The Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 21, 1986 Page: 2 of 8
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Editorial
Editor’s Dissent
by Kenny Simon
Our campus has been graced this
past week with two very fine lecture
series as part of the* Fleming and
Willson Lecture series that bring
qualified and informative speakers to
Southwestern. The Fleming series
have brought four distinguished
guest speakers who have taken dif-
ferent approaches to understanding
economics through a religious
thought process, whether from the
view of Protestantism, Catholicism,
Islamism, or Bhuddism. The Willson
series have brought returnee Dr.
Brown with a discussion on Religion
and the Role of Dissent and his wife
with a separate lecture series on
Work, Women, and the Future. We
thank these people for their insight
on the above mentioned subject mat
ter.
1 bring This to your attention,
however, because most of you missed
it. That’s right, with a full week of
lectures slated for the most part dur-
ing times when most could attend, a
large segment of the campus’ popula-
tion failed to make a showing to at
least one lecture. As I attended dif-
ferent segments of the lectures, this
fact kept hitting me in the face. It is
no wonder the American poulace is
so often misinformed, we just do not
seem to take interest, especially in op-
portunities such as this week.
It is understandable that a person
with a busy schedule could not have
conceivably attended every lecture,
but attempts could have been made, I
think, to go to at least one. There
were more Georgetown residents in
Cullen auditorium to hear Dr. Brown
than SU students. This type of
apathetic behavior towards special
events makes me wonder why we are
busy vying for national maturity
when we do not yet have campus-
wide academic maturity.
There are a minority of students
who do make efforts in this area. It
is worth noting that these are, for the
most part, the same students who at-
tend music specials, plays, other
special events, and the Brown Sym-
posium. While we are dealing with
generalizations it is also safe to say
that there are more interested women
on this campus (even though they
have a higher population ratio to
men) as well as independents that fall
within the context of this minority.
Now, since our campus is approx-
imately sixty percent Greek, this
leads me to safely conclude taht most
of our student body does not take an
active interest in the slew of academic
activities that take place outside of
class.
Brown Symposium is perhaps the
biggest joke we have. Referred to as
“Brown Break,” it is an excuse for
an extra long weekend of fun and
games. Admissions points proudly to
this event in its recruiting program as
an extended weekend in which
students take a break from their nor-
mal academic routine to enrich their
store of knowledge on a specific
topic. The truth is that most people
never found out who Benjamin Brit-
ten was last year, much less that an
opera was performed on campus or
what it was all about.
What is even scarier is that a group
of students led by John Jansen and
Mary Buchanan are attempting to
convince the school that we neec)
another distinguished speaker Lec-
ture Series that will focus on current
issues and will attract political elite to
speak. This is a great idea, one that I
heartily support, but based on pre-
sent conditions of attendance to
similar programs, who will attend?
The same eager group of people who
make it a point to get involved now.
These are not the politically active
who join groups and tell as they do
so. No, these are the people who
listen, provide intelligent and not so
intelligent input, and attempt to ex-
pand themselves within the context of
the academic environment.
I criticize the Greek community
first of all, because they statistically
comprise the majority of the student
body. 1 also criticize special interests
like the FAB crew and the Science
majors. I realize that there are in-
dividuals in all of these groupings
who do not fit my generalizations,
and you know who you are. The fact
remains, however, that most students
do not take interest and find out what
is happening in their own backyards.
Peace Week begins next week, not to
mention city elections-get involved
and redeem yourself, you might learn
something new.
Editorial Cartoon
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The Megaphone Staff
Editor .........................Kenneth O. Simon
Asst. Editor .......................Kris McGowen
Feature Writers ....................Joey Gimenez
..........J. Morris Huddleston
Staff Cartoonist ....................Grant Smith
Photography .........................Kim Owens
Production ..........................Heidi Lewis
.........................Darla Walker
.......................Camille Santry
The Megaphone is a student publication of Southwestern University,
Georgetown, Texas. All content is by editorial selection. Send comoments
to Box 6048, S.U. Station.
Willson Lecturer speaks
on God and Dissent
by Keim>t>Simon
Southwestern has been the host this
past week to both the Fleping Guest
Lecture Series, which hosts visiting
professors and the Willson
Distinguished Speaker Series. The
Willson speaker on Religion and the
Role o J the Dissent was Dr. Robert
McAfee Brown, a nationally known
ecumenist, theologian, and historian.
Dr. Brown has been active in peace
movements and is currently involved
with Latin American liberation
groups, particularly in Nicaragua.
Dr. Brown’s series came in three
parts; the first focused on the “God
and Caesar” problem of Church vs.
Slate, Wednesday at ll A.M., the se-
cond on Nicaragua, Wednesday at 2
P.M., and the third lecture Thursday
at ll A.M. on the subject of the
Church as a Sanctuary for criminals.
Throughout all of his lectures Dr.
Brown focused on the choice Chris-
tians must make in societal relations
today and when dissent from state rule
becomes necessary.
The central theme that came out of
Brown’s lectures is that Christians
should be partisans to the truth. They-
should not only perceive the “truth of
falsehood, but also the falsehood in
their own truth.”
He began by citing some scriptural
examples from both the Old and New
Testaments of how initial allegiance
falls to God and secondary allegiance
to the state. According to the Synoptic
tradition, Christ makes this distinc-
tion, as cited by the humorous account
of Brown, between rendering unto
Caesar what i$ Caesar’s and unto God
that which is God’s. The problem
often encountered is where to draw the
line.
It is in light of this that Christians
must make applicable to their own day
and age this principle. They must
judge the truth from the wrong in
given situations. Brown cited ex-
amples of Nazi Germany and the Fight
of the Confessing Church with the
famous Barrman Declaration, South
African apartheid, and the nuclear
weapons issue.
As he later pointed out in his lecture
on Nicaragua, people must also gather
as much information as possible to
perceive the truth and then to act upon
it. Acting is an essential step to mak-
ing the world a better place, especially
when the truth is often difficult to
discern. It is much easier, according to
Dr. Brown, to claim neutrality (which
is simply giving strength to the majori-
ty) than to dissent against a realized
wrong.
Dr. Brown is continuing his work
in the area of world peace and his
understanding of the Christian role in
the modern world.
The
White House
Fellowships
A unique opportunity
for outstanding Americans
early in their careers to
work for a year at
the highest levels of
the Federal Government
For more information:
The President’s Commission on
White House Fellowships
712 (ackson Place, N.YV.
Washington, D.C. 20503
(202) 395-4522
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The Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 21, 1986, newspaper, March 21, 1986; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth634545/m1/2/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Southwestern University.