2008 Woodie Awards
Extremist judgement
Amy Larson
Issue date: 10/30/06 Section: Forum
One thing that I really liked that I saw at the rally the other day was a student standing up, trying to spread the word of God in a nice calm manner. A crowd of students had crowded around everyone's favorite attraction, the guy with the Bible, and nothing but screaming could be heard. However, one student stepped up and tried to explain what the real message of the whole protest was. He then proceeded to offer his time to those who wanted to speak about the issues by saying he would be more than glad to sit down and talk to anyone who wanted to talk him calmly about the situation over by a bench in the academic quad.
Even though I did not really see anyone approach this student to engage in a conversation with him about the topic, I really admired what he did, and I feel the rest of the Christians on campus should really follow his example. I know I don't do nearly enough to spread the word of God, and that's nobody's fault but my own. I'm not saying that every Christian on campus doesn't spread the word of God, either, but just that I thought what this student did was a nice paradigm of what we, as Christians, should be doing. I know the campus Covenant Fellowship group on campus goes out and talks to people about Christianity, and I admire that.
We need to go out there and spread the word. We need to show everyone that Christian extremists are indeed a minority, but they get the most attention because they're the most extreme. We need to show them that our God is a loving God, not one that is full of hate, which is a message that these extremists portray without even realizing it.
I'm a Christian, and I'm anti-abortion (although I do believe that the issue of abortion extends beyond just religion, and is a fundamentally moral issue). I agreed with the message they were trying to get across about abortion, but I didn't agree with the means they went about it, such as the slandering. The giant pictures of the aborted fetuses, I don't think I'm for them simply against the fact that it gets people talking about them. Almost everywhere I went on the day of the protest, everyone in the room was usually talking about the protestors and the signs they were holding up. Sure, most people were disgusted by them, but it got them talking, and it could easily introduce two people of opposing views and actually implement a conversation about the topic. I know I've engaged in many conversations with those who are pro-choice because of this group coming to campus over the years, but this is the only advantage I can see coming from these pictures.
What I'm basically trying to say is extremists inaccurately portray Christianity day in and day out. Take the group God Hates Fags and their appearance at soldiers' funerals. Most Christians are not like this. I think it's the job of other Christians, including myself, to try to stop this inaccurate portrayal by spreading the word as much as possible. We need to show everyone that most Christians are sompassionate, loving individualls, not people filled with hatered and contempt for most of mankind. Who will join me?
Amy Larson is a junior at West Chester University.
Even though I did not really see anyone approach this student to engage in a conversation with him about the topic, I really admired what he did, and I feel the rest of the Christians on campus should really follow his example. I know I don't do nearly enough to spread the word of God, and that's nobody's fault but my own. I'm not saying that every Christian on campus doesn't spread the word of God, either, but just that I thought what this student did was a nice paradigm of what we, as Christians, should be doing. I know the campus Covenant Fellowship group on campus goes out and talks to people about Christianity, and I admire that.
We need to go out there and spread the word. We need to show everyone that Christian extremists are indeed a minority, but they get the most attention because they're the most extreme. We need to show them that our God is a loving God, not one that is full of hate, which is a message that these extremists portray without even realizing it.
I'm a Christian, and I'm anti-abortion (although I do believe that the issue of abortion extends beyond just religion, and is a fundamentally moral issue). I agreed with the message they were trying to get across about abortion, but I didn't agree with the means they went about it, such as the slandering. The giant pictures of the aborted fetuses, I don't think I'm for them simply against the fact that it gets people talking about them. Almost everywhere I went on the day of the protest, everyone in the room was usually talking about the protestors and the signs they were holding up. Sure, most people were disgusted by them, but it got them talking, and it could easily introduce two people of opposing views and actually implement a conversation about the topic. I know I've engaged in many conversations with those who are pro-choice because of this group coming to campus over the years, but this is the only advantage I can see coming from these pictures.
What I'm basically trying to say is extremists inaccurately portray Christianity day in and day out. Take the group God Hates Fags and their appearance at soldiers' funerals. Most Christians are not like this. I think it's the job of other Christians, including myself, to try to stop this inaccurate portrayal by spreading the word as much as possible. We need to show everyone that most Christians are sompassionate, loving individualls, not people filled with hatered and contempt for most of mankind. Who will join me?
Amy Larson is a junior at West Chester University.
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pacp
posted 10/31/06 @ 1:54 AM EST
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