The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, April 2, 1993 Page: 2 of 16
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2 FRIDAY. APRIL 2, 1993 THE RICE THRESHER
OPINION
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Farewell
October's special issue symbolizes
dedication, ability of staff
If there is one thing this year's Thresher staff will remember of
our time as editors, it is October 22,1992. They will remember it
because on that date at 11 a.m., President Rupp announced his
resignation in a surprise news conference, and immediately follow-
ing, we decided the Thresher was doing its first extra issue.
We will remember it as the day we came to realize just how
talented, committed, and extraordinary our staff really is. Remem-
ber that October 22 was a Thursday morning, and like every
Thursday morning this year, we and our staff had seen the sunrise
from our second-floor office window after a grueling night of edit-
ing, layout, design, computer failures, cutting, sizing, and, finally,
driving to the printer. It took a lot of effort to answer the phone that
Thursday morning when we got the call announcing the press
conference. But when we walked into the Founder's Room to join
the rest of the Houston press corps, our own core of the Thresher
editorial staff was already seated, and had saved us seats.
Immediately afterwards, we huddled. We discussed what had
been said, decided we were going to publish an extra insert, as-
signed leads and angles to each person, and promised to meet back
at our office at 2 p.m. to compare notes and begin the story.
Adrenaline was running through the office all morning and all
afternoon, and not once did we stop to think of how tired we all
were. We had even interrupted a class to pull out one of our staff
members. When it was finally done and distributed at 10 p.m. that
evening, we collapsed in a weary, hungry heap at a local Mexican
food restaurant None of us had changed clothes, showered, or
properly rested...but we were happy. We were proud. Not once
that day had any of the staff members even paused to complain or
to question the extra burden we had placed upon their shoulders.
We cannot imagine working with better, more competent people.
We will miss you dearly.
In our positions as editors, we have learned from Rice's commu-
nity and our staff. You have both shown us that nothing is impos-
sible if a group of dedicated and talented people will work together
and sacrifice a little to get it You have taught us that decisions are
often hard, but that they are only hard because they are the right
ones.
—Leezie Kim and Chad Carson
¥ • Ul£__/r I a| "I
Rice Thresher
Leezie Kim, Chad Carson
Editors-in-Oiief
Shane A, Speciale
Business Manager
NEWS
Eric Carmichael, Kraettli Epperson
Editors
Melissa Williams, Amy Jeter Assistant
Editors
Haley S. Robertson S/4
Correspondent
Monnie McGee GSA Correspondent
Sara Maurer, Shala Phillips, Patricia
I in, Sanjit Ganguli, Kevin Mistry,
Jean Kosela, Keith Hoffman,Torrey
Polk, Terzah Ewing
OPINION
John McCoy Editor
Jym Schwartz Columnist
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Jenny Salomon, Shaila Dewan
Editors
Jill Salomon, Tima Bell, Marc Hirsh,
Eric Stotts, William Li
BACKPAGE
Erica Ollmann, John Tolle Editors
PHOTOGRAPHY
Barbara Solon Editor
Chris Sonneborn Assistant Editor
Sarah Emery, Alyssa Terk
SPORTS
David Hale Editor
Terzah Ewing Assistant Editor
Erica Levine, Tony Tran, Stuart
Krohn.JasonKatz, Lynanne Foster,
Riva Rahl, Tim Lam
PRODUCTION
Josh Denk Production Manager
Kei Furukawa Copy Editor
BUSINESS
Shane A. Speciale Ads Manager
George D. Nickas Ads Production
Katherine A. McKee Assistant
Business Manager
© COPYRIGHT 1993
Phone: 527-4801
The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper at Rice University since 1916,
is published each Friday during the school year, except during examination periods
and holidays, by the students of Rice University. Editorial and business offices are
located on the second floor of the Ley Student Center, P.O. Box 1892, Houston,
Texas, 77251. Advertising information available on request. Mail subscription
rate per semester $20.00 domestic, $40.00 international via first class mail.
Non-subscription rate: first copy free, second copy $1.00. Letters to the editor
must be received by 5 p.m. on the Monday prior to publication. Unsigned editorials
represent the majority opinion of the Thresher Editorial Staff. All other pieces
represent the opinion of the author. Obviously.
WAIT! PON'T
JUMP! THERE'S
MORE NEWS
COMING IN1!
Christianity debate ignores assumptions
To the editors:
The past several weeks have
brought to the Thresher a steady
stream of commentary on InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship's fliers. I am not
a member of IV, but the fliers were so
strongly worded that I have watched
with interest the debate orbiting them.
Much of the discussion has focussed
on words like "intolerance" and "faith,"
with judgements such as "arrogant,"
"childish," and "closed-minded" lev-
elled against IV. There appears to be a
rampant misunderstanding, however,
as to the proper application of the
word "intolerant": specifically, that to
believe something uniquely true re-
quires intolerance of conflicting ideas.
Webster defines "tolerate" as "to
recognize and respect others' beliefs
without necessarily agreeing with
them" (my emphasis). Thus, one
would not be intolerant for believing
does this, preferring instead to arbi-
trarily assume the accuracy of their
own definitions. This violates the terms
of their own professed quest for truth,
namely a refusal to take anything for
granted.
The predictable response to this
charge is that Christianity also fails to
THE EDITOR
Letters
something (e.g. Christianity) to be
true; intolerance would be denying
others the right to disagree with you.
Is this the case with IV, or with
evangelical Christianity in general?
The only evidence seems to be a flier
which presents a controversial belief
(that Christianity has a unique claim
to truth). The flier does not espouse
ostracism of those who disagree, nor
does it even suggest that everyone
must agree with it; it merely claims a
specific point of view to be truth.
In fact, Christianity's reaction to its
claim of unique truth is exactly that
mentioned by McFarland: a life of
"compassion, love, and faithfulness"
toward man which flows from a God-
given love whose ultimate end is the
glory of God. One who truly under-
stood the truth of Christ would not use
his faith as a weapon of hate toward
others, so an ad hominem argument
outlining the failures of specific Chris-
tians is not a critique of the standard
they fail to follow.
Addressing some specifics in
Martin's and McFarland's letters, I
find their definitions of faith so vague
as to lack clear application to daily life,
but it is clear that their arguments
hinge on 1) their definitions of faith
and 2) the a priori assumption that
they themselves are not mistaken.
Both Martin and McFarland rightly
assert that evangelical Christianity
holds to different definitions of faith
and truth than those proposed in their
letters. The logical approach would be
to compare the two definitions of each
term, using each as the basis for a
critique of the systems which depend
on them. Unfortunately, neither letter
Martin implies that Christians
claim to possess all truth,
though I have never met such a
Christian in my 21 years.
approach the issue without presuppo-
sitions; how then can we be said to
make a reasonable choice?True, Bib-
lical Christianity rests on certain pre-
suppositions, foremost being faith in
the infallible authority of the Bible.
But it is equally true that Christianity
does not require its adherents to be-
lieve that all ideas are equal; that ex-
pectation is simply not a part of Chris-
tianity, and in order to "respect" Chris-
tianity, one must allow it to work un-
der its own presuppositions, not an
externally imposed (i.e. extra-biblical)
set
Martin and McFarland make simi-
lar unwarranted assumptions about
Christianity throughout their letters.
For instance, McFarland asserts that
"the pursuits [of all religions] are es-
sentially the same," but his unstated
assumption (and largest point of de-
parture from biblical Christianity) is
that all methods of approaching this
pursuit are equally fruitful. He may
find this claim "childish," but this he
offers only as an unsupported opinion
(and a fascinating appraisal of a faith
with such a rich historical tradition).
Similarly, Mar-
tin implies that in-
dividual Christians
claim to possess all
truth, though I
have never met
such a Christian in
my 21 years. In-
deed, the Bible
warns us that our
thoughts are not as
God's thoughts (i.e. truth). The Bible
dpes not claim to contain all truths in
all areas (calculus, to give an obvious
example). Nor should individual Chris-
tians claim to know every last truth
which the Bible does hold. Rather,
Christians claim that the Bible, not
human reason, is the final word on
those matters to which it speaks, and
that it speaks on all matters of spiritual
relevance to mankind. This claim may
be rejected, but any critique of Chris-
tianity which denies this presupposi-
tion merely makes the useless obser-
vation that Christianity will not stand
on the foundation of non-Christian
assumptions.
This misunderstanding is the cen-
tral problem with both letters, for both
gentlemen criticize the ramifications
see Christianity, page 3
WRC beer-bike shirts offend
To the editors:
I am the parent of a student aPRice
University. Recently on the Rice cam-
pus an event occurred that has of-
fended me as a member of the Chris-
tian faith.
On Saturday, March 20, Will Rice
College held their annual Beer Bike-a-
thon which I understand is a beer-
chugging, bike-racing contest-atypi-
cal college-type festivity to which I
have no objection. However, the T-
shirt worn by the participants was in
my opinion highly objectionable and
in very poor taste.
On this T-shirt was a screen print
of M ichelangelo's Sistene Chapel ren-
dition of the god of the Christian faith
as he is creating the universe. As a
Christian, having our God as the "mas-
cot" of a beer-chugging contest is in
itself extremely offensive and irrever-
ent. However, on the Will Rice T-shirt
version, God is also holding a can of
beer in his hand, as if to cheer on the
beer-chugging bikers.
I cannot imagine why a group of
supposedly high-caliber students, who
can adhere to an honor code, would
use as a theme of their festivities some-
thing that degrades and defames the
deity worshipped and held sacred by
the major religions in the United
States. I am sure that if the Muslim
God Allah, Buddha, or even Martin
Luther King were portrayed in a like
degrading manner, there would be an
uproar fromthe community that would
not go unheard.
Officials and administrators or
Wee, some of your students gave your
university a black eye this week. A
person of good taste and character
does not use his "free-speech" rights
to ridicule the handicapped, make ra-
cial and ethnic slurs, or insult
someone's mother. Neither does he
defame the things held sacred and
worshipped by others.
It grieves me as a student parent to
have lost some of the respect and
admiration I had for your institution;
and itgrievesmeeven more that these
students choose to dishonor the God
that I love.
Anne W. Cutcher
Shreveport, LA
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Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, April 2, 1993, newspaper, April 2, 1993; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245839/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.