Friday, April 15
Opinion
10, 1992
The Battalion
Page 7
The Battalion Editorial Board
DOUGLAS PILS, Editor-in-Chief
The
Battalion
BRIDGET HARROW, Managing Editor
BRIAN BONEY, Opinion Editor
JASON MORRIS, Night News Editor
MORGAN JUDAY, Night News Editor
MACK HARRISON, City Editor
KARL STOLLEIS, Photo Editor
SCOTT WUDEL, Sports Editor
ROB NEWBERRY. Lifestyles Editor
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O ne of my buddies is fond of
saying, "Experience Christ,
not Christianity."
I never really considered what
that meant to me until recently.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm
very content with Christianity. But
it's often the people who call
themselves Christians and what
society has done
to Christ and
Christianity with
which I have a
problem.
The
"Christians" to
whom I refer are
those who use the
Lord and Savior
as a way to make
money. They
really could not
care less about
who he is or if
Michael
Sullivan
anyone else does either. They just
want to see their profits grow. After
all, religion is big business.
Another group of "Christians"
that get me riled are those who use
Jesus to intimidate others. Christ
never stood on a street corner and
pointed his finger yelling, "You will
burn in hell unless ..." Jesus is not
judgmental. To him, everyone is the
same. We are loved the same and
wanted the same. He has offered his
hand out to us, it is just a matter of
taking it.
When I see either one of the two
kinds of "Christians" mentioned
above, I remember a story I heard
about Mohandas Gandhi. At one
point in his life, he became interested
in Christianity. He read the New
Testament and other Christian
writings. He was very influenced by
what he read and one day decided to
visit a Christian church while in
South Africa. However, when he
tried to go in, the church members
would not let him enter because of
his race and religion. He lost his
interest in Christianity, saying
something to the effect of "I like the
man you call Christ and what he
said. I may have even become a
Christian, if it were not for the
Christians I met."
And so it is with many.
Are you one of those people who
has been turned off Christ and
Christianity by Christians? I urge
you to try again. Look around your
dorm, fraternity, outfit, sorority,
apartment or work, I guarantee
someone you consider a friend is a
Christian. They can point you in the
right direction, if nothing else. If you
can't find someone in your current
group, give me a call.
I see a big problem that has
developed in Christianity, and that is
our culture at large. Too many
Christians and non-Christians see
the focus of Christianity as being
that day in December.
In our society, Christmas has
become what everyone associates
with Christianity and Jesus. We
make a big deal about celebrating the
"birth of Jesus" (even though he was
really born sometime in August). We
give students anywhere from a week
to a month off from school, the
government shuts down, television
specials run rampant and retail
stores plan their year around it.
Christmas is big business (see
above).
But Christmas is not important to
Christianity.
The birth of Jesus was a
miraculous event. It heralded the
coming of the King. But that is not
what Christianity is about. Take a
quick look at the Bible. Very little of
the New Testament is spent talking
about Jesus' birth. In the letter's of
Paul and the other epistles, barely a
mention is made of Jesus' birth.
What then, you may ask, is written
about?
What is important to being
Christian?
In short, the focus of Christianity
is the time of year we are entering,
Easter.
You see the birth of Jesus, as I
mentioned, was miraculous and
important. But big deal. His birth
was important only in that it proved
who he was and is. His teachings are
important because they show us how
to live our lives.
But his birth and teachings, they
are meaningless.
Meaningless, that is, until they are
put in perspective with who Jesus of
Nazareth was and is.
Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of
God and the Son of Man. He was
crucified, died, buried and then
resurrected. He is the Christ, the
Messiah. He is the only way to gain
salvation from sin and achieve
eternal life. He conquered death for
us. He wiped away our sin with his
own blood.
Being a good person and living a
moral life is nice, but it does not
count. Belief in Jesus as the Messiah
is the only thing that counts. "For
God so loved the world he gave his
only son, that whoever believes in
him will have life everlasting," goes
the passage from the Book of John.
TTiat is the focus of Christianity,
that is who Jesus Christ is.
Whether you are a Christian, a
Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, an atheist or
you just don't know, I ask you to
consider what I have said seriously. I
ask you to reexamine the case for
Jesus.
I ask that you put behind you
everything you have been taught or
seen or heard or experienced in
regards to Jesus Christ. I ask you to
forget about the Christians you have
known.
I ask, in these weeks before Easter,
that you try to know and experience
Jesus Christ. He won't let you down,
even if "Christians" have.
Sullivan is a
senior English major
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Test question
wasn't racist
On March 27, a letter from a student
in my Management 211 class (The
Legal Environment of Business)
appeared in Mail Call, alleging that a
question on my second exam was
racist. Because I am concerned about
the student's misunderstanding of the
question, and because I want to clarify
what the importance of the question is
to a student's understanding of the
discrimination law, I am writing this
response.
The question involves a statement
made by a white male manager to a
black female employee in which the
white male manager refers to the
employee as a "black bitch" while
terminating her in a manner that the
question suggests is inappropriate.
Yes, the statement by the manager is
offensive and based on stereotypes of
behaving in an unlawful,
discriminatory manner. Students were
supposed to have learned that the use
of offensive stereotypes directed at
racial or other protected groups can be
illegal in the work environment.
Whatever the manager said to the
woman had to make the entire scenario
clearly illegal. If the manager had said
something less offensive and based on
identifiable stereotypes to make the
entire scenario clearly illegal, or if the
manager had said something less
offensive, there would have been less
of a chance that he had illegally
discriminated against her. There is
simply no polite way for this type of
illegal discrimination to occur.
Unfortunately, the situation
depicted in the test question occurs in
many actual discrimination cases. In
order to teach students about
discrimination law and to help them to
know the law, it is important for the
professor to be able to create or use
realistic situations and to have students
identify whether discrimination law
applies.
The very point of this particular
question was for the student to
recognize that the combination of
circumstances and language
surrounding the discharge was
potentially racially discriminatory in a
way that the law would recognize —
i.e., the conduct was not only racist; it
was also illegal.
I, too, am saddened that the
circumstances described in the test
question can and do arise in the
workplace. In my research on
discrimination, I am repeatedly
horrified and offended at the groups,
women and disabled employees
among others, who fall victim. In my
capacity as a professor of
discrimination law, however, it is my
obligation both to make students
aware of the racism, sexism, and other
malicious and subtle forms of
intolerance that can exist in the
workplace and to help students
understand the extent to which the law
can help individuals to redress these
situations. Consequently, exam
questions must deal with a variety of
realistic situations that are often
uncomfortable for many students.
Other questions on the same exam
dealt with scenarios involving sexual
harassment, religious practice
accommodation, etc.
I play an active role in working to
attain a campus free from racism by
helping all students in Management
211 (and in my Employment
Discrimination Law course) to become
more aware of the prevalence of racial
slurs and stereotypes and to
understand the legal ramifications
associated with their use in the work
environment.
Dr Ramona L. Paetzold, J.D.
Assistant Professor of Management
Return signs
to Hobby Hall
Hobby Hall, in their attempt to save
their lawn, recently made two
wonderful stop signs. These signs were
placed on the ugly path which cuts our
lawn into two unequal halves. The
purpose of the signs was to encourage
fellow Aggies and visitors to use the
sidewalks provided. When the signs
were placed in the pathway on the
evening of the 24th, one was stolen. I
hate to use the word stolen, Ags, but
that's the only word for it. Perhaps it
was a joke. If someone knows who
took it, please encourage them to
return it to Hobby hall. No questions
will be asked, but I hope whoever did
it has a guilty conscience. We are only
trying to improve the outlook of the
campus.
Meredith Gillum
Class of'93
accompanied by three other signatures
Bible stands
against gays
God "does not lie or change his
mind; for he is not a man that he
should change his mind" (1 Sam 15 :
29). "I the Lord do not change"
(Malachi 3 : 6). And, again, "Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today,
and forever" (Hebrews 13 : 8). It would
be impossible for Jesus to disagree with
the father or his laws. Jesus said about
the biblical law, "Do not think that I
have come to abolish them. I tell the
truth, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not
the least stoke of a pen, will by any
means disappear from the law"
(Matthew 5 : 18-20). The bible states
that homosexuality is an abomination
(Duet 18 : 22). "If a man lies with a man
as one lies with a woman, both of them
have done what is detestable, they
must be put to death; their blood will
be on their own heads" (Leviticus 20 :
13).
Romans 1 : 29 says about
homosexuality, "We know God's
righteous decree that those who do
such things deserve death." This isn't
popular, but it's bible. Nothing turns
my stomach more than a hypocrite
who proclaims to believe the bible
preaching of what the bible
condemns."Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral . . . nor
homosexual offenders . . . will inherit
the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6 :
9-10).
"Sodom and Gomorrah . . . gave
themselves up to sexual immortality
and perversion. They serve as an
example of those who suffer the
punishment of eternal fire" (Jude 7).
Jesus talked about the punishment of
Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 17 : 26-
28). He said to the adulterous women
"go and sin no more." He does not
accept sin nor excuse it but, he forgives
it. But you must repent and turn from
it (1 John 1 : 9). Unless they repent,
homosexuals will go to hell (Rev 21 : 8).
The Bible says that Satan's "servants
masquerade as servants of
righteousness" (2 Corinthians 11 : 13).
Just because someone calls himself a
"Christian" does not mean he is one.
Jesus said you know a tree by it's fruit.
The fruit of a Christian isn't going to be
making an abomination acceptable in
the church. Christians won't openly
defy the Bible.
Jesus commanded us to "walk in
love." Second John six says "this is
love, that we walk in obedience to his
commands." Homosexuality has
always been an abomination to him
and always will be. We all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God
(Romans 3 : 23). But, the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ
(Romans 6 : 23).
I don't believe in harassing
homosexuals. However, God cannot lie
and doesn't change. We can't rewrite
the Bible or comprise the truth. These
preachers are hypocrites.'"
Dale Legar
Class of '92
Gays, lesbians
have it right
I can't believe some "people" here at
A&M. Rob Sherrard, you have a
problem. You say that people who are
homosexual have a problem. You're
definitely right - they have to deal with
jerks like you. You say that gays and
lesbians are not normal, but what is
"normal?" As far as I can tell, "normal"
is that which comes naturally to a
person. And if that means a man loves
another man, or a woman loves
another woman, then that's normal for
them.
How many times have you griped to
your buddies, "I just don't understand
women!" And how many women have
lamented, "Men equate romance with
sex!" Women know what they like, and
men know how men think, so it seems
to me that gays and lesbians have it
right.
We heterosexuals are the ones who
are confused! If you need to hate
someone, hate people who are cruel,
dishonest or criminal, not those people
who don't share your lifestyle. Get out
of your cave Sherrard! The
Neanderthal days are gone!
Kris Baldwin
Class of'95
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be faxed to 845-2647.