LETTERS: Friday, April 7, 2000

Agreeing with RonaldAgreeing with RonaldTo the Editor: I would like to thank him for his column, "Sorry Kris, I do not agree," (The Daily Pennsylvanian, 4/5/00). Kim raised many excellent points in the column, but perhaps the most important was the concluding sentence, "[Penn Christians] should also take advantage of this opportunity to demonstrate a willingness to coexist with those who are not about to answer Jesus Week's pointed challenge in the affirmative." He is absolutely right. It is also important to point out that "i agree with kris." I am a Christian and I am involved with a Christian fellowship on campus. On Monday, I wore one of the blue "i agree with kris" T-shirts which were the impetus for Kim's column. Although this may surprise some Penn students, these two views are not contradictory. One of the biggest challenges that Penn Christians face is to overcome the Brother Stephen stereotypes that are commonly associated with the Christian faith. In my four years at Penn, my roommates have been Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Jain. I love these people. They have been not only my roommates, but my classmates, my friends and my family. I have learned a lot about other religions and cultures and have also been able to share my beliefs and experiences. Christians are not called to judge others. In fact, Jesus says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged," (Matthew 7:1). Perhaps next year the shirts should say "Love your neighbor as yourself." Stacy Cook College/Wharton '00 To the Editor: I am one of Ron Kim's ("Sorry Kris, I do not agree", DP, 4/5/00) former Linguistics 102 students who, unbeknownst to him, has offended him, for I am a follower of Jesus. I am not writing with the militant intent of debunking his editorial comments with convincing Bible passages; rather I wish to make two statements. First, I believe Ron's column was well written, yet off the mark. He reacted to the incongruity between his idea of what Jesus Week's purpose should be -- "a sort of 'understanding and appreciation' week for the Christian religion" -- and the real purpose of Jesus Week, "a five-day celebration of the life of Jesus." But this celebration is inevitably going to offend people, for it is based on belief on an absolute truth, something that is not permissible in our pluralistic society. Secondly, I don't claim anything but that I believe Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that a few thousand years ago he came and lived on earth as a man for the sole purpose of taking all the crap out of my life, crap which gets in the way of God and me. I believe he was crucified on a cross and that after being dead for three days he came back to life, bridging the gap between imperfect me and perfect God. I have accepted this sacrifice of Jesus' life for mine and have claimed him as Lord over my life. Therefore I am spending this week celebrating what Jesus has done for not only me, but for Ron, the rest of Penn's campus and the people of this world. Caroline Sunquist College '01 To the Editor: As the parent of a high school senior who just got accepted by the College for the Class of 2004, I cannot understand how I can seriously consider Penn when the University will not guarantee housing for its current freshman class. I do not want my child to have to find West Philly housing on his own in a year. How can this school have such a far-reaching master plan and not have covered the base of being able to safely board its students in school housing? Barry Polon