"Teaching God's Word to God's World"
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The following is a letter to the editor of "The Communicator", the school newspaper for the Indiana University / Purdue University extension at Fort Wayne, IPFW. It is in regards to the play "Corpus Christi" which portrays Jesus and some of His apostles as homosexual. Two performances of the play are scheduled on the IPFW campus in August. The controversy has received national attention by the media.
This letter was written in response to two articles in the May 17th issue. One was a letter to the editor by Dr. Hamburger of the mathematics department. The other was an article by the managing editor who claims to be a Christian. Both were critical of those are opposed to this play. Dr. Hamburger asserted that, "There is nothing more important in life than to support freedom..." He further stated that he now has no option but to go and see the play in support of freedom.
Letter to the Editor
Reading the editorials in your May 17th issue and listening to the ongoing debate over "Corpus Christi" reminds me of the riot in Ephesus. Luke says, "Some cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together."
Much has been said about freedom of speech, academic freedom, freedom of religion, hypocrisy, and tolerance. But it seems to me that something very important has been ignored. That is truth. Doctor Hamburger is not the only one who has been living in a dream. I naively believed that the academic word was a place where truth was sought and proclaimed while falsehood was exposed and dismissed. I have now been rudely awakened.
To hide behind the guise of academic freedom in support of a work that is not only devoid of truth but full of falsehood is so absurd that I haven't a strong enough word to describe it. I would think that a professor of mathematics and especially a writer, who claims to be a Christian, would both appreciate and defend truth.
Freedom is not the most important thing in life, truth is. Our founding forefathers began the "Declaration of Independence" with an appeal to truth; "We hold these truths to be self-evident:". They understood that the greatest enemy to freedom is the abandonment of truth. It was Jesus who taught us that freedom comes as a result of truth, John 8:32. To defend somebody's right to desecrate your savior instead of defending your savior is to desecrate Him yourself. It is to forsake and deny Him. When we sacrifice truth on the altar of freedom, we lose not only truth, but also the very thing we pay homage to.
We have also heard much about love and tolerance. But it must be said that tolerance is not love. At least not in the way the word tolerance is often used today. God is love, yes. But God would not tolerate the world of Noah's day. He did not tolerate Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus would not tolerate the moneychangers in the temple or the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees. He threatened to punish the churches of Pergamos and Thyatira for their tolerance of those things He hated. Paul strongly rebuked the Corinthians for their tolerance of a sexually immoral man among them. Real love confronts with the truth when necessary. It cries fire when there is a fire. Yes, "God's love calls us to repentance." But there can be no call to repentance without an identification of right and wrong. But that is not considered tolerant today.
Lastly, there has been much said about hypocrisy. Those who have voiced their opposition to this play have been attacked for "blasting someone else's right to personal expression." Yet they are themselves blasted. In two short articles they were compared to communist dictators, portrayed as enemies of freedom, referred to as judgmental, called homophobic, etc. Yet those who attack them wield the same two-edged sword. They are accused of trying to "portray a group of people as enemies of ordinary people." Yet, they are themselves portrayed as such. They are judged for being judgmental, etc. Incidentally, a dictatorship is when a minority imposes its will on the majority, usually with the majority's money. It seems to me that this is the heart of the debate. The question is not whether the play's promoters have the right to free speech. It is whether they have the right to use the taxpayer's money for their purpose.
My question to those who are preaching freedom and tolerance is this. "Where is your support for the freedom of speech of your opposition?" At least one man is going to see the play in defense of freedom. Yet he attacks the senators' for speaking their mind. I wonder if the senators will get his vote in support of their right to express their views? Is this debate really about freedom or not? Is it really about tolerance or not? It seems that the only thing not tolerated in this debate is the proclamation of truth. That has to be the height of hypocrisy.
Terry Carter
Graduate Student at IPFW
This final paragraph is for the Christian reader. In Romans chapter one, Paul describes the degeneration of men who have suppressed the truth. Included in this are clear references to homosexuality. If you, especially as a Christian, are willing to defend somebody's "right" to produce a play like "Corpus Christi", then Paul's final words of the chapter may be applicable to you.
Romans 1:32, "Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." (NKJV)