• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Evangelists allowed to differ on issues

I was extremely offended by Ryan Masaaki Yokota’s submission (“Fundamentalism is an attack on reason,” Jan. 27), which mischaracterizes evangelical Christians.

Calling anyone who is a Christian a “religious zealot” and a “fanatic” only goes to show that Yokota has no understanding of the people he so vehemently attacks.

I am proud to say that I have been an evangelical Christian my entire life, and during my 22 years I have been to hundreds of church services for various denominations across the country. I have never encountered anyone who wished to forcefully impose their beliefs on others or take away the individual rights Americans hold so dear.

In regard to stem cell research, evangelicals appreciate science for providing mankind with the means to see – and more importantly understand – the wonders of God’s creation.

However, when science is forced beyond the boundaries of explanation and is manipulated by those with a secular, progressive agenda, the relationship between science and Christianity slowly erodes until all that remains is animosity.

Evangelicals fully support research done on existing stem cells. However, we generally have a problem with the harvesting of cells strictly for inconclusive research.

In foreign policy – keeping in mind that evangelicals have no unified policy of any kind on any issue – the invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, though Yokota may like to believe otherwise, were not religious undertakings.

And simply because the president is an evangelical himself does not mean he automatically receives unanimous support from the evangelical community. Furthermore, Yokota shows only the partisan foundations of his article when he brands supporters of the war in Iraq, such as myself, as “morally bankrupt.”

If the foundations of logic that Yokota champions mean that only those who agree with his divisive philosophical outlook on life should be commended, and those who object should be vilified, then I’ll gladly stay a fanatical zealot.

Geoff Bailey Political science student

Comments

Post a comment