2008 Woodie Awards
Confusion leads to controversy
Faculty, staff and students discuss misconceptions about love and hypocrisy
Ian Paterson
Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: Forum
- Page 1 of 4 next >
There are two kinds of articles: those that go to print, report the facts, state a semi-relevant opinion at best and are soon forgotten; then, there are articles that impact an entire student body and generate change and conversation. The most recent example of the second kind of article ran in the Feb. 16 issue of the Omnibus, entitled "Students hold double standards."
Sophomore Ian Nix's opinion piece calling out seniors AmyRose Tomlinson and Matt Gallion for their letters to the editor concerning the Chapel messages given by both Kurt Caddy, director of University ministries, and Dr. C. Pat Taylor, president of Southwest Baptist University, generated more conversation, although controversial, than I have seen over any event since I've attended school at SBU.
Rather than witness a semester-long argument via letters to the editor, I decided to ask each one of those involved what their intentions were and to get the facts out to the student body.
The Chapel services mentioned in the article and two letters were both assumed to concern the topic of love. Caddy's message, delivered on Jan. 22 focused on the principle of love as a basic aspect of Christian life, while Taylor's message focused on student conduct. Apparently, the two messages were more alike than either speaker intended.
"I had no idea what [Taylor] was going to speak about, and he had no idea what I was going to speak about," admitted Caddy. "They weren't in any way competing ideas or saying, 'Well, I'm going to guess what he's going to talk about, so I'm going to say this.' There's not any conflict between me and him, personally or otherwise. So, I think that's the unfortunate thing that's come out of it."
Ironically, Taylor echoed the same sentiment.
"I heard Kurt's message, and, man, I thought it was good," noted Taylor. "And I didn't mean for any parallels to be drawn between the two."
However, parallels were drawn. In the Feb. 2 issue of the Omnibus, both letters to the editor were featured in the Forum section. Both articles were in favor of Caddy's message of love. Both also assumed that since Taylor mentioned love often in his message regarding student conduct that he was focusing more on portraying the image of Christianity, rather than just loving in general. He supported his point by using the example of alcohol.
Sophomore Ian Nix's opinion piece calling out seniors AmyRose Tomlinson and Matt Gallion for their letters to the editor concerning the Chapel messages given by both Kurt Caddy, director of University ministries, and Dr. C. Pat Taylor, president of Southwest Baptist University, generated more conversation, although controversial, than I have seen over any event since I've attended school at SBU.
Rather than witness a semester-long argument via letters to the editor, I decided to ask each one of those involved what their intentions were and to get the facts out to the student body.
The Chapel services mentioned in the article and two letters were both assumed to concern the topic of love. Caddy's message, delivered on Jan. 22 focused on the principle of love as a basic aspect of Christian life, while Taylor's message focused on student conduct. Apparently, the two messages were more alike than either speaker intended.
"I had no idea what [Taylor] was going to speak about, and he had no idea what I was going to speak about," admitted Caddy. "They weren't in any way competing ideas or saying, 'Well, I'm going to guess what he's going to talk about, so I'm going to say this.' There's not any conflict between me and him, personally or otherwise. So, I think that's the unfortunate thing that's come out of it."
Ironically, Taylor echoed the same sentiment.
"I heard Kurt's message, and, man, I thought it was good," noted Taylor. "And I didn't mean for any parallels to be drawn between the two."
However, parallels were drawn. In the Feb. 2 issue of the Omnibus, both letters to the editor were featured in the Forum section. Both articles were in favor of Caddy's message of love. Both also assumed that since Taylor mentioned love often in his message regarding student conduct that he was focusing more on portraying the image of Christianity, rather than just loving in general. He supported his point by using the example of alcohol.
Be the first to comment on this story