Give us  some stories!

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is easily one of the most technically advanced and beautiful theaters at any college campus in the United States. Yet a vast majority of students have never gone to see a play at CSPAC or have only gone because of a class. So what is our theater program missing: funding, opportunity, word of mouth?

My answer: stories — good, relatable stories, presented in an enjoyable way. I’m someone who would love to go and see some good plays at CSPAC, but every single time I go down the list of shows, each option seems worse or more boring than the last. Sometimes, I wonder if even Pixar would be able to turn some of these plays into a decent show. For example, Enchanted April is a play about “four Englishwomen … [who] open themselves to new possibilities and find unexpected paths to self-discovery.” Really, CSPAC?

I saw the musical Wicked this past summer, and it was the most entertaining experience I’d had in a long time. Truly, seeing a good play in person and up close is absolutely incredible. But all the flashy effects would have been for nothing if not for the amazing and captivating story. I didn’t even realize when we had reached intermission.

There is a reason shows such as Wicked and Phantom of the Opera  are some of the highest grossing entertainment events of all time. A show cannot survive for many years without a good story — something today’s theater sorely lacks.

ADAM PAMPORI

SENIOR

BIOENGINEERING

The Christian response

Last week, there were several articles written about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community that focused on the homophobic treatment of the group. Several “Christian” groups have been a part of this mistreatment. This dark blot on the faith is a gross misrepresentation of what true Christianity is. 

Love God and love others — these were Jesus’ two commands (Luke 10:27). How is protesting at a funeral or driving a teenager to suicide ever considered loving them? Why do these people feel the need to use Christianity to reinforce their hatred? These people are no more Christ-like than the Nazis when they used biblical propaganda to further their agenda. Where did you read about Christ condemning anyone other than the self-righteous? In fact, he spent his time on Earth living with the partiers, the drinkers and the sexually promiscuous (Luke 5:29-32). And he wasn’t hanging out with them to tell them how awful they were or how hell-bent their life inevitably was, but instead to tell them how much he loved them (Romans 5:8). So in the quest to become more like Christ, why have so many turned to condemning others? It’s no wonder Gandhi said, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians.”

As far as those churches who are blaming the LGBT community for atrocities such as Katrina and soldiers dying in war, I wonder how they even have the stomach to make such absurd accusations.  Does not the rain fall on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45)? No sin is causing these tragedies. And when did homosexuality become the greatest sin in the Bible? It is no worse than looking lustfully at a woman or thinking ill of a coworker. Are you about to tell me that all you Christians reading this article have never done anything of the sort? In condemning these people for the same things you do, have you not condemned yourself (Romans 2:1)?

JEREMY BOWERS

JUNIOR

CIVIL ENGINEERING