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Throughout the course of the American Midterm elections and all the tangled story lines and prospective change, I was struck by probably the least innocuous item of the event: the cross hanging around Hilary Rodham Clinton’s neck.
According to commentators, this gesture was not intended to reflect Hilary’s personal convictions, but rather was a blatant grab for the largely religious American Heartland. While much could be said about the ethics behind Hilary’s dealing of the “God Card,” what captured me was the manner in which the most prominent Christian symbol was being represented: as a tool for winning votes.
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November 21, 2006 | Leave a Comment
If I were to be honest, I would have to say that the illusion of community is one of my most cynical criticisms of campus life. I feel that we toss around this idea of “community” quite haphazardly. But perhaps the power outage this past week may cause me to eat my words.
On Wednesday the power outage seemed, at first, like a gift from God. The first thing I thought was, “Finally, silence.” There was that initial glee at classes being cancelled, and I found myself sighing with relief. By six or seven, though, the fun had ended. It then became quite apparent that the masses of people spilling out of every crack of Reimer and Douglas would not soon be alleviated. An intense annoyance boiled inside of me. “Why is there nowhere quiet to study?” I cried.
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November 21, 2006 | Leave a Comment
I mostly agree with Sarah Endacott’s assertion that “Christians need to approach left-wing politics with an open mind and thoughtfulness instead of immediately dismissing it because of a few policies” (“A defense of the left,” Nov. 1).
Endacott is right to say that leftism overlaps Christianity in areas “such as charity, justice, fairness, and recognition of human dignity,” but it does not follow that all Christian values necessarily have a place in the structuring of government. Regarding charity specifically, the two most fundamental questions are: (1) From whom should charity arise? and (2) Does the government have a moral obligation to extend charity?
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November 21, 2006 | Leave a Comment
I believe that our entire life is a journey to find God, and in response find out who we are in God. In a bigger picture, this is worship: to pay reverence to God in response to what we find about Him, what we find about ourselves, and realizing that we are mere mortals and yet God’s grace still covers us.
I also believe that worship is not a set of motions or songs we sing; how we live our life ought to be worship. However, I have a problem when people take this concept to mean that it is fine if worship is merely a mindset and that people need not gather if we are all worshiping in our private spheres.
