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