PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — OCTOBER 21,1994
Guinness says religion vital to liberty
By CECILIA LYNN CASEY
Dr. Os Guinness delivered the
1994 Staley Foundation Lecture
on Oct. 11 in the Leon Russell
Chapel on the campus of North
Carolina Wesleyan College. His
lecture was entitled “Making the
World Safe for Diversity: Free
dom of Conscience in a World of
Tribalism and Pluralism.”
Dr. Guinness outlined 15
points, with each of the 15 points
having three parts, on how Ameri
cans need to guard against falling
into tribalism. He pointed out that
there is a danger of not seeing
America as a land divided by trib
alism, yet in some places, such as
California, there are schools that
have as many as 90 different reli
gions represented among their
student body.
Dr. Guinness suggested that by
strengthening our freedom, and
by remembering that freedom of
religion is the most important
freedom, America will be able to
keep tribalism at bay. In the first
of his 15 points he said there are
three stages in building a society
that will remain free: 1) winning
freedom, which we have done, 2)
ordering freedom, which we have
done, and 3) sustaining freedom.
News and Quotes
you can use or lose
New advertising campaign
In Baltimore bankers have begun an ad campaign to
convince bank robbers to stop robbing banks. The aver
age bank robber nets $2,000 — and serves 25 years. A
record 333 banks were robbed in 1993.
Gilligan’s island
One third of all Gilligan’s Island episodes were about
getting off the island.
Lost on the information highway
President Clinton can be sent electronic mail via the
Internet. His address is president@whitehouse.gov. To
reach Vice President Gore, the address is vice-
president® whitehouse.gov.
Birth control information
• A child bom in 1993 to a middle-income family will
cost his/her parents $231,140 by the time he/she reaches
17.
• Vasectomies aren’t foolproof — six percent failed in
a recent study.
• Forty percent of teens have had sex by the time they
reach ninth grade, and only 45 percent reported that they
used a condom.
Chicken meat
Free range chickens are no more nutritious than tradi
tionally raised chickens and they are almost twice as
likely to be contaminated with salmonella bacteria.
Flower power
Flowers cut in the afternoon will last longer and be
more fragrant.
Famous words
• Marci Klein, daughter of Calvin Klein — “My only
complaint about having a father in fashion is that every
time I’m about to go to bed with a guy I have to look at
my dad’s name all over his underwear.”
• Senator John McCain, urging a filibuster-pocked Sen
ate to adjourn on time — “Most Americans want us to get
. out 0f.t0iVJi..The}i .think .we-have .done enough- hann.
' '
which is where he says we need
to pay more attention.
His third point discussed three
reasons why religion is vital to a
free nation. Guinness said free
dom of conscience is the source
and the safeguard to liberty, that
religion is close to the heart, and
that the First Amendment is the
answer to the problems of die
world. He also said the combina
tion of church and state is impor
tant to freedom.
Dr. Guinness maintained that
it is through religion and the prac
tice of religion that living with
deep difference can be achieved,
because that is where deep con
science is developed and main
tained, and it is when one is truly
religious that one truly comes to
respect the rights of others. He
discussed how keeping respect for
the rights of everyone needs to be
guarded not only by secular
means, but by helping everyone
have the right, and the means, to
develop their conscience.
Dr. Guinness pointed out the
need for tough, robust debate be
tween people and religions, nqt
in order to overwhelm each other,
but in order to clarify each sidS,
so each can be respected without
either losing their beliefs or iden
tity.
I
I
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Student Radio Schedule
The following is tlie programming
schedule for Student Radio. Tune in
on Channel 33 for all these shows:
Sunday
Alan Felton
9 p.m. to Midnight
■■ ';T^sday- : ,
Paitnck'Branrian "
9 p.m. to Midnight
Wednesday
John Morgan and Will Olivet-Gallo
8 p.m. to Midnight
Thursday
Scott Rolfe and Matthew May
! 9 p.m. to Midnight