| Summary: | Page 2 THE CONCOHDIAN September 26, 1969 Editorials ODD BODKINS by O'Neill Smokers: Do It Right This summer I heard a rather strange complaint over coffee in the C-400 Building. Not once, but several times. It wasn't from the students. Neither was it from parents, alumni, or faculty. It came from concerned administrators. It was a strange complaint in that it wasn't leveled at The Concordian, or the Student Association, or any other group. It was leveled at you and me, as individual students. And it was justified. Over the past several years the Concordia administration has been reacting to student complaints about living conditions. One reaction they have made is to begin carpeting certain facilities, both old and new, classrooms and dormitories. Now they are beginning to wonder whether or not they have made the right decision. They are wondering if it has been worth the expense and if students appreciate this gesture. They are, unfortunately, beginning to have "second doubts" about the willingness of Cobbers to accept responsibility. Why? Because they found cigarette burns in these brand new carpets. That's not only too bad, it borders on vandalism. It implies an utter disrespect and contempt for community property. If this were not tragic enough, it has further affected student credibility with the administration. Why should they make any attempt to improve and update facilities when students obviously do not appreciate them? The damage does not stop there. It carries over into almost all areas of student bargaining and power. The administration cannot be expected to respect the leadership of a student body that shows utter disregard for community property. It is probably only a very small, careless minority thai is weakening the hand of the Student Association. It is even possible that it reflects upon the credibility of "The Concordian." There are other ways in which students can adversely reflect upon the student body. Most of them are careless acts. You know what they are, and I don't need to sit here and pontificate about them. If you have to do these things, take them' off campus. Then you will only be reflecting upon yourself. Clean it up, you rummies. The Concordian and the dedicated members of the Student Association are working for you. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letter to the Editor: "In some countries you would have to keep your opinions to yourself.'1 This statement appeared in a letter to the editor on September 19th. I would like to add that in some countries, opinion makes little or no difference in the way the country is run. This happens when a large segment of the population is apathetic towards or ignorant of the actions of the government. This is happening in the United States. If you think not, please tell me why we are murdering Vietnamese halfway around the world. It is not all Ho Chi Minh's fault as the letter I mentioned staled. The United States became involved in the conflict as a result of our government's action based on a belief that the United States should be a "police power" and force smaller nations to remain "free," i.e., friendly to United States business. Tell me why we keep creating new and more effective weapons when we already have enough to destroy the world several times over? Don't Americans know or care what is going on? Obviously, many do not. We have the machinery to stop this insanity but we don't use it. Letter to the Editor: troduction and acquaintance Last week we had the oppor- with new horizons for our Chritunity" of entertaining Dr. Charles Long on our campus as theolo-gian in residence. However I would like to ques-tion the responsibility of the re-ligion department in their de-cision to invite Dr. Long with his proposed topic. His scholarship must be granted and the need for in-tian perspectives must never be frustrated. But is it too much to ask of our religion department that when an ivitation is extended for this series of lectures, it be extended to a theologian who is seeking the meaning and im-pact of the Christian Gospel? Mark J. Molldrem LETTER TO THE EDITOR I don't think that Jesus Christ liked the way Mark Bratlie ex-ploited his name last week. As I remember, Mr. Bratlie turned in his draft card "in the spirit of Christianity." But what is now more im-portant is that he challenged his readers to think about what it means to be a Christian in our world. The Bible teaches that the Christian should be a man of suffering. In fact, he should be willing to suffer unjustly. The epistles in the New Testament teach us to be subordinate to the government. Ironically, they were written during the ruth-less Neronic persecutions. How strange it seems that the oppression of that generation, though undoubtedly the direct background for at least two N.T. LETTER TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: The following is a reply to question of "Will you care?", as asked by Mr. Bratlie in last week's Concordian. * * * Mr. Bratlie: Yes, Mr. Bratlie, I do care enough to consider what being a Christian in today's world means. I'll agree with you that it means you have a God-given right to do only what you be-lieve in, and the right to inter-pret God's work in today's world. Yes, as you said, to be a Christian is to be really free. Will it not be our fault if the people of South Vietnam never come to know these rights and this God because of a unilateral withdrawal on the part of the United States? What I mean is I do not think that Hanoi has much be-lief in God, God-given rights, or any rights at all for that matter. But then, as long as you have your "Christian freedom," why should you worry about them? Do not misunderstand my thought, because I am not in complete agreement with the Vietnam war as it stands today. I do, however, believe that the United States does have an ob-ligation to the rest of the free world, herself, and to God to make a stand against all un- Christian communistic take-overs which are without the consent of the people being taken-over. I also believe that such stands are much more ef-fective if they are made in the form of the Peace Corps, mis-sionary work, and so forth. But how can you do any of these if there is a person wear-ing a swastika, or a red star, standing between you and that needy nation? Therefore, I do not feel that the United States' reasons for entering the war were wrong. I believe that they were very Christian reasons, whether they were meant to be or not. I do, however, believe that the war has been very poorly fought and that it could have been won on either the battlefield or the conference table a long time ago. Since it was not, we are stuck with a war which has been needlessly costly in terms of lives, money, country unity, and church unity. Even so, I do not condone your cure-all of simply "pulling out." What kind of freedom would that give the people of South Vietnam and eventually the world? They might dance at first be-cause the fighting had stopped, but their celebrating would not last long when the realized that they will never be able to choose the music. But they, do you really care? Yes, the United States does make mistakes, and not winning the war quickly at the very be-ginning was one of them. There are also times when I cannot stand our whole bureaucratic government, its lies, its ineffi-ciency, and its waste. But it seems that she has done some pretty great things for us too. It has given us that much loved freedom you speak of, the right to worship the God of which you are so fond, the right to say and believe what you want, etc. Yes, I believe it to be the greatest country in the world regardless of its errors. You say that your first alle-giance is to God and United States' policy is not in accord-ance with God's will as deter-mined by you? Frankly, I find it harder to believe that Hanoi's policy is more in accordance with God's will—no matter how you deter-mine His will or Hanoi's policy. Yes, Mr. Bratlie, I admire you for making a stand for what you truly b e l i e v e in. Whether or not it was the Chris-ian thing to do I believe is de-batable. For while now your life has great meaning, I wonder what meaning life will have for a people who could become com-plete puppets of the state. Will they ever feel a freedom which they have never known? They, too, have a God-given right to choose their own fate. After all, you did. Yes, as Christians of today we must care. We must care about this world not only today but this world as it will be thirty years from now. No, I would not call you crazy, stupid, or anything else. I would just call you, you. You said that people should not feel sorry for you because you had made your own choice and felt like celebrating. Now I am going to ask you to feel sorry for all other people who are not allowed to make that choice. Yes, as a Christian of today I really believe that you do care, Mr. Bratlie. My only question would be, "About whom?" Don Carlson books, is so keenly understated in the contemporary letters cir-culating within early Christian communities. How very strange indeed that the apostles could still admonish us to "be submissive to every human institution whether it be to the emperor or to governors." Bratlie spoke of the absurdity of losing a life for his country. He advocates that we "cherish" our lives. Thai might not be a bad thought. What complicates such an assertion is his belief that the future life is not worth thinking about. The Bible teaches that to love the world is to be God's enemy. Jesus Christ really was not very concerned with the life in this world. The Scriptures admonish us that this life is a testing place. Only after threat of expulsion to Siberia did my family, for example, flee Communist East Germany. My uncle, a Lutheran clergyman in the Communist state Thuringen, today attempts to feed his family of eight on an income of less than fifty dollars per month. Without exception his child-ren have been expelled from the schools for refusing compul-sory membership in the Com-munist Youth League. Communism is intolerant of God, of free enterprise, and of us. The United States w a s founded on a Christian basis. America's military is defending her community from Antichrist, Communism. Jesus and the military "hit it off" pretty well. I wonder if Bratlie is aware that the first Gentile converted to Christian-ity was a Roman officer. How strange that he was never ad-vised to lay down his arms. I have yet to find in the New Testament, or in early Christian writings, a case for a draft dodger taken up. (The slave issue was, and the slave lost.) Yet I will agree with Bratlie that a Christian should not be a war-monger. No C h r i s t i a n should be an advocate of wars. Yet Christians should not be fooled by the blinds of human frailty into assuming that socie-ty can bring peace to the world. The Bible rejects any such dream since there will be no peace until the Prince of Peace returns* Man will repeat his ante-dilu-vian state of degradation. Thus, it is safe to assert that Chris-tians should serve in the armed forces of their country. I hope that, before Mr. Bratlie celebrates too much, he might take out his Bible and seek to derive the causes of his "feel-ings." Meanwhile let Christians rest assured that draft dodgers and Christians are about as dif-ferent as Cain and Abel. Andy Baudler THE CONCORDIAN Published weekly during the school year except during vacation holiday and examination period* by the students of Concordia College, Moorhead. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the college or student body. Second class postage paid at Moorhead, Minnesota 56560 Printed by Kaye's Inc., Fargo, North Dakota, U.S.A. SUBSCRIPTION RATE: $6.00 Per School Year TWENTY-EIGHT TIMES ALL-AMERICAN TWO TIMES COLUMBIA "MEDALIST" Office: Cobber Commons Building — Phone 333*7532 Member: ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS EDITOR — ROGER GRUSS MANAGING EDITOR — BILL JAHRAUS ASSOCIATE EDITOR — TERRY MAHNKE
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