letters
Greek rebuttal
I'm usually not easily
provoked to write rebuttals to
people knocking my way of life,
everyone is entitled to their own
opinion, but the Oct 30 letters
concerning Greek life have
gone too far Time and space do
not permit me to refute both
derogatory ietters, so i wili con
cern myself with a letter by John
Grove entitled Greek Excess
Grove has the right to his own
opinion, and I respect that, but I
have absolutely no respect for
his stereotypically derived false
contentions
He is upset that the greek
system has been described as
a “microcosm'’ of American
society and that it's ' structure
and organization place it in a
class of ideologically uniform,
socially biased, and ritualistic
organizations '' He says that
society is “adverse to pretty
rules that impinge upon per
sonal freedom " Grove, I think a
$50 ticket for roller skating on
uncrowded sidewalks in
Eugene is pretty petty, yet you
and I are subject to it. are we
ideologically uniform? Also,
how many fraternity rituals have
you sat in on? All of the rituals
I've sat in on (six initiations or 24
rituals) have been saturated
with strongly positive biblical
and philosophical quotes, how
does that "impinge on personal
freedom7" As to your evaluation
of our structure and organiza
tion not being a "microcosm of
American society,'' you ob
viously have not looked into the
matter The structure and or
ganization of the Greek system
is that of any business organ
ization — from Exxon to the UO
Bookstore This organization
starts at the top with the pres
ident of the Interfraternity
Council and Panhellenic who
oversee the operation of the
interfraternal committee sys
tem Aiso, in each and every
fraternity and sorority there are
officers elected to oversee
chapter activities and the
chapter committee system
Throw in all the committee
chairman and members and
you've got a large number of
people involved All of these
leadership positions and com
mittee activities are recognized
by employers around the
country as practical learning
experiences that can be directly
applied to the real world As an
economics student, Grove, can
you not see the benefit here
Can you not see that since the
Greek system is a miniature bu
siness society, and that the
majority of Americans are in
volved in a business of some
kind, that the Greek system is in
a way a "microcosm of Amer
ican society7"
Grove, you say that you are
insulted by the Greeks' lofty an
alogies (i.e "Pan-Hellenic
Councils'). well I'm insulted by
your name-calling and stereo
typing based on narrow and
shallow reasoning Your ar
gument, like some of the Greek
classifieds, is. in your words,
"intellectually stunted!"
Don Chambers Jr.
Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity
Senior, economics
Cults criticism
Regarding several criticisms
of two articles on cults (Emer
ald, Oct 23)
First, Merrl Horine (Nov 6)
labels them "opinionated Dick
Beswick and I were interviewed
— along with others with differ
ent perspectives — for our views
and opinions We have studied
cults and taught about them, as
Christians — as our views
demonstrate — but that does not
make the entire article "opin
ionated "
Second, Horine dismisses the
Bible as "translated from a long
dead language by modern,
human translators " Biblical
Greek and Hebrew are hardly
"long dead” — centuries of
scholarly study have kept them
alive worldwide The perennial
"but hasn't it been translated so
many times..." argument ig
nores the fact that modern ar
cheological and textual
discoveries reveal more about
the Bible than previously known
(see F F Bruce, The New Tes
tament Documents — Are They
Reliable? and J W Mont
gomery, History and Christiani
ty )
Third, Linda Jecson (Nov 4)
accuses Christians of "picking
and choosing” from the Bible
(as we described cults as doing)
if they don’t obey the Old Tes
tament dietary laws, etc Biblical
Christians accept the full inspir
ation of the Scripture and inter
pret Scripture by Scripture (sola
scriptura) From the New Tes
tament we know that not every
Old Testament imperative is
presently binding, i.e the die
tary laws are fulfilled by Christ
as are Old Testament rituals
(see the book of Hebrews). The
relationship between the Tes
taments must be considered in
biblical ethics Also, the fact that
some Christians (rightly or
wrongly) emphasize certain
parts of the bible more than
others is certainly not the same
as deleting what is disliked (as
do the cults)
Douglas Groothuis
Graduate, philosophy
Christian perspective
Our interview on cults (Ri
chard Beswick and Doug
Groothius) was not a defense of
Christianity, but rather a Chris
tian perspective on the new
cults Christendom has been
tagged with many criticisms —
some of which I share
I think Eastern pantheism
(and its many forms like Gnos
ticism) fails as a candidate for
moral, kind-hearted people who
practice and believe eastern
religion. The point is. that in a
system where distinctions
between opposites (like good
and evil) are thought to be illu
sory — many groups, historical
ly, have used this to be an ex
cuse for pretty gross behavior
Now gross behavior in the name
of Christ is also an historic fact,
but Jesus predicted wolves in
sheep's clothing
I said that it is always danger
ous to pick and choose from the
Bible and not take it as an in
spired whole Do not read into
that remark a defense of estab
lishment churches who end up
doing the same thing. Jesus did
much to promote the equality
between men and women and
Paul strengthened that thrust
J
although he gets a lot of bad
press on issues like feminism
and slavery because Paul. too.
gets read selectively by critics
The Bible will always cut
against the majority grain, but
that is due to sin and not incon
sistency within the text. I am
glad to talk with anyone who is
really concerned with these is
sues and not just in writing let
ters to the editor
Richard Beswlck
Restoration Campus Minister
ROTC no!
Pres Paul Olum's view in the
Environmental Law Clinic and
ROTC, as reported in the Emer
ald, left me totally confused It is
not clear whether the confusion
stems from Olum, from the
Emerald reporting, or from mis
understandings on my part
As I read it. he seems to
regard the law clinic as some
thing essentially foreign to the
University, appropriate for ad
ministrative decisions, while the
ROTC is an intergral part of our
academic program and
therefore the responsibility of
the faculty. I am glad that we
agree that it is the faculty re
sponsibility to decide curricular
matters and the nature of our
academic prgram — not the
province of administration
The University gets outside
monies to assist in running
many of its important programs
— in our department, for exam
ple, large government grants for
Genetics Training Program,
Molecular Biology and Neuro
biology
The difference is that in the
case of ROTC the Department
of Defense not only supplies
most of the money but also ap
points and pays the staff, deter
mines their tour of duty with us
and controls the curriculum
The students even have to take
a loyalty oath when they enter
the program and sign a contract
to serve in the army after
graduation as they go into the
advanced portion of the pro
gram
In practice, military loyalty
oaths are not interpreted to
mean basic intelligent loyalty to
our country — which could in
volve very active opposition to
the policies of a given adminis
tration — but rather to mean
obedience to directives and
order handed down from higher
up in the military hierarchy.
This is antithetical to every
thing a good University should
stand for. I am not aware of any
of these objectionable features
in connection with the law clin
ic. .
Bayard H. McConnaughey
Department of Biology
Parousia
It will come as suddenly as a
thief in the night. No one will
know the time that it will
happen We will be studying,
partying, planning, loving and
eating Everything will seem
routine and normal The day of
Jesus Christ will come And he
will descend from the clouds on
a white horse surrounded by
angels. No, this is not a fairy
tale It is not even simple fiction
Truth. He will really come and
judge the world Every single
person will have his chance to
stand before the Throne of God
It won’t matter if you are alive or
dead, liberal or conservative, a
demonstrator or a doctor, a
student or a nice, elderly woman
living in Beverly Hills. It won't
matter what nice things you did
for people It won't matter what
church you attended. It won't
even matter if you read the Bi
ble
Did you accept Jesus Christ,
the Savior of the World, into
your heart? Did you believe in
Him? He did die for you and me,
and now He is alive He loves us
with a love that no one on Earth
could ever give
It is not a choice between
heaven and non-existence It is
a choice between heaven and
hell, and they both exist We
have a chance to make that
choice everyday, and whatever
you or I choose right now is
deciding what will happen to us
when we hear the voice of God
on that wonderful and terrible
day
Anyone can believe in Jesus
Anyone can pray Search your
soul Think about it. Really think
about it. If you decide that you
believe, you will spend the rest
of eternity with The King If you
decide that there is something
else, or that there is more than
one way, then you will spend the
rest of that same eternity in hell
in torment.
You don't need to understand
all the mysteries, and you don't
need to send your brains away
in a bag. Pray. Jesus loves you.
Think about it.
Mich ad Schroeder
Senior, biology
Bike victim
On February 4, 1981, I was
struck by a bicyclist in the
University Avenue crosswalk on
my way to a night class. The
force of the collision knocked
me to the pavement, resulting in
multiple facial lacerations, tem
porary loss of feeling in my right
arm and hand, and a permanent
scar above my eye. As I lay
bleeding and unconscious in
the middle of the street, Univer
sity campus security officer Hal
Frey was quickly on the scene to
administer first-aid and tran
sport me to medical facilities.
Later, Hal visited me in the
hospital offering any assistance
he could.
I was saddened, then, to read
in the Emerald that Hal Frey also
fell victim to a bicyclist while
crossing a street. Many of the
circumstances were all too
familiar, a speeding bike, no
lights, and absolutely no warn
ing
The lesson to be learned here
is obvious; a bicycle can be a
dangerous weapon, similar to
that of any other moving vehi
cle Anyone riding a bicycle at
night without a light is a fool,
endangering innocent people in
the process. Further, an ap
proaching bicycle is virtually
silent. Consequently, the in
nocent pedestrian is placed in
an extremely vulnerable posi
tion neither seeing nor hearing
anything coming
To this day I continue to see
bicyclists on campus wreck
lessly weaving past pedestrians
at crosswalks, sometimes oper
ating their vehicle without the
use of hands on either the
steering bar or brake controls.
This mindless behavior on the
part of the uncaring few must
cease; after all, you could be the
next victim of their irresponsible
conduct.
To Hal Frey, a top-notch
professional security officer and
a wonderful human being, I
send my wishes for a quick and
full recovery.
Gerald E. Kosanovic
Graduate student