The Battalion
Opinion
Page 9
Monday • March 24, 1997
Bearing the cross
ruth transcends flawed messengers Resurrection Week challenges A&M
arkness comes in
many colors. But
it always comes —
n to the invincible.
every human life
re are always mo-
nts of isolated dark-
swhere there are no
ire arguments, no
re justifications, no
m paths to take, and
way around ttie hurt
:ause those who lis-
ihave gone away.
Today, the students of
asfcs A&M usher in a week which nev-
ailsto bring conflict, confusion and
ic moments—Resurrection Week.
Christians set this week aside to
earn at the world, hoping to con-
!t sinners and, at the same time, of-
the hope of the Gospel.
Non-Christians see this week as
opportunity to prove that God
not and could not exist.
Despite the polarity between the
) groups, truth is an absolute entity
ich will present itself in due time.
Conventional wisdom will always
jintto an evolved creation, rather
i a seven-day miracle. It also will
eal flaws and contradictions of an
r-translated, multi-authored
look, not to mention the time-tested
■votion of leading world religions
(■rich point away from Christianity.
u Above all, any educated individ-
Jcan see the obvious frailty of the
lowers of Christ.
I Looking at some Christians’
Induct, it becomes painfully ob-
rtltfcus that Jesus of Nazareth was
rejjust a man — a far cry from the
holy, loving God he claimed to be.
Some Christians often forget
at they too are sinners. Even the
ini Bible said, “For all have sinned and
Blen short of the glory of God.”
■tomans 3.23)
§ Consider the attitude of Christian
Iteachers like Tom Short, who come
j to campus just to stir emotions,
g Short stands in front of Sul Ross,
& quoting verse after verse from the
0 :lble while he encourages animosity
With the other side of his mouth.
hopleiike him cannot claim to fol-
1 ^someone who was supposed to
^ ^perfect.
,e Short and the Christians like him
. ^sinners as well.
m The Satan they preach against is
ibleto speak to them just as much as
^ ’fcan speak to anyone.
^ 0I With this in mind, the truth of
Iristian fallibility seems obvious
fen among Christians.
Jesus himself told the religious
seders of his day to “throw the
h histone,” as long as they were
inocent of sin. The leaders did
'Otanswer Jesus’ question but
lowly walked away, leaving
| a j accused woman in the
ost where they threw her.
Obviously, Christians
P Wiot successfully
! jrve a perfect God
9 ith imperfect
ends.
LhYivy Hu'ly
®Jrve, Short and
hristians
P ike must
i^ 1 eve God’s
orp 056
** Spite their
Opinion Editor
Alex Walters
Senior
journalism major
sins and cormpted, hu
man hearts.
Only a holy, wonder
ful God can work mira
cles with tools such as
anger, competitiveness,
prideful knowledge and
confrontation.
“Stump-preachers” al
ways breed argument in
stead of conviction. After
the screaming match is
over, the audience will
only take away anger and
mocking laughter.
This laughter will linger into
the darkest hours of the
night, when no one is around to
share the joke, a joke that develops
into a thought, a thought that
leads to a quiet question without
an answer.
And there, in the dark place,
there is no one to be impressed
with knowledge, a quick wit or
conventional wisdom.
The only other person in that dark
place isn’t worth much.
His hair is matted with blood,
his face wet with spit, his hands
ripped open and his feet bound in
humiliation.
His name is Jesus, and He will wait
in the darkness, because His children
are worth everything to him—from
the imperfect messen
ger to the laughing
skeptic.
>o
vf/
s? a
I n mankind’s sor
did background,
there are a few
truly watershed
events. One such oc
casion has influ
enced world culture
so much, that it has
become the accept
ed focal point on the
timeline of history.
The collage of
Texas A&M programs
this week, labeled
Resurrection Week, should not
be dismissed as a religious ritu
al, but used as a resource to
form an opinion on the most
significant occurrence since the
dawn of civilization. •
There, the gauntlet has
been thrown.
Resurrection Week can be
seen as a week-long seminar on
an important religion (although
to use the word religion would
be a fallacy since religion is
man’s attempt to reach God,
and Christianity is God’s at
tempt to reach man).
Resweek is not handed
down by an educational
committee. It is a produc
tion by a significant number
of students. To understand
what makes a large minori
ty of the campus tick, an
examination of Chris
tianity is essential.
Russell Klawit-
ter, head of
Resweek this
year and se
nior agri-
Columnist
Joshua Hill
Sophomore
English major
cultural systems man
agement major and ,
said he hopes Resweek
will educate people on
the power of the resur
rection over sin and
why Christ died.
“He who has the Son
has life; he who does
not have the Son of
God does not have
life,” Klawitter said,
quoting 1 John 5:12.
“My hope is that peo
ple will understand what we’re
blabbering about.”
There are two groups of
people, especially, who have a
cultural obligation to check
out Christianity*thoroughly.
The first group is the com
pletely ignorant.
This is the group which
learned about Christianity
from secondary sources. They
see it on television, read about
scandals and religious fights in
newspapers and learn in
school about the Crusades, the
Inquisition and the inter-reli
gious wars.
To them, the world scope of
Christianity is vile enough to
justify its rejection.
Unfortunately, most of these
people don’t know what they
are rejecting. They don’t know
who Jesus is, they think Judaism
and Christianity are separate
faiths and they don’t under
stand the whole “sacrifice for
salvation” concept.
Rejecting Christianity before
having a full understanding of it
is a rejection of spiritual and in
tellectual integrity.
The second body of individ
uals who need to take advan
tage of Resweek are the
“Cultural Christians.”
This is a group of peo
ple who grew up in a
church or around a lot
of Christian influ
ences. Somehow they
conclude that they
are Christians.
1
/
/
<cr"
L (
At Beach Reach ‘97, a Christian
outreach program, students on
spring break were asked if they
had considered Christianity.
A common response was: “I
go to church.” Others were:
“I’m a pretty good person,”
“My parents are Christians,”
and even “I go to Baylor.”
As these students were told,
none of these factors has any
thing to do with Christianity.
As Jesus told a Pharisee, “Unless
one is born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God.”
The first birth is a traumatic
event for the individual com
ing out, and life for him has
completely changed. Likewise,
the birth into the kingdom of
God is a one-time, life-chang
ing event.
Sadly, Christianity is still
somewhat “in,” attracting a
great number of false fronts,
people and organizations
that practice lip-service
Christianity.
If students claim to be Chris
tians and take full responsibility
for the driver’s seats in their
lives, something is wrong.
That seat belongs to God.
For those “Christians” who
don’t have a clue, Resweek is a
great opportunity to Jearn
about things with which they
are ignorant or unfamiliar.
For the Christians who have a
clue but aren’t doing anything,
Resweek should be a wakeup call,
driving them to take some sort of
positive action.
When a Christian is “born
again,” he should do the same
thing that a baby does — name
ly, grow up and get involved.
The challenge is here, the
time is this week.
Information on Resweek can
be found at the web site:
http: / /http, tamu.edu/ -resweek.
Schedules of events will be
posted everywhere, and the mes
sage is presented through drama,
music and dynamic speakers.
Students may disagree with
the given material, but the ed
ucational experience will not
be boring.
Students must learn
what they are rejecting or
embracing, and Resur
rection Week is an
opportunity to
teach them.
tte kbch
/'
i
f
H
l.dM
iversi
Mail
Student leaves
pleasant memories
An article ran recently in the
Battalion, concerning the recent
death of Mary Jane Malone.
For those who never knew
Mary Jane, the article probably
seemed appropriate, but those
who shared in the joy of her ex
istence know that her life merits
more than just the factual detail
of the car accident, and it takes
more than just six sentences to
describe what a treasure she
was to all who knew her.
Mary Jane Malone was a ju
nior English major from Shreve
port, LA. She was a member of
Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and
the Conference on Student Gov
ernment. Stating that Mary Jane
was an active individual is not
sufficient for the amazing
amount of energy she had. Mary
Jane put her heart and soul into
everything she did whether it be
for an organization or just living
life. She never did anything half
heartedly.
Just seeing Mary Jane’s smil
ing face as she bounced across
campus would brighten any
one’s day. She overflowed with
creativity, and her humor and
spontaneity could keep anyone
laughing for hours. She always
found the good in others and
loved them for it.
Mary Jane Malone loved life and
lived it to it’s fullest. She left a color
ful impression on the hearts and
lives of all her family and friends.
Though her death was with
out a doubt an unexpected
tragedy, the joy of her life must
not be overshadowed by the
pain of her death. So, please,
don’t remember the accident,
remember Mary Jane.
Ashley Perricone
Class of’00
West Campus bus
stop needs repair
Every time it rains, the bus stop
at Wehner becomes a huge mud
pit. I, and countless others, have
ruined many pairs of shoes trying
to get from the bus to the concrete.
Could somebody (the Uni
versity) please use some of our
General Use Fee, to throw some
concrete or build a sidewalk.
R Neela
Class of ’98
The Battalion encourages letters to the ed
itor. Letters must be 300 words or fewer and
include the author’s name, class, and phone
number.
The opinion editor reserves the right to edit
letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters
may be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc
Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also
be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu