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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (June 3, 1998)
3 ÏÎHE CkckAMAS P r ÌNT What is evil and where does it come from? JOEL P. SHEMPERT Feature Editor Evil is prevalent in our society. The Springfield inci dent is but the latest incident of children slaying one another that has been enshrined in the press. Add to this the even more startling statistics reported in the media that today’s kids are more likely to kill themselves or be killed by their elders than to kill each other. And these are only the most extreme examples. Nearly everyone, every where believes something perpe trated by his fellow man to be wrong, immoral, unjust—evil. But what is evil? even I believe one factor of evil’s per self- vasiveness is the popularization of a simplistic concept of evil. We tend destruc as human beings to paint evil, as we tive do everything else, with too wide a ones rare i brush, desiring a clear-cut definition, and end up labeling only the worst, acts of most vile acts as wrong while miss self- ing entirely the “smaller,” more subtle kinds of evil. interest. It is often that one will hear, in Joel P. Shempert art and in life alike, about an “evil” man or woman. Likewise do we hear Feature Editor talk of “good” individuals. But what do we mean when we say this? That a good man does no wrong or an evil man does no right? Again, it is too broad a brush. We draw artificial lines to reassure ourselves, wanting des- perately to call the Joseph Stalins, Jeffery Dahmers and Adolph Hitlers of the world “evil,” while entertaining the notion that “at least I’m okay.” This mood is, in my belief, a direct byproduct of the humanist tenet that “man is basically good.” This flies in the face of all available evidence, as history of the world unfolds to us a tale of death, murder, betrayal, oppression, unfaithfulness, cruelty, and pain. If man truly is good at his core, what a rebellion against his nature have been the last six thousand-odd years! In the Christian perspective, we see no such illusion. Christ Himself dealt not with humanity’s goodness, but its evil. “O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” He declared to His enemies, while to His very own followers He posed the question, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in Heaven give good things to those that ask Him?” Whether Jesus’ response to humanity was stern (“You have turned my Father’s house into a den of thieves!”) or tender (“Go, your sins are forgiven”), he ever acknowl edged the evil in our hearts and offered the way to com bat it, not in human strength, but in submission to God. When a friend of Ludwig von Beethoven’s signed a manuscript copy, “With God’s help,” the composer is said to have scribbled irritably, “O man, help yourself.” Yet Beethoven himself died bitter and unfulfilled, and when the young Franz Schubert visited him on his death bed, he proclaimed, “Truly this Schubert has the Divine Fire.” Schubert, the man of God, possessed something that Beethoven, a self-made man, lacked. Theologian Ravi Zacharias relates a conversation in which a companion of his said to a prosperous construc tion baron who was asking questions about evil in the world, “Since evil seems to bother you so much, I would be curious to know what you have done about the evil you see within you.” As the popular psychological axiom says, admitting you have a problem really is the first step. I, as must as the other six billion people on this globe, must take responsibility for my evil thoughts and actions. Is it any wonder, then, that in this increasingly rela tivistic society, we cannot solve the problem of evil in society, since with no consensus of right and wrong, we cannot identify the evil in ourselves? One cannot remove the objective basis for morality, and then ex pect moral behavior out of society. Relativism is a social cancer. It is what killed Greek society, it is what killed the Roman empire, and it is ultimately what will kill us. So what, then, is evil? A complete discussion is im possible here. But suffice to say that evil is, in the Chris tian view, simply rebellion against the will of God. Thus, the source of evil has always been attributed in our the ology to pride—the exaltation of se//above all else, even the Creator. Nearly all evil acts, even self-destructive ones, are acts of self-interest. Songwriter Steve Taylor hit the nail on the head when he penned a pivotal verse of the song, Violent Blue: “And I don’t believe it’s the way you were raised, or the cards you were dealt, or a poor self-image. I think you love yourself too much, don’t you?” Ours is a theology of Compassion but also personal responsibility. This same theology claims that man was once indeed “basically good,” but is now in a corrupted state, locked in a struggle between the conscience and the evil na ture. Alone, it is a struggle we must ultimately lose. My Mormon friends display emblems proclaiming CTR— “Choose the Right.” I believe that right is found in Jesus Christ. I show you a more excellent way. Farewell and 'Thank You* to CCC CHRISTINA MUELLER Co-Editor-in-Chief * After two years at Clackamas, I will be moving on next year to Marylhurst College. Clackamas has provided me with a comfortable atmosphere and the best education possible. When I was a senior in high school deciding which college to attend, Clackamas wasn’t at the top of my list. I chose to attend Clackamas only for the low cost and convenient location. So I clearly wasn’t expecting much from my years at Clackamas. Day one on this campus my expectations changed for the better. I will never forget my first class: English 104 with Mike Kepler. He scared me half to death, but later I re alized that he was one of the best teach ers I’ve ever had. The connection I made with the Clackamas Print got me involved in campus activities early in the term. I never expected a community college to provide such activities. When I thought of a community college, I thought of older students attending classes and going home. I never could have imagined all of the clubs, pro grams and activities a person could get involved in. I had no idea that Clacka mas was such a student-driven insti tution. As if the extra-curricular activities weren’t enough to get me excited about attending Clackamas, I was even more pleased by the small classes. One of my classes even had five people in it. The lack of students in that class provided me, as well as the other students with any extra help that we needed throughout the course. Now that I am prepared to leave the college I can look back and feel pleased with my first two years. I con sider myself lucky that the cards fell in the right place and I ended up at Clackamas. I don’t think I would have been as happy elsewhere. I encourage anyone who is just start ing out in higher education to attend Clackamas. I know the doubts that you’re feeling. You’re thinking that maybe it would be more fun to live in a dorm with your friends, or that if you go to a four-year school now you won’t have to hassle with transferring in two years. And my biggest fear of coming to Clackamas was my diploma from a Finals four-year school would be different from everyone else’s because I went to Clackamas first. Let me assure you that your diploma will look exactly the same, but you will have paid a lot less for it. I also encourage everyone to get in volved in student activities. Join a club, join the Print, or become a mem ber of Associated Student Govern ment. These things will make your Clackamas experience 10 times better. You will meet so many new people and make so many new friends. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to go to school, attend classes and go home. Now that I’m moving on to a college that doesn’t have a student paper, I’m worried about what I will do to get in volved. I wish to thank everyone at Clacka mas for making these two years so memorable. Thank you to ASG for providing me with the opportunity to go to Washington D.C., and thank you for organizing such great clubs and stu dent activities. And a special thank you to Linda Vogt for teaching me so much about journalism, apostrophes and life, and for giving me all the mo tivation I needed. / 8 June 8-13 Monday/Wednesday/Friday classes: exam days will be Monday, June 8 or Wednesday, June 12. 2-3 8-9 10-11 12-1 M2-4 M8-10 MI0-12 M12-2 Itaesday/Thursday classes: exam day will be Tuesday. June 9. Class Time 8-9:30 11-12:30 3-4:30 ExamTime T8-10 TI2-2 T4-6 Conflicts: Monday, June 8 or Wednesday, June 10. Exam Time M4-6 Evening classes: exams will be at regular class times during exam week. 3-6 p.m. classes: exams will be 4-6 p.m. on regularly scheduled class day during exam week. Classes meeting at ? a.m. (or other unlisted hours): exams may be scheduled during the "Conflict" times < » any other time that does not conflict with the regular exam schedule. Class Time ExamTime priera Anthropology 242: Introduction to Field Archaeol ogy will be an exclusive course offered Summer Term. Learn how modern archaeology research is carried out by participating in the college’s first archaeological field school. The course is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for four weeks, running June.30-July 23. Some visits to other archaeological projects may require either a longer day or Saturday because of scheduling and/or distance. Contact Bob Keeler at ext. 2339, or stop by his office in M224. The college’s Summer Writers’ Workshop for Writ-. èrs of Children’s Literature and Young Adult Fiction will be held at the college July 10 and 11. Instructors Becky Hickox, Susan Fletcher and Linda Crew will run work shops and critique manuscripts for participants. Manu script deadline is June 22. The fees are $15 without a manuscript and $25 with a manuscript. For more infor mation contact Allen Widerburg at ext. 2359. The Streeter Computer Lab will be open Sunday, June 7, from noon to 7:30 p.m. and Monday, June 8, from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. The college’s literary magazine, Synethesia, is host ing a “Celebration of Writing,” a series of staff and stu dent readings on Thursday, June 4 and Friday, June 5 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Skylight Dining Room. Each reader will have 15 minutes to present his/her work. The magazine, will be distributed at that time. English Instructor Diane Averill will read poems from her new book, Beautiful Obstacles, today at 3 p.m. in the Skylight Dining Room. Two of the college’s faculty members, Janet Martin and Peggy Faulkenstein, will hold a concert Friday, June 26 at 8 p.m. at the McGuire Auditorium. Tickets are $10. More information can be obtained by calling (503) 557-9127. GOODLUCK! Wednesday, June 3, 1998
