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Is the Bible mistranslated?
EDITOR:
This is to my dear Leigh Ingram: You missed the point
altogether. Every passage of the Bible you cited can be in
telligently disputed, but I've neither the time nor the space
for such useless rhetoric. You see, you were just one more
to spit scriptures out from English versions of the Bible; the
very thing I question the validity of. You gave me no intel
ligent basis on which to support the argument that these
are accurate translations of the original text.
The sources from which I make my claim that the Bible
is mistranslated in many places are books written by his
torical scientists rather than theologians (in addition to sev
eral different versions of the Bible, i.e.. The King James
version. The Living Bible, etc.). These authors provided
the passages in question in their original Hebrew and
Greek versions. Then they provided word for word trans
lations, in which I found nothing specifically condemning
homosexuality.
These scholars have been able to step out from under
the religious umbrella that many people assume that ev
eryone must stand under. They've been able to look at this
issue from an objective, historical point of view rather than
the subjective, emotional view of most Bible advocates.
So putting the issue of homosexuality per se aside, the
problem begins with people, such as yourself, who are un
able to see that their strict Christian views come from only
one comer of this room that is our world. They are unable
to step out of that corner and see that their Christian God
and his/her "supreme authority and truth," (however in
terpreted) does not apply to all. Not everyone lies under
the same religious blanket you do (not everyone is even re
ligious), so not everyone accepts the same ultimate law.
And to think yours is the only true God is to concede
that you cannot see past the end of your Good Book.
"Kellie" from Life Style magazine
Forming a democratic country
EDITOR:
Little do people know: Taiwan is not a part of China.
This island was occupied periodically by both Western and
Eastern foreign imperialists for the last several centuries;
another words, Taiwan was only once a part of China's ter
ritory.
Japan was the last imperialist country to occupy Tai
wan. Different cultures were introduced to Taiwan by dif
ferent imperialists. The blending of culture distinguished
the Taiwanese individual's moral conscience of democracy
and self-determination in the late eighteenth century.
At the end of World War II, the Chinese Nationalists
(known as Republic of China) claimed Taiwan as part of
their trophy when Japan surrendered to Allied Powers and
renounced their claim to Taiwan. Under its administration,
Taiwanese were treated as less than peasants.
A year passed, the living standard dropped, the econ
omy declined dramatically and the people starved every
where. The Nationalists sought only profits from Taiwan
and never cared about the people; this had never hap
pened before in Taiwan. The revolutionary force soon be
gan to oppose the Nationalists, but it was unsuccessful, al
though a lot of flesh and blood was sacrificed.
The Nationalists continued to use their armed force to
strengthen their status in Taiwan. They killed the local
leaders and anyone who presented a potential threat to
them. This excessive killing was remembered as the "228
Event." The people who died were highly educated and in
fluential young men and women. More than 20,000 people
were killed. These people were a great loss to the Taiwan
ese; without their leadership, the Taiwanese could only
live on and bear the crucial government.
In 1949, the Chinese Communists defeated the Nation
alists in Mainland China, and the Nationalists transferred
their entire governmental structure to Taiwan. They still
used high pressure and armed force to control Taiwanese
and treated them as second class people. There was no
freedom of speech and press. Any political issue was for
bidden to be commented on, including the "228 Event."
During the past 40 years of Nationalist domination in
Taiwan, many Taiwanese became "missing," one by one: It
was the way Nationalists wanted us, the Taiwanese, to re
member what happened in the "228 Event" and to sup
press our aspirations for democracy and self-determin
ation. We lived fearfully every day, yet our determination
had grown stronger than ever after 40 years.
Today, we once again stand side-by-side to oppose the
crucial government fearlessly. The Nationalists will have to
kill us all to stop us. The desire for self-rule and self-deter
mination among the Taiwanese still is frequently uprising.
Taiwanese are unique from Chinese by means of cultu
ral, historical and political backgrounds. We shall ask the
world to recognize us as Taiwanese and our international
status. This is only the first step in forming a democratic
country.
Warner Chang '93
Can you believe Him?
EDITOR:
In the midst of all the recent debate about the Bible, I
would like to say what I found after five years of reading
this book. I found that Jesus was despised and rejected by
men; He was pierced for our transgressions. These things
were written to you who believe in the name of the Son of
God so that you may know you have eternal life. Can you
believe Him?
Murray E. Moore '84
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Council boosts A&M
to world-class status
w
ell. I've got some
good news for all of you who have
been worrying about our world-class
status. We're there, folks.
I got clue number two when I picked
up the Bryan-College Station Eagle this
morning and found out that the
University is paying Caesar Chavez, a
leading Marxist organizer, $5,000 in
student service fee money to speak on
campus. We're big time now.
Clue number one caught my eye a
few weeks ago as I was strolling
through campus and noticed a flier
with the prominent heading "Thinking
Like a Mountain: A Council of All
Beings." After reading it I began to look
around me to see where Alan Funt and
his Candid Camera crew were hidden.
66 Clue number one caught my eye
a few weeks ago as I was
strolling through campus and noticed
a flier with the prominent heading
‘Thinking Like a Mountain: A Council
of All Beings. ’ After reading it I began
to look around me to see where Alan
Funt and his Candid Camera crew
were hidden. ^ ^
According to the flier, the age of
"channeling" has come to the
backward A&M campus at last.
Channeling, as many of you are
probably aware, is all the rage with the
"happening" California crowd.
During a "channeling" session, a soft
spoken and demure person allows him
or herself to be possessed by the spirit
of a long-dead person who "speaks"
through them and imparts age-old
wisdom in a deep and resonant voice to
a paying audience.
What does this have to do with our
fair campus?
I think the organizers of the event,
our very own student Earth First!
organization, can explain it much more
eloquently than I.
The flier states: "The Council of All
Beings is a profound process through
which people can contact their deep
feelings and personal experiences of an
endangered world and lifeforms that
are passing away. Going beyond
personality (way beyond), we extend
our identification to the 3V2-plus billion
Larry Cox
Columnist
years of evolutionary life that we are,
and draw from that awareness new
energy and authority to speak and act
on behalf of our world."
JL he last line is what
really got me to humming the Twilight
Zone theme song: "In the Council, we
allow ourselves to be 'chosen' by
another lifeform and let it speak
through us, sharing not only its
troubles but also its wisdom and gifts,
which we humans can use to become
more whole and effective 'Eco-
warriors.'"
The Council occurred last weekend
and the process of being "chosen" was
aided by a "facilitator" from the
Rainbow Hearth Sanctuary of Austin.
Shirley MacLaine would havebeenso
proud.
Actually, this was a risky venture
indeed. What if all of the participants
had been "chosen" by grizzly bears or
wolves or some of our other ferocious
yet endangered predators? The movie
rights alone could be worth millions.
Just imagine a sequel to the movie
"Silence of the Lambs" where, instead
of one Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal"
Lector, there are a multitude of
"chosen" grizzly bears masquerading
as humans, at large in Bryan-College
Station. It could be called "Silenceof
the Lambs II: Mother Nature Strikes
Back."
Fortunately, nothing so drastic
happened at the Council.
Most participants. I'm sure, are
environmentally correct vegetarians
who would never consider having an
Aggie for dinner.
I'm sure a good time was hadbyal
and, amidst the growling, chirping,
howling and slurping — an Eco-
warrior was born.
The event provided a much-neede:
alternati ve entertainment event in ttis
culturally stagnant B-CS community
and gave the University as a whole at
important boost toward world-class
status.
Larry Cox is a graduate student in
range science. ^
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