Scott

#44  “Thunder Road”
A remake starring Jerry Falwell Jr as the speed demon former hero running grandaddy’s shine through the hills of old Virginny trying to outrun the “Revenuers” played by Roscoe P “Mike” Brown and Sheriff Ron “Arpaio” Gillespie.
Soundtrack by the Liberty University Choir including the wildly popular “Bed Intruder Song”!
“There was moonshine, moonshine, to quench the Devil’s thirst,
the Law they swore they’d get him, but the Devil got him first.”
–by Sandi Saunders

#54 “Mad Jerry Beyond the Apocalypse”
Jerry Falwell (Mel Gibson) copes with the end of the world. The Magnetic Poles have shifted and the North Pole is now over Cuba. Unsure why he and his devotees were not caught up in the Rapture, Jerry desperately gathers his tiny flock and treks north from Liberty University to Cuba, certain that his prayers for salvation will be answered if Jerry and his intrepid group can make it to Miami and then secure safe passage to Havanna, certain that God has remade the city and has a mansion waiting for them all.
Co-starring Tina Turner as the nemisis Auntie Entity who will make sure Jerry does not complete his journey, This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat. Tanya Tucker surprises with an outstanding performance as Crazy Delta Dawn who walks with Jerry most of the way until she abruptly leaves with a mysterious dark haired man.
SPOILER ALERT: Billy Graham (playing himself) will meet up with and guide Jerry to his final surprise destination.
– by Cold n P

Thanks for playing, folks! I’ll announce the winner first thing Friday morning.

This contest ends Wednesday at noon.

Lights! Camera! Action!

Move over UCLA, USC and NYU.

News item:

LYNCHBURG, Va. (Associated Press) — Liberty University plans to offer a four-year film school program beginning in the next academic year.

Liberty officials announced the new program Monday in a news release.

The Center for Cinematic Arts will teach filmmaking skills, business and marketing, and other aspects of the industry such as costume design and makeup. The program will begin with 20 to 40 students.

Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. says the decision to create the new program was prompted by interest shown by current School of Communication students.

More here.

This has the old brain blazing with possibilities as to cinematic classics that will be emerging from Lynchburg, Va., the Hollywood of the east. Imagine the possibilities for some of the films those LU grads will produce.

That’s your challenge today, folks: Give titles to those future award-winning flicks. Feel free to include the stars who will appear in the movies, and and a brief synopsis of the film, too. Be creative, and above all, funny.

The winner will get his or her choice of a prize from Dan’s Bookshelf.

Courtesy Liberty University

#9 “Having recently abandoned his plans to privatize liquor sales, Gov. Bob McDonnell mounts another slippery slope”
by Mike

Our judge, Senior Editor Dwayne Yancey, writes: Read more »

Courtesy Liberty University

This contest ends Wednesday at noon.

There’s a first time for everything, Gonzos.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a skier wearing khakis.

On the left is Liberty Univeristy Chancellor Jerry Falwell, and on the right is Gov. Bob McDonnell.

They were trying out the fake snow on Liberty U’s ski slope the other night.

The text that came with this picture is below. Note the send-up it give to the guv as a future GOP vice-presidential contender.

That hilarious in its own right, but I am sure we can do MUCH better.

So have at it. Give us your funniest caption!

The winner will win a book from Dan’s Bookshelf.

The contest ends Wednesday at noon.

Liberty University news release:

LYNCHBURG, VA-Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell visited the Liberty Mountain SnowFlex Centre Thursday evening to attend a private dessert reception in the Barrick-Falwell Lodge honoring Del. Kathy Byron (VA House District 22) for her service to the Commonwealth. Governor McDonnell’s name is already receiving mention as a possible Republican Vice-Presidential candidate in the next election cycle.

During his visit, the governor tried out the year-round ski slope, joining Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. in skiing down the slope three times. “This feels a little more dangerous than speaking at convocation, Chancellor,” McDonnell joked. “This is a new adventure. I’ve usually come to speak here and not to ski, so this is a first.” McDonnell has visited Liberty in recent years to speak to students at convocation and attend other events on campus, such as “Celebration on the Mountain” during the Fourth of July and the annual Boys State convention.

“I love the spirit of the people here. I went to a Christian graduate school myself, and I just love the sense of family, the support structure, the care for one another and just the dedication to the fundamental principles that made our country great,” McDonnell said. “I just really appreciate the whole educational structure here, so I’m always glad to be back.”

anworth.org

The Christmas decorations were out in many stores before Halloween even began, and yes, Virginia, the battle stations already are being drawn in the phony “War Against Christmas.”

A little more than 45 miles east of the ‘Noke, a “War Against Christmas” command center has been established  in sleepy Lynchburg, at Liberty University, which readers of this humble blog already have renamed “Holier Than U” and “Lobotomy U.”

At Liberty, they’re making some lists, and they’re checking them twice, and on them you’ll find out who’s naughty and nice.

Really. No kidding.

They are surveying retailers, publishing “Naughty and Nice” listings, and bashing merchants who don’t have “Merry Christmas” splashed all over their catalogues, advertising flyers and television commercials.

For example, if a retailer makes the mistake of referring to these times as the “holiday season,” woe be unto that establishment. They will be slapped with a “Naughty” rating (Radio Shack, The Gap, and Old Navy already have them).

It’s a signal to ardent Christians to avoid spending money that they haven’t rendered unto Caesar in those establishments.

Already this bizarre behavior seems to be having an effect. For example, as late as last week Dick’s Sporting Goods had made the naughty list for the fourth year in a row. But recently, in a resounding “victory,” the Liberty Counsel reports that Dick’s has knuckled under:

Dick’s Sporting Goods – another 2010 NN success story … this company transferred from three year’s of Naughty status! Vice-Chairman, Bill Columbo, stated the organization has “ … made significant changes from past years, when ‘holiday’ was the dominant theme of our advertising.” Changes to be made will begin almost immediately on Dick’s website that will include the “Christmas” message in time for Thanksgiving Day, TV commercials that refer to the “Christmas Season” and November 28th Sunday inserts that advertise “Christmas 2010” and continue throughout the Christmas Season. Liberty Counsel commends Dick’s Sporting Goods for listening to its consumer base that supports “Christmas,” the real meaning of the Season.

Something tells me this was not exactly what the Catholic Church had in mind when, in 336 A.D. it designated Dec. 25 as Jesus’ birthday in order to co-opt similarly dated pagan celebrations preceded Christmas by centuries.