Evangelicals deserve respect

To the Editors:

I am so proud of Oberlin. Waiting in line to vote for three to six hours, partying the whole time? My heart beamed as I watched the commotion recorded on ABC News. The next day I wore my Oberlin sweatshirt and told everyone about your commitment, passion and creativity.

How could Bush beat that?

But what happened on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2004 was a sneak attack. Yes, the Democrats were out in larger numbers than ever in living memory, thanks to the grassroots organizations that have supported the party throughout its history.

However, the Republicans were spreading, too, outside of the public sphere. While we used P. Diddy and Bruce Springsteen to Get Out The Vote, they used local pastors and online bloggers to pass their message to moral conservatives and evangelicals around the country. And it worked.

The fact is, there are plenty of compassionate, social justice-oriented, even feminist folks I know who voted for W. The fact is that a lot of folks who feed and clothe impoverished people voted purely on a superficially pro-life ticket, ignoring Iraq completely. The fact is that Oberlin was founded by a bunch of evangelical, missionizing, social justice-oriented Christians who pushed for the abolition of slavery, women’s right to vote and civil rights.

The fact is, for the past four years Oberlin College has spat upon if not shat upon that history.

After Sept. 11, 2001, we raised our voices against the war that we knew was inevitably coming, no matter who bombed us. The U.S. government didn’t listen. So the campus began attacking the weakest link in Bush’s chain of command: evangelicals.

Spring 2002 saw a series of attacks on Christianity that the administration and faculty did nothing to prevent or apologize for. It was a difficult year for all student groups as budget cuts hit campus, but the artistic and academic condemnation and disrespect of Jesus and his followers reached a feverish peak. An art show called The Rape of Mary, a religion professor personally attacking Christian students, threatening the Protestant Chaplain’s position...For the past three years, Oberlin — and Democrats around the country — has vented its frustration at the government on people of faith. Now, those people of faith are voting the Republican ticket.

We can’t afford to be degrading and insulting people who should and have agreed with our ideals. What happened to appealing to “the common good?” What happened to faith-based nonviolent reconciliation? What happened to Thomas Merton’s Fear is the Root of War? These were all things we could have used in our favor. While some student groups tried these tactics, Oberlin largely turned its head. As a Democratic party, instead of appealing to the faith of the U.S., we insulted it and focused on the economy.

Christians are supposed to forgive, but they’re just people. If you insult them, they will resent it.

For the sake of the next election, I ask you to please consider appealing to the compassion of potential voters instead of spitting on their beliefs. Instead of writing evangelicals off, consider using their language. Quite frankly, the Bush campaign was a better bunch of advertisers who sold their wares by appealing to this country’s fears. But Democrats were trying to appeal to a common vision and hope. Kerry’s appeal to faith in the second debate was too late to heal the wounds of four years — or more — of insult.

If we want to win voters’ hearts and loyalties, we cannot do so by disrespecting their motivations. And like it or not, Democrats have to reconcile with evangelicals if we have any hope of helping this country repent of its bloodthirsty addiction to war and scapegoat politics.

–Meagan Huelsenbeck, OC ’04

Professor takes Review to task for poor caption

To the Editors:

Most of the time the Review is a great paper, serving us well in many ways. But the frivolous caption for the picture on page 14 of the Nov. 5, 2004 issue is a faux pas that demands redress.

The person pictured is not a nameless member of some folk-pop group, and it was not Tuesday night. This is a picture of Fred Starner, OC ’59, performing on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2004 as part of a three day Oberlin Alumni in Folk Music Convention organized by the Folk Music Club.

Fred plays banjo and 12-string guitar and is a folk singer and activist who, soon after graduating, sailed the Hudson River on the sloop Clearwater with Pete Seeger to raise awareness of the river’s plight. Fred has been writing and performing songs all his life, and three of the songs on his latest CD were actually recorded in an earlier performance at the Cat in the Cream in 2003.

I hope that you will not only publish this letter, but reprint the photo, properly captioned, because both he and the event he was part of have been slighted by your paper.

–Roderic Knight, Professor of Ethnomusicology

Students urged to keep OPIRG a campus resource

To the Editors:

I am writing to ask that everyone sign the petition on Nov. 17 to support the continuation of Ohio PIRG. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ohio PIRG, this is our 30th anniversary on campus and over the past 30 years we have started Oberlin’s recycling program, created the OPass to let you ride the LCT for free, banned the transport of nuclear waste through the town of Oberlin, stopped oil and gas drilling in Lake Erie, created the renter’s rights handbook and much more. For a more extensive list of what we have done, check out the posters around campus.

Ohio PIRG is funded through an $8 per semester per student waivable fee on the term bill. This means that if a student does not want to pay the fee, they can choose not to by filling out a card during the first two weeks of the semester. In order to keep this funding system in place we need to have a petition drive to reaffirm our funding every two years. We need 50 percent plus one to reaffirm our funding for the next two years. The entire petition language is below and if you have any questions please feel free to contact Ohio PIRG at opirg@oberlin.edu. Please sign the petition on Nov. 17 to keep Ohio PIRG and student activism alive on campus!

We the undersigned hereby approve the continued existence of the Ohio Public Interest Research Group (Ohio PIRG) and the waivable fee on campus under the following conditions:

–Ohio PIRG’s goal is the development of citizenship skills and the pursuit of the interests of students on issues of public concern through grassroots organizing, the utilization of media, education, advocacy, coalition building and other legal channels.

–Ohio PIRG shall remain a non-profit, non-partisan organization directed by Ohio college students.

–Ohio PIRG’s fee shall continue at $8 per student per semester.

– Ohio PIRG shall continue to be funded through the waivable fee system; that is, each student shall have the option to waive his or her membership fee.

–Dena Iverson, College junior, Chair Ohio PIRG

Applications due for non-profit grants

To the Editors:

The Bill Long Foundation (BLF) is a local cooperative foundation that provides grants to many Oberlin non-profits that work to satisfy some basic human need or enrich the cultural life of the community and its environment. Each year, the membership meets and votes on which projects are to be funded. In the past, the BLF has given to such causes as the Oberlin Seniors, Hot Meals, Choristers and the Big Parade. Membership is a $5 donation to the foundation.

This year, grant applications are due Dec. 31, 2004. Organizations must have 501(c)3 status, or be sponsored by a 501(c)3 organization, and must also be sponsored by a member of BLF. Applications are available at the Oberlin Public Library, Ben Franklin’s, Ginko Gallery and Studio and Bead Paradise.

There will be a general interest meeting Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. at the public library. Come to learn more about the BLF and the grant application process.

Please e-mail oberlinblf@hotmail.com with questions!

–Annie Sorich
–Melissa Hines
–Avery Book, BLF Membership Committee
 
 

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