THE CADRE, was, oc'r. 30/73

Criticism of" Bonirofiver

of changes, in the individ— a

I was pleased-last Wed— nesday to pick up the Oct. 16th edition of the Cadre and find a number of con— troversial and thought pro- voking articles. Certainly a student newspaper can do little better than explor- ing issues that are basic to all of our lives (e.i. religion, politics, ed— ucational institutions) and offer critical and ho— pefully constructiVe com— mentary. On this, I offer congratulations to Stan Dalton, Joel Hansen and Don M. Cregier. All have shown, by their writing,

a conviction of views that are often unpopular and certainly sceptical of commonly accepted factsv

of life. Scepticism is, of course, a healthy sign in the world of academics

but as a personal view, I feel that all three writers have advanced a little fur— ther than need be in their articles. [

First, I would like to com ment on Stan Dalton's two editorial pieces. In his lead editorial on’"Suicide and Xianity(?)f he has shown a comparison of the sudden transformation of near suicidals from a sta- te of depression to that of euphoria,_and members of the "Jesus Movement" from a similar "drole", "mean- ingless"-existence to an enthusiasm, even exuber-

ance, for dedicating their lives to Christ. Thls, he

feels, is dangerous in that '

like the suicidal, Christ- ians have only sought an. escape, a "safe escape" at that, from their own weak- nesses. Having failed to allieviate their weaknesses these people are then rela- tively powerless to assert themselves in the power struggle of life. Thus, they can allow themselves to be exploited and op— pressed by an economic system in which the few strong dominate the many _ weak. The argument is ob— viously very complex and with the limited-spaCe of one editorial, Stan did not have the opportunity to fully explore his interest— ing thesis. Hopefully, a number of rebuttals from other writers may have been offered by this time but éallow me to add to them my own humble comments.

«To begin with, the first» part of the argument I feel that Mr. Dalton makes too much of a sudden, almost incomprehensive change in 'the lives of both suic1dals and the "Jesus people". The change may seem sudden, of 'course, but in both cases it has been building up_ over a considerable period of time. As it takes place

it is accompanied by a fun—,‘

damental change, or series,

fiage 6

ual. In the case of the suicidal, he ( I will use

the masculine form fOr con4'

venience) has faced a trau- matic experience, and has .had to rethink the value and purpose of his life. Having decided under ext- .reme pressure, then, if

he so decides, that there is something within him- self that is Positive en- ough to sustain his desire to live, he has made a fund amental readjustment of his perception of life. The grain of truth in Stan's argument-is that this re— adjustment may lead to es- capism in some cases but surely in the majority of case§"the experience has made the individual firmly and dramatically face life in all its reality. Thus, the fact that he has final- ly confronted the meaning of life, and made an af— firmative decision to face it, gives that person new strength to go on. The finding of this strength

is the reason thén, that' many problems seem smalé ler and are thus Flifted from his shoulders". ' The point is that the in- dividual is now stronger, not weaker than before his experience.

Now we must decide if thiS‘ phenomenon of the suicidal

person is similar to the person finding Christ.

Personally, I feel the two are quite different exper- iences which are similar only in their result: a re- affirmation of the value of life. However, to follow Stan's example, I will try to draw the anology.‘

That many people find *‘ their lives "meaningiess" and unhappy before finding God is undeniably true. Undoubtably the acceptance of Christ is a major step in theirulives and can, of course, lead to great jub— ilation. The change is suds den in many cases. Or at least it seems that way.

I wonder, however, at

the length of time that such people ponder commit— ting their lives to the ,Lord. Surely the seeds of conversion have been sown

.long before they bear fruit

Long years Of debate and inner turmoil, much of it' leading to this "drole" state, preceed the "sudden" but eventful revelation of life. One must often quest- ion Christianity, be scept— ical of it and be‘critical of its followers for many years, debating its useful— ness and value in intell— ectual terms before real— izing that Chrisianity is

a belief of the heart as well as the mind. The real— ization of faith then is long proceeded and when it

strikesit does so with tre—

,God is a fundamental

mendous force for all of a' 'sudden'one can see further than ever before, feel I >deeper and understand more- fully. As with falling in love the heart has found its answer and the answer is love. The conversion then is very deep in the mind, heart and soul. The transformation shakes the very foundations of the individual.

Is this transformation escapism? I think not.

5 In the sincere individual

(and granted not all Jesus people are sincere) the conVersion prompts one to face life, not to escape

\it. It calls for a reach-

ing out to others, a call—

.ing to do you share, to

carry your load in service of Jesus. In a society

’sceptical of religion (or

at leaSt the Christian re- ligion) this also calls for fighting for a cause

athat is not entirely pop-

ular. It calls for brav- ery in the face of mock— ery. It calls for "guts". It is not the "in" thing ~tq'do. ' ”’

'4Perhaps then, becoming a

‘committed Christian means

' that one is escaping in the

sense that one is putting his life in someone elses

"hands? Yet‘is‘this action

escaping? It alSo means making a committment, a deep and evaluating one. If giving of oneself is es— capism then perhaps the question we might ask is whether escapism is really

bad?

Having committed one's life.to Christ we must now consider whether that person has justified his weakness— es by envisioning himself as being strong. We, as humans, all have weskness- es, that we cannot be de- nied, but these weakness— es are not, as Mr. Dalton implies, unchanging over time. The conversion to

change, one which alters our whole being. Strength is created for now one h has a strong partner in

life for one now has strength and one now has miSsion. With new inner .strength one can now better‘ face the world. Why then must Christians be "oppre— ssed" by capitalism? Because in an ever changing society capitalism is the economic system we now live under. But just as Christ- ians were at the forefront when feudalism was over- thrown so Will they be at, capitalism's~demise. It A is not uncommon to note

very religious persons both‘

from within and from out— side the Church who have

led the way to political~re¥k

form. Many Christians do support_the present "system" but what they support is

present leaders often b

Their

Church. ‘receive

to be-