Newspapers / North Carolina Wesleyan University … / Nov. 6, 1992, edition 1 / Page 3
Part of North Carolina Wesleyan University Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
NOVEMBER 6,1992 — THE DECREE — PAGE 3 Wesleyan not true to stated purpose By KENNETH LEONARD The Statement of Institutional Purpose of North Carolina Wes leyan College claims that NCWC “strongly affirms the ideals of Christianity” and hopes to help students “understand and respect the Judeo-Chiistian heritage.” Oh, really? What are these ideals that are being promoted? Rather than en couraging chastity, the college makes condoms easily available for those with no ability to con trol themselves. While the halls are filled with liberal materials of every sort, there was an office that was forced to remove Bible verses on dis play. (I saw the verses before the thought police attacked. It was far from offensive, quite time by my standards.) In one of my classes my first semester here, the professor told us not to believe anything that doesn’t sound reasonable, and specifically cited Jesus, the Bible, and religion in general as things to rationalize. He then commented on the Virgin Birth, contending that there were a lot of “virgin births” — it was, he said, a popu lar story to cover for pre-mar riage pregnancies. I am trying to keep the professor anonymous, but I want to emphasize that reli gion was not directly related to the topic. I never saw the connec tion, in fact. In another class, the professor accused Christians of being war mongers, claiming that we use (Continued from Page 2) experience the bicycle trip past a graveyard I lived near; I can see the New Mexico desert stretch ing beyond the graves; I can feel my youthful enthusiasm for books. My records bring back even more memories. My eighth-grade girlfriend’s childish handwriting telling me that she had seen me dancing with some long-forgot- ten Shirley still scrawls across tlie back of an old Sonny and Cher album. I remember taking this record to an after-school dance, but I cannot remember which of these silly songs we danced to. When I found a Ventures album, I began instinctively dancing to “Wipe Out” aod;h0ari«g>;tl}B ' God as an excuse to go to war. Not that we ever believe we are fighting for anything for God, that it is a worldly interest. This is strongly affirming Christian ide als? A member of the faculty told me a story about a girl who was failing a class for the second time. Interested in finding the problem, the faculty member went to talk to the student’s advisor. The ad visor said that the student was just “discovering sex” and that she should be given some lee way. The advisor was proud of her. Interesting. I do not think that this is what was meant in the statement when it says “fi’eedom of intellectual inquiry.” I have heard it proposed more than a few times by several fac ulty and staff that Paul, the early leader of the Christian church, was homosexual. In a religion class last semester. Buddhism was given a better shake than Funda mentalism. The list of offenses against Christian ideals goes on and on. I did not come to Wesleyan because I thought it would be seminary, nor did I expect that it would even be as squarely on the religious right as 1.1 came know ing it to be a liberal arts schools, and (as is the Methodist Church of which I am a member) well to my left in ideology. I did not ex pect, however, to have the secu lar left running rampant. I cer tainly did not expect to have the “homosexual rights” agenda Center in Albany, Ga. I can trace my life through these records and books. My solo- saxophone stage; my party-dance music stage; my search through autobiographies for validation of my own ideas; the tremendous piling-up of books during gradu ate school. I wish I had a warehouse in which I could keep in chrono logical order the' things” that de fined me at particular ages. Per haps attics and garages used to contain tliis kind of history, and we have too much stuff now. But I must admit finally that even though I know I don’t “need” physical objects to re member my past, they certainly Opinion shoved down my throat at every turn. Here we see the problems in herent in the religious left. By changing with the times so that they keep their appeal to the pub lic, they have made it impossible to distinguish between the Chris tian and the heathen. If you can not tell the difference, there is in fact none. Welcome to North Carolina Whatever College. I do not attend the chapel ser- A racial slur in a pledge pam phlet has resulted in a fraternity being suspended from the Uni versity of Georgia campus for an indefinite period. University officials discovered that a printed pamphlet for Pi Kappa Phi fraternity contained the phrase “no niggers.” An investi gation revealed that some frater nity members khew about the slur and chose to do nothing about it. More than 1,000 students signed a petition demanding that the fraternity be ousted from the campus. The petition was started by the university’s chapter of the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People. The suspension resulted fi-om an Oct. 22 hearing in which the fraternity exercised its option to have the case heard by an admin istrative officer rather than a stu dent panel. The fiatemity can ap ply for reinstatement during the summer of 1993. “I intend the time during this suspension to be spent learning and teaching the value of diver sity in a modern university and to satisfy the expectations an nounced by your national organi zation and your local alumni,” wrote William Bracewell, direc tor of judicial programs who served as hearing officer on the case. Pi Kappa Phi president James “Tripp” Ackerman III appeared at a recent meeting with the Black Greek Council and read a state ment of apology by the pamphlet’s author. He said the fraternity did not condone the material. i'. '.’“The. offensive st^eacneati was not ain(k>ned;by the ohaj^tetpDesi- vice, a fact which was used against me (just after the class not in — the professor appar ently thinks that I am a fair target in my absence) to question my devotion. The fact is that I don’t need to waste my time hearing from the religious left and bor derline secularists. I prefer to hear sermons meant to change people, not to make them feel all warm and fuzzy and tolerant of every thing, even what is wrong — but not what is right. What are the ideals being af firmed? Surely not the Bible’s moral teachings. Surely not even tolerance, considering the mock- dent or the brotherhood,” Ackerman said. “I regret that this situation may have caused others to form negative opinions about the Lambda chapter, the Greek community, or the University of Georgia community as a whole.” The Greek organizations at the university reacted strongly to the incident, officials said. The (Continued from Page 2) ing, ripping, and crushing of chil dren who are too young to even speak for themselves), and a lot of other terrible causes. And Clinton, who flip-flops on both sides of an issue with no regard for the truth, one who disregards the importance of character — this is who we are settling for, by not voting Republican! Now, to the 52 people who ery made of Fundamentalism and the forced removal of the Bible verses. There is no reason that Wes leyan, supposedly a Christian school, has to make itself look as secular as the other schools. And if NCWC is going to do so, the administration should be honest enough to clarify its Statement of Purpose: “NCWC will force you to de fend your beliefs constantly un less you do not believe that God wants to change your life.” Honesty is another Christian ideal. If nothing else, tell us what we’re getting into. school’s sororities have refused to participate in Pi Kappa Phi’s annual philanthropic War of the Roses football tournament this year. The ruling against the fi^ter- nity was unexpected, though wel comed, said Jonathan Bums, man aging editor of the Red and Black, the campus newspaper. had the guts and character to make a good choice: stand with the Wesleyan College Republicans. Yes, you are Wesleyan students, but remember, you are Ameri cans, too. Don’t get caught up in the liberals’ murderous, hideous, unpatriotic stand on the issues. Stand for the right! Brad Barnes (Barnes is president of the Wesleyan College Republicans.) force me to rewembe!fji>,9sljarj|, Aoisesof ftidaymghtsatthe^TwH-* • •’•‘Cleaf'Wajti. NCCD $ QUICK? $$$$$$$$$$$$$ WISSTEMN HJNEOH MONISM TEANSFIEE "The Ft^test Way to Send Money" • It couldn't be easier. Just go to MAIL BOXES ETC. and, within minutes, money will be wired into your wallet. • Convenient location in Hunter Hill Shopping Center near Pizza Inn. CALL 443-7700 or visit 841 COUNTRY CLUB DRIVE ■ * •’ MuntCTHiilShb|)piilgC6titer in Rodcy Mount •* ''.yy:'. —Mr.,..; r; r^ Things define history Slur leads to frafs suspension Keep standing for the right
North Carolina Wesleyan University Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Nov. 6, 1992, edition 1
3
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75