September 24, 2001
Baylor forum offers insights
on peace, justice and world religion
___By John Hall
___Staff Writer
___WACO--Americans must put aside their feelings of vengeance and come to a better understanding of other cultures to move past the tragic events at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and end terrorism, Baylor University authorities said at a Sept. 17 forum.
___Five Baylor staff members and one visiting commentator on Jewish culture, all of different religious backgrounds, comprised the panel that answered questions from the standing-room-only audience of students.
___The panelists began the forum, which was sponsored by the Baylor Center for American and Jewish Studies, by talking about the personal effects the terrorist attacks had on each of them.
___Todd Lake, dean of the chapel, noted the attacks have led to a desire for vengeance on the part of many. That is a feeling with which Lake said he is uneasy.
___"It's a strange day as a Christian to hear other Christians say, as one young man told me, that we should 'bomb Afghanistan back into a parking lot,'" Lake said.
___Though Lake said he understood the sense of outrage from the country, he encouraged those gathered to try to move past a vengeful attitude and seek justice instead. Many students have told Lake someone must pay for these actions, he said. But his response is that Jesus paid the price for the sins of the people involved in the attacks, just as he paid for the sins of the rest of the world.
___The panel members urged the audience to think past some of its presuppositions before judging the actions of other people.
___"We think Judaism, Christianity and Islam are only peaceful religions," said Marc Ellis, director of the university's Center for American and Jewish Studies. "That's a mistake. Our thoughts and institutions are both good and bad."
___To better understand other cultures, Americans must overcome stereotypes that are propagated through the media, added Baylor political science professor Linda Adams. While the video of Palestinian children dancing in the streets to celebrate the deaths of Americans was shown repeatedly on CNN, she pointed out, no footage was shown of the majority of the Palestinians, who mourned the loss of lives. Adams showed pictures of Palestinians doing just that, including a young child with a shirt that read "Terrorism is our common enemy."
___Caleb Oladipo, assistant professor of church/state studies, compared the nation and its lack of understanding about other cultures to a one-legged runner. Although the runner may be able to get around, he never will run as fast as he or she might otherwise, Oladipo said.
___"The best of America is yet to come when we are trained culturally, intellectually and religiously to use both legs in understanding other cultures," he declared.
___Although it may be hard to see a silver lining to the terrorist attacks, Oladipo urged Christians to maintain faith in providence.
___"It appears to me God does not will everything in human existence, but God's will comes out of everything," he said.
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