opinion
IFC needs to respect church-state limits
The IFC decided not to fund groups promot
ing religious points of view, but it’s having trouble
deciding the difference between religion and
culture.
ASUO Pres. Dave Eaton should help the
committee clarify the distinction to insure the
separation of church and state. Clearly, student
money shouldn’t be used to fund religious groups.
It’s clear to us that the Campus Crusade for
Christ and the Latter Day Saints Student Union are
both religious organizations. Yet the IFC approved
the goals of the Mormons and denied the goals of
the CCC.
Considering the circumstances, maybe we
should pray the IFC nails down some consistency
before budget hearings begin.
IFC chairer Jon Neiderbach lamely argues the
difference between the two groups is that the CCC
tries to convert students while the Mormons
promote social activities and explain Mormon
culture to students.
But there isn’t a religious group in the world
that can’t claim at least some historical unique
ness, and as long as their primary reason for
existence is religion they shouldn’t be funded.
If the IFC funds the Mormons, every con
ceivable religious group in the cosmos of Eugene
will claim a unique culture and the need for
student dollars.
None of them should be funded.
We also question the propriety of IFC member
Susan Harris casting the deciding vote in the 4-3
decision to accept the Mormon’s goals. Her hus
band Dan is the director of the LDSSU.
Harris should have voluntarily removed her
self from the voting.
Now it’s up to Eaton to correct this glaring
inconsistency in IFC policy.
His veto should be immediate, and should not
depend on consultation with leaders of the Cam
pus Interfaith Ministry. Unfortunately, Eaton has
shown an unusual lack of resolve in the matter.
Eaton should waste no time in getting the IFC
back on the right track, and the committee should
re-read its policy on funding of religious groups.
And then perhaps the mistake can be for
given.
vours
Prophecies
In response to Susan Plass and her
critique of the prophecy in Ezekiel 38 and
39, one must grant that she has dis
covered the greatest apparent inconsis
tency between Ezekiel’s vision and
modern warfare. That a modern army
should be equipped with shields and
bucklers does seem unlikely. One possi
ble explanation is that the vision is sym
bolic, as is much of the imagery in the
Bible. The vision was revealed in a form
comprehensible to a man of his day. On
the matter of the burning of the weapons,
note that the BMP, the standard Soviet
personnel carrier, has magnesium
armor, which is combustible Perhaps
the magnesium will be used as a fuel to
melt down the other weapons in a
gigantic salvage operation.
Ezekiel 38, verses 2-6, identifies the
enemy of Israel as Magog, leading the
hostile forces, wich include Persia, Eth
iopia and Libya, along with Gomer and
the house of Togarmah. Turning to Wil
liam Smith’s "Bible Dictionary” one finds
Magog defined as “...representing the
Scythians, in the sense of the general
tribes north of the Caucasus." Gog is
called the chief prince of Meschech and
Tubal, identified by Smith as Armenia
and Georgia, respectively. Sounds like
Russia, doesn’t it? Taking Persia, Eth
iopia and Libya at face value (and as
suming that Iran will gravitate toward the
Soviet sphere in time) we see the outline
of the Soviet coalition. Smith equates
Gomer with the Cimmerians, a people of
the Eurasian steppes, in what is now the
USSR. Togarmah referes again to Ar
menia, and this repeated reference to
that area may indicate the route of the
invading army from the north.
In verse 8, it says that the invaders
shall "...come into the land that is
brought back from the sword, and is
gathered out of many people, against the
mountains of Israel, which have always
been waste...” This verse does not refer
to the Egyptian nor Babylonian captivity,
because Israel is gathered out of many
nations. The reference is to the Roman
captivity, which is ending in our time.
Verse 13 names other nations sup
porting the invaders. Sheba refers to the
kingdom of that name, which was locat
ed in the area of what is now Yemen.
Dedan is identified on one old Biblical
map I have seen as an area in northern
Saudi Arabia. The merchants of Tarshish
were the traders of metals in the ancient
eastern Mediterranean. This may refer
either to their main trading city, Tyre
(now a center of PLO. strength) or to
their modern counterparts, the mer
chants of petroleum (Iraq, Kuwait, Bah
rein et al) or both. In Ezekiel 39, verse 18,
the fallen invaders are described as “fa
llings of Basham” Bashan refers to the
land to the east of the river Jordan,
including northern Jordan and part of
Syria
The list is complete. The enemies of
Israel include the Soviet Union, Iran,
Ethiopia, Libya (possibly with African
allies) the PLO, Yemen, Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, and the Arab
Gulf sheikdoms. They will attack Israel
and be destroyed. Note that Egypt is not
listed among the enemies of Israel.
These two nations will apparently be at
peace with one another. The prophecy
bears a striking resemblance to the pre
sent geopolitical situation, and suggests
the eventual outcome of the struggle
between Iraq and Iran will place both
nations on the side of the Soviet Union in
the war against Israel.
Steve Hanselman
Graduate, History
Bad reactions
In reading student reactions to the
freeing of the American hostages I was
rather sickened by the hypocrisy shown
by American students who wished to see
the hostages tried and "punished.”
If some of the hostages were spying on
Iranian affairs (a sad thing, but a practice
of every country) then it is not for us to
hold them up as scapegoats for their
employer — the United States govern
ment, i.e. you and I.
I seriously doubt if any student on this
campus could provide proof of covert
activity against Iran committed by the
hostages. However, if these Americans
so strongly object to covert activity by the
U S. government I would suggest they
work to change these policies (or cease
to support them by renouncing their U S.
citizenship) instead of casually
suggesting that those Americans whom
they will never know or come in contact
with take the blame for years of practices
that all Americans are guilty of.
It seems to me that the students quot
ed in the Emerald Tuesday find it easy to
point a finger at a scapegoat over an
issue they know little of. This is an issue
that all Americans must stand up for, not
simply 52 bystanders.
I doubt the students would cry “trial"
or take up the cause if there were any
personal sacrifice involved.
Kimberly Insley
Sophomore, pre-journalism
From Stupid
This letter is from the old bum, Stupid
himself, regarding the article (Monday) in
the Emerald.
I feel that, due to the ignorance of the
reporter, I have been publicly insulted.
The reputation of Stupid has "been
dragged in the dust," and a public
apology should be the next point on the
agenda!
Cal! me an old tramp, a bum, or what
ever pleases you (let your conscience be
your guide) and I will answer it with a
smile. But refer to me as a "political
character” and the smile leaves, to be
replaced with a permanent frown, until
appropriate public apology brings the
smile back!
I have no quarrel with the rest of the
article.
The road to damnation, I’m sure, is
paved with good intentions. Yours for
honest reporting,
Stupid
Veterans reply
In response to Tuesday’s Emerald ar
ticle on Ron Phillips standing on the
American flag while reading anti-war
poetry we want it to be clear that this was
done as an individual action by Mr. Phil
lips and that he did not represent
University Veterans.
While we understand the feelings of
Mr. Phillips which led to such action we
have to note that all that was accom
plished was the alienation of those we
are trying to reach
We regret that the Emerald chose not
to make it clear this was an individual
action and hope that in the future it will
try to do responsible and accurate
reporting.
David Isenberg
Acting director, University Veterans
letters policy
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