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' President
of Prayer folio*
I n the wake of the largest terrorist
attack in American history, questions
of religion and
faith have become
central in the eyes of
the nation. Churches
across the country
were flooded with
worshippers who
needed a place to pray
and mourn for those
who were murdered
in the attacks. Despite the
solace to be found in churches, organized
religion as a whole has caused more pain
and suffering than it is worth.
Undoubtedly, religion in one form or
another is an important aspect of each
individual’s life, regardless of whether
one actually attends church. In order to
make sense of the world around them,
each individual must have some basic set
of beliefs in order to sensibly make their
way through the world.
However, while religion itself is
important to individuals, organized reli
gion has been a burden to society rather
than a help. Since before the Crusades,
people of organized faiths have been
competing with
each other to
prove that their
religion is the one
true religion. As a
result, the world
has been inundat
ed with holy wars
throughout history.
The most infamous example was the
Crusades of 1096, when Pope Urban II pro
moted warfare under the auspice of reclaim
ing the Holy Lands from the barbarian
Turks. Although the Crusades are the most
well-known, it is by no means the only
major war fought over religious differences.
The Huguenot Wars, also known as the
Wars of Religion, were a series of civil wars
in late 16th century France in which the
immediate issue was the French Protestant’s
struggle for freedom of worship.
Despite this, organized religion has
been cited as a simple solution for vir
tually all of society’s problems.
Concern about violent crime, espe
cially deadly crimes committed by
youths on other youths has had the
nation’s attention for over a year, and
numerous columnists and religious
leaders have pointed to decreased atten
dance in church as the reason.
Ironically, such solutions are proposed
at a time when violent crime is drop
ping. Violent crime against children is
also decreasing.
The fact is that despite, or perhaps
However, while religion itself is
important to individuals, organ
ized religion has been a burden
to society rather than a help.
because of, a society that has become
more secular, the world has become a
better place over all. This is because for
the first time in history, people are begin
ning to realize that the edicts of organ
ized religion must be thought about and
considered before an individual adopts
those ideas. As Martin Luther argued in
the early 16th century, individuals must
be able to think about religion on their
own without the church acting as an
intermediary. Once people begin to think
for themselves and develop their own
moral codes, the world stands in a much
better position for peaceful progression.
Even as an individual successfully
argued that religion does not cause vio
lence, it certainly does nothing to stop it.
Religion serves as a useful tool for those
who wish to perpetrate it.
In wartime when virtually every
American has been affected by the recent
tragedy, churches have served a function in
providing people with a place to congregate
and mourn our losses in prayer. However,
at the same time, Muslims within our com
munity are too frightened to leave their
homes for fear of misguided retribution.
Why would Americans do such a
thing? Perhaps they have read Matthew
10:14-15, in
which Jesus tells
his disciples to
condemn those
who do not fol
low his teach
ings. If Jesus has
such a low
regard for non-believers, why should his
followers? In this way, religious teach
ings can be used to promote violence
and anger towards those of other faiths.
As Robert Green Ingersoll said in
“Crumbling Creeds,” “the doctrine of
eternal punishment is in perfect harmo
ny with the savagery of the men who
made the orthodox creed.”
America has needed a place to come
together and mourn, and for such pur
poses the churches have been useful.
However, as a whole, organized religion
has led to Holy Inquisitions, religious
warfare and individual cases of violence
against those of other faiths.
Hopefully the near future will allow us
to come to the point where organized reli
gion will no longer be necessary, where
each person will take the time to educate
themselves about the various own views,
experiences and needs. The time for indi
viduals to be molded by the views of the
churches they grew up in has come to a
close.
Rich Bray is a junior
journalism major.
SHARMILA BADKAR • THE BATTALION
dies in New 1051
tgton, D.C.,
They will comps]
igeles, Calif.,
at the ITA Al
^Michael Jordan should stay off the court
impionsfrips.
s team was als
participate in
legiate being hoS
r University
Waco, but tl*
Irew earlier #
next compete
m Antonio win*
te in the UTSi
ctober 5-7.
M ichael Jordan left the
NBA at the top of his
career. He hit the
vinning shot in the NBA
: inals and left on top of the
>ame. In Jordan's last six full
ieasons, he won six champi-
mships. Charles Barkley char-
derize Jordan as “the best to
w play the game.”
mance from tfe
thest ranked nff
ns redshirted se'
the experiencef
championships
er runners (fori*
: are going to ^
oing to be a yomi
e squad.
CONS I
vrters For Rock,
' Aggie T-shirts!
MENTION
TIC AND
LS. INCENSE
RY. POSTEFSl
i more!
\rs Court
I ALL
THOMAS
CAMPBELL
By announcing his return as a player, Jordan
elinquished his role as President of the
Vashington Wizards where he was in charge of
(layer operations. While rebuilding a team can
aketime, there has been no headway in his effort
omake the Wizards a championship-caliber team.
Jordan has been working out and practicing
ance March in an ill-advised effort to make a
econd comeback. On Tuesday, Jordan
innounced by fax, the much anticipated decision
oreturn as a player to the NBA. Jordan’s return,
lowever, will not benefit himself or the Wizards.
Jordan will always be considered at least
me of the best ever, but his imminent come-
ack is a mistake. At age 38, Jordan will no
onger be able to play at the level he once
(layed. Jordan will not only be playing agains't
other teams or challenging his teammates —
Jordan will be playing against his own title as
the greatest basketball player ever. Jordan will
be competing against how great he was with
the Chicago Bulls — and he will lose.
A few months ago, Jordan broke some ribs
in a scrimmage. One of Jordan’s best friends,
Barkley, witnessed Jordan’s injury. Barkley
said “It wasn’t a rough tactic when he got hurt,
and it was something that 10 years ago would
n’t have affected him.” Things that would not
have bothered Jordan before have become more
of an issue now, since his body is aging.
Jordan’s return will also be bad for the future
of the Wizards franchise when dealing with
their NBA success. The best thing the Wizards
can do is build their team around the young and
talented Kwame Brown, their number one draft
pick in 2001. Brown is 20 years younger than
Jordan, and has the potential to play many more
years. The Wizards team is young, and when
Jordan plays with them, it could stifle the
team’s growth. Jordan will be the go-to player,
which would mean less chances for the young
and inexperienced players to improve.
The Wizards are no-where near where a
championship team needs to be. The team will
be more reminiscent of the Chicago
“Jordanaries” of the late 1980s — teams that
were good because of Jordan, but had no one
else. Jordan’s championship teams in Chicago
had very good supporting players — which he
will not have in Washington. Washington will
improve with Jordan, but not enough to con
tend for the championship. And they will have
too good a record to continue rebuilding
through the draft.
One reason for a comeback is money. Right
now the Wizards are not one of the most mar
ketable teams in the NBA. Their only “star” has
never played a game above high school varsity.
Washington is scheduled for no games on NBC.
Adding Jordan would instantly add millions
of dollars to the Wizards revenue as well as to
the Wizards internationally marketability. NBC
Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol stated that NBC
would show the Wizards on television the maxi
mum number of times, 11, if Jordan came back.
Turner spokesman Greg Hughes said that TBS
and TNT would broadcast their maximum of 15
games for the season should Jordan return.
Going from not being nationally televised to
being seen more than any other team would
instantly add to the Wizards profits, which
Jordan has a vested interest. Jordan is currently
an owner in the 5-10 percent range according to
ESPN. According to CNN, Jordan, the Wizards
and NBA Commissioner David Stern had meet
ings to talk about transferring his share in the
Wizards for a larger share of the Washington
Capitals, an NHL team, as well as the parent
company of both teams.
Jordan’s return looks more like a financial
deal than anything else, despite his pledge to
give his entire salary to victims of the attack in
Washington and New York. The only people it
would benefit are those in line to make money
off of his return, including Jordan himself,
despite his charity in donating his salary.
Jordan has passed the torch to such stars as
Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant and
Tim Duncan. By taking the spotlight away from
these young players, NBA fans may lose interest
when Jordan retires again in a year or two.
It is time for Jordan to make his mark and
show his excellence in a new way, in the front
office of the Wizards. Jordan can create a new
legacy a GM, and further build the legend of his
His Airness.
Thomas Campbell is a senior
agricultural journalism major.
banning media
protects lives
'n response to George Deutsch’s
Sepf. 26th column:
F
«
Ir. Deutsch’s idea of letting the
^ nedia accompany the military
luring combat operations may
7 1 sound like a great idea in the class-
oom and on paper, unfortunately
1 doesn't work nearly that well out
tithe field. My own experience in
lealing with the media came while
fcrving as a machine gunner in
he United States Marine Corps in
Somalia in 1995. My gun team,
with three others, was sent
in ahead of the rest of the battalion
to secure the area. As soon as we
hit the beach, reporters and cam
eramen were all over us.
Everytime a firefight would break
out, media personnel would come
rushing in. There is enough to
worry about when a sniper is tak
ing shots at you and your fellow
Marines without having to worry
about some reporter or camera
man getting in your way and com
promising your life or the lives of
your fellow Marines. The ban on
civilian media accompaniment of
our troops is to protect the lives of
our fighting men and it is the right
thing to do.
Steve Griddle
Class of2004
MAIL CALL
UT grad admires
Aggie pride
As a 4th generation UT gradu
ate, I never fully understood the
Spirit of Aggieland until
Saturday, Sept. 22nd. I was on
campus to watch my son,
Kenneth, who is a fish in the
Corps. Once I saw the t-shirts, I
had to have one and to attend
the game. Thank goodness I
could still get a ticket. The half
time performance of the Aggie
Band was incredible and in the
silence prior to the playing of
God Bless America someone
yelled, ‘‘Beat the hell Outta, bin
laden!” Before I knew it, I let out
siiiSiliiB*
CARTOON OF THE DAY
a whoop! with the rest of the
Aggies. I am so proud of the stu
dents’ efforts to RWB Out Kyle
Field and of the cooperative
efforts of Aggies across the state
to produce the shirts. The patri
otism displayed by the current
and former A&M students was
obvious. They are the type of
people who have and will contin
ue to make our country great.
Ann Symanek
Get off the phone
If there is one thing that was
never meant to happen in the
progression of mankind, I think
it would be talking on a cell
phone while riding a bike.
There is a fundamental prob
lem with using one hand to
steer and the other to hold a
cell phone to make an undoubt
edly important phone call.
I used to get frustrated with
traffic on freeways caused by
distracted drivers talking on
cell phones, but I think that
this is a far greater danger to
people. It amazes me that peo
ple can ride their bikes around
campus wherever they want
and expect priority over the
vast majority of campus,
pedestrians.
Thomas Franklin
Class of2005
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