Recently, many Christian churches celebrated "Sanctity of Human Life Sunday," a day originally set aside to protest the ruling of Roe v. Wade. While I admire the desire of the church to take a stand on issues it deems critical, I am dismayed by the lack of a consistent ethic they present in their preoccupation with abortion over other issues of human life.
Last April, the Samford Crimson published a staff editorial about proposed changes to Samford's unlimited free printing policy. The editorial board supported quotas on printing, as long as students could freely print hundreds of pages per year before having to pay, and as long as Samford did not make sudden changes without consulting students first (as Samford did when it took away free New York Times, Birmingham News, and USA Today newspapers, a decision we continue to call on Samford to reverse).
Mediocrity does not settle well, because when it comes to everyday life, people want the best. The all-American dream usually includes a luxury car, a beautiful home, a great neighborhood and a well-paying job. This dream of smooth perfection does not account for failing public schools, corrupt municipal government or inadequate public services.
I was walking out of my church fellowship hall one morning over Jan Term, crossing the pavement to my parked car. The parking lot has these black-and-yellow striped speed bumps bolted into the asphalt, and I soon found myself doing a balancing act along one of them, putting one foot in front of the other.
Besides the populist rhetoric, partisan pandering and empty promises, Obama used a classic method of deception in his State of the Union Address. He knows that humans are horrible at interpreting and comparing very large numbers. He knows that when talking about large budgets, deficits, debts and his efforts to manipulate them, he can throw around the words "trillion," "billion" and "million" in ways to make it look like he's doing good things with our money.
Last Wednesday, President Obama offered his first "State of the Union Address" to the American people. His words were at once reflective and optimistic, apologetic and aggressive. For me, however, the lasting image of that night had nothing to do with Obama's script.
Let me go ahead and apologize. The last thing the Crimson needs is another opinion column. Hey there, Mr. Pot. My name's Mr. Kettle, but you can call me Black. You're used to a few common themes in this section. First, you can typically expect a piece from the super-right-wing conservative Christian who thinks we should abolish the Easter bunny and make sure we pray enough.