4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 13, 2005 OPINION cbe itchigan fatlad JASON Z. PESICK Editor in Chief SUHAEL MOMIN SAM SINGER Editorial Page Editors ALISON GO Managing Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com NOTABLE QUOTABLE 44'Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne." - Al- Qaeda member Adam Yahiye Gadahn - a taped message threatening terrorist attacks, broadcast Saturday on ABC News. COLIN DALY THE Mic : KIAN DAL 0I ; .. ~ °. _ ' I.. ftp Spreading only part of the Word CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK BoRN IN TiE U.S.A f you chanced to walk across the Diag yesterday afternoon, you probably witnessed a proud Michigan tra- dition - a loudmouth evangelist. Shouting from atop a stool, this gentleman implored students at the "Univer- sity of Masturbation" to cease drinking, fornicating and sodomizing lest we be cast into a lake of fire. This guy didn't provide quite as good enter- tainment as Brother Stephen, who visited three years ago and employed an impressive variety of vocal tones that ranged from a demonic growl for statements like "The Koran is a ter- rorist manual from Hell!" to a cheery sing- song, complete with gestures, for "Ashcroft is a good man because he loves the Bible!" But he still put on a good show and managed to anger and offend plenty of sinners, judging from the number of people who got in shout- ing matches with him. To be fair, yesterday's evangelist didn't just shout. He eventually settled into a quieter dis- cussion with a smaller crowd, largely other Christians, to whom he tried to sell his partic- ular brand of Christianity. In his view, he lives a life entirely without sin, and the Bible com- mands him to judge sinners. Of course, he had a nifty, convoluted answer to the old "Judge not lest ye be judged" line. It isn't much good to argue with these guys; they always have a nifty, convoluted answer. I might not agree with anything these Diag evangelists say, and I might cringe every time they shout to a gay person that homosexuality is a sinful choice or to a Muslim that he worships a false god, but I find myself with a certain degree of respect for them nonetheless. They're going up against nearly every social norm to act on their beliefs. Jesus tells them to love their neighbors, and nonbelievers will burn in Hell. As loving Christians, they're trying hard to save the rest of us from damnation. A bit of begrudging respect, however, does not approval of militant evangelicals make. There sure doesn't appear to be much love in their preaching to the sinners - "scathing" was the word the evangelist himself used yes- terday to describe it. And I just have trouble taking people very seriously when they mis- leadingly argue against evolution by claiming it violates the Second Law of Thermodynam- ics. Then there's the ever-present specter of hypocrisy, from endless televangelist fund- raising scandals to the situation that has kept the gay-bashing Brother Stephen from return- ing to our campus - a 2004 conviction for soliciting sex from a 14-year-old boy. What I find most troubling about the sort of hard-line Christianity that has an increas- ing degree of influence in our society and government, however, is its strict focus on the individual. The sole important factor in deter- mining salvation, in most brands of evangeli- cal Christianity, is personal redemption, not good works. Thus, the focus is on sins of the individual conscience that separate us from God. In practice, most of these sins deal with sex or drugs; these are the "moral" issues that dominate so much of our political debate. Left behind are some other portions of the New Testament: the part about turning the other cheek, that bit about it being more dif- ficult for a rich man to get into heaven than for a camel to get through the eye of a needle, the Sermon on the Mount and that whole blessed- are-the-peacemakers thing. They don't exact- ly play up the command to love thy neighbor as thyself either. Jesus's teachings have inspired literally millions of people to go out and do good in the world. Christian charities carry on this work around the world today. And yet, as comfort- able as the evangelist was yesterday shout- ing graphically about sexual "sins" in terms not particularly fit for print, he saw no need to encourage his listeners to help the poor or treat those around them more kindly. He did mention Hurricane Katrina - but, rather than pushing the crowd to donate to and assist in relief efforts, he argued that the disaster was God's punishment for a wicked city that was allowing a gay festival originally planned to take place shortly after the hurricane hit. I'm perfectly aware that such extreme views as that version of Katrina aren't representative of most Christians, or even most evangelicals. And I'm probably going to hell, if only for the pleasure I derived from watching the evange- list argue that it is possible to live a life without sin against an older, very devout man who later said he once healed an atheist with terminal cancer by praying with him on the sidewalk outside of Michigan Book and Supply. But many of the beliefs the evangelist espoused - that evolution is a lie, that homo- sexuality is a choice and a sin - are more widely shared, and their proponents are increasingly determining the direction of our government. Evidence that policies they advo- cate such as abstinence-only sex education don't work means little to a crowd that bases its worldview on faith. The divisive doctrines the evangelist preached may or may not save souls, but they certainly don't use Christian teachings to make our soci- ety more tolerant or charitable. I doubt the Jesus who loved the lowest of the low in his society would be very pleased with that. Zbrozek can be reached at zbro@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Shake up season with night and nonconference games TO THE DAILY: Our football program needs to update itself beyond Lloyd's atrocious, predictable play- calling. Why don't we play titanic nonconfer- ence games anymore? We used to: Miami in 1988, Florida State in 1991. It's been a long time since we've played a nonconference game similar to the thrilling Texas-Ohio State game last weekend. What are we afraid of? We're Michigan, damnit! Let's truck in some lights and play one of these games at night. Can you imagine how big it would be to play a Southern, Cal., LSU, Tennessee, Florida State or Miami game under the lights at the Big House on national TV on a September Saturday night? Instead, we're stuck with boring noon games against whatever Directional Michigan/Mid- American Conference cupcake is on the sched- ule this week. I know that might upset some Victors Club members who like to be safely tucked into bed by sundown and remember when players wore leather helmets, but Michi- gan football needs to shake the dust off more than just Lloyd's playbook. Eric Sheneman Alum It doesn't get any better than Coach Carr TO THE DAILY: I implore Aaron Johnson to think twice about his strong criticism of Lloyd Carr (An open letter to Lloyd Carr, 09/12/05). As a loyal supporter of Michigan football since the day I was born, there is no one I would rather have coaching our Wolverines than Carr. Why? Let's take a look at the evidence. In his first decade as head coach, Carr has coached his teams to at least a share of five Big Ten championships, as well as one nation- al championship. He has led the Wolverines to nine consecutive New Year's Day bowl games, winning five of them. Carr is fifth mrmnvct nartiv Divsn I o rnochec in ovprall a staggering amount of intense criticism. There are plenty of teams nationally that would do almost anything to attain the kind of success Carr has had at Michigan, and the fact that fans like Johnson cannot appreciate and celebrate the University's successful and clean football program gives me the impression that there is nothing within reason that would bring them the satisfaction they desire. Yes, it is depressing to see Michigan lose, and I must admit I was extremely disappointed after Saturday's game. The season, however, is not lost. We can still cheer our Wolverines to a third consecutive Big Ten title and a third con- secutive trip to a BCS bowl game. And it's very possible the Wolverines could once again be in Pasadena when all is said and done. Let us not concentrate on what went wrong in one game, and instead concentrate on what we can do to make sure our football team knows that we're still behind it for the remainder of the season. This includes supporting our head football coach and his coaching staff. Aram Sarkisian RC Sophomore Stale season plagued by low expectations TO THE DAILY: Matt Venegoni (Did M's loss ruin the day? It shouldn't, 09/12/05) wrote that "even though the loss was a big, sad letdown, it was hardly shocking. Our expectations are so high at Michigan that any time we lose ... the winds are taken out of our collective sails." He's wrong. The reason that the loss was "hardly shocking" is not because our expectations are so high, but rather because our expectations are low. After Saturday's game, Michigan has lost three out of the last four games to Notre Dame, three out of the last four games to Ohio State and three out of the last four bowl games. That's not an enjoyable statistic. This is hardly the Michigan program it once was. How far have we fallen if we have to tell ourselves before every big game, whether it be Notre Dame, Michigan State, Iowa or Ohio Stnaethat aCCsshouldn't ruin our dav? son's silly attack (An open letter to Lloyd Carr, 09/12/05) on Coach Lloyd Carr in yesterday's Daily. What do you want? Clearly, unless our Wolverines win every single game, you will declare the season and the program a fail- ure. Since the 1997 championship season, Michigan ranks as the third most victorious program in the country. That's better than the Trojans you so hope to emulate, and even the legendary (note the sarcasm) Urban Meyer or Kirk Ferentz, whom you claim as the arche- types to which Lloyd should aspire. Nope, since 1997, it's Miami, Florida State and Michigan. Last I checked, third out of 119 isn't so bad. But I guess Carr and his staff should really go back to the drawing board and figure out what they're doing wrong. I expect so much better than back-to-back Big Ten Championships! I've been so miserable spending my last two New Year's Eves party- ing in southern California on the eve of the Rose Bowl! Come on, we're all frustrated by the offense's performance on Saturday, but during pregame, I bet you were telling every- one in sight how Chad Henne was going to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns. It's just one game, not time to panic. Michigan always loses a game that it shouldn't. That's part of the charm of Michi- gan football, but it all works out in the end. Again, last I checked, Michigan has played on New Year's Day every year since 1997. Can you say the same about all the other genius coaches you listed? Nope, you can't. Lloyd is a class guy who represents our school incredibly well. And, oh, yeah, he wins a whole bunch of football games, too. More than all but two programs in the country. Clearly his performance needs improvement. Stu Berlow Alum Saturday's Big House turns to outhouse TO THE DAILY: Watching the Michigan-Notre Dame ame here in California, I was appalled at Editorial Board Members: Amy Anspach, Amanda Burns, Whitney Dibo, Jesse Forester, Mara Gay, Jared Goldberg, Eric Jackson, Brian Kelly, Theresa Kennelly, Raiiv Pr.hhak -M tAr Ra s.avi] R1CCse llDn Skowrnnski.Brian Slade, Lauren