Posted on November 4 at 12:32 p.m.Suggest removal

This article is chalk full of inaccuracies and hypocrisy on the part of the author. I love how liberals will cite liberal advocacy groups to support their claims and tout them as the voice of "truth" and "reason", but then rail against conservatives who use research done by conservative or independent groups and attack them as "clueless". Susan G. Komen, for the record has given millions in donations over the years to Planned Parenthood, and the often-cited Guttmacher Institute is directly funded by PP. Not that their research is at all biased; after all, PP is only the largest abortion provider in the nation, and abortion is only the most lucrative part of PP's business. I also take offense of your comparison of the Justice for All people to the Westboro Baptists. Yes, the images are very graphic and disturbing (then again, so were the images of the Jewish Holocaust; the truth is often gruesome). However much you may disagree with JFA, they don't stand there yelling obscene statements like "God hates America" at people pass by and telling them that they're going to hell. One group uses research and intelligent discourse to promote their cause; the other protests at funerals and makes their living telling the whole world how much God hates them; the two groups bear no comparison, and it's clear you only did so to try and marginalize those with whom you disagree. While on the subject though, I did incidentally happen to notice a bunch of clowns across from the JFA hooting and hollering and making all kinds of obnoxious noise during the JFA presentation. For the record, other independent groups (ones that aren't funded by pro-abortion organizations like Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood) have documented increased breast cancer risks associated with abortion; you may find some of this research here: http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/T...

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Posted on May 7 at 12:22 p.m.Suggest removal

An open letter to the OU Daily editors:

The editors at the OU Daily owe us all an apology.

The issue here was not that the article was about religion or even that the article was challenging the Christian faith. We need to have engaging articles on the big and often uncomfortable topics like religious faith, abortion, and homosexuality, that are civil in nature and open up honest and healthy dialogue. Articles that promote sincere and honest dialogue about these topics should be encouraged, not suppressed.

What is a problem is when articles are poorly researched, loaded with grammatical and factual inaccuracies, and when it is clear that their primary intent is not to engage in honest dialogue, but simply to attack the values of a particular group of people and insult those who hold those values, instead of making well-reasoned and civil arguments, with well-cited sources and quotations presented within their proper contexts, to get their points across. This is college. There is no acceptable excuse whatsoever for the editors at the OU Daily to have allowed Mr. Gibbon's opinion article, with all of its grammatical and factual inaccuracies, obvious lack of thorough research, and its elitist and overtly condescending tone towards Christians and their faith, to have been published in a public college newspaper. I've seen freshman high school students publish better works. This was a deliberately offensive article, with the intent of insulting and belittling Christians and their faith. I can't imagine Mr. Gibbons or anyone else at the Daily would have had the nerve to publish a similar article attacking and insulting the Muslim or Jewish faiths. The OU Daily has demonstrated time and time again that it does not hold its columnists to the high standards of journalism that should be expected of a college newspaper. This paper, for the most part, is a joke of a publication, and I sometimes question my own sanity for continuing to read it.

The editors at the OU Daily owe a public apology to the Christian student community for publishing an article that had as its primary aim from the outset to simply attack a specific group of people and put their values down, with no serious effort at demonstrating civility or good scholarship in backing up its claims. Given the Daily's dismal track record, I highly expect it won't be anywhere to be found, but nonetheless, I will look for an editor's apology in Monday's edition of the Daily.

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Posted on May 6 at 1:24 p.m.Suggest removal

I won't harp on the fact that had this article, merely a sorry excuse of a platform for attacking religious faith, been published about any other religion than Christianity, it would have been instantly labeled as hate speech and bigotry.

Grammar mistakes in your article notwithstanding, I am compelled to correct you on the following: "But because of Jesus' radical ideas, he was persecuted in a horrific manner and later subjected to a death of brutal suffocation between two criminals." The proper term describing Jesus' death is "crucifixion", and while he did ultimately die of asphyxiation after hanging in torment on the cross for several hours, I would respectfully request you use the appropriate term, "crucifixion", when describing Jesus' death. He was not merely "subjected to a death of brutal suffocation", he was mercilessly beaten, had a sharp crown of thorns forced on his head, forced to carry a heavy wooden cross while being beaten continuously along the long route to his execution, and finally, crucified by having long nails driven into his hands and feet. Only after all of this suffering and torment did he finally die of asphyxiation.

Yes it is true that the Bible is transcribed by men, and because of that, the transcriptions and translations are not perfect, especially the modern English translations. Many Christians, including Catholics, do not treat the entire Bible as the "literal" word of God. Many translations of the Bible, such as the Book of Genesis, are properly interpreted metaphorically rather than literally. For example, I don't believe that God actually created the world in seven 24-hr human days, and nor do a lot of Christians. The text of the Bible was written in a way that the people of the time could best understand and relate to it. The Bible is understood to be the "Divinely inspired" word of God - not every word of it can be taken literally, but it doesn't negate the essential meaning behind it. There are some aspects that we do take more literally than others. For instance, we do believe the flood happened (every religious culture acknowledges a great flood), and the exodus is a historical event, and yes, we do take the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus literally. But there are other aspects of the Christian faith as well. Catholics in particular derive their faith not only from the Bible, but from various revelations of God and miracles not found in the Bible. The Bible is not a perfect document, but it is an essential revelation of God to humanity, and it is principally through the Bible that we understand the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It takes true faith indeed to be able to trust that God that can work through imperfect people and imperfect documents and translators to fulfill His ultimate plan for us. Food for thought.

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Posted on March 11 at 4:13 p.m.Suggest removal

Great article. I am a big fan of folk music myself, especially bluegrass. I have both CD's and vinyl albums of traditional American bluegrass, and I can especially recommend investing in a record player and getting some bluegrass on vinyl. Experiencing this music the way our grandparents did, on the turntable, is a great way to connect with that generation and get a better understanding of their society, values, struggles, and achievements. And as the author of the column points out, this music plays an important but often under-appreciated role in shaping and improving society. Last summer there was a bluegrass festival here in Norman, and I would love to see it grow bigger and make Norman a premier scene of traditional folk music in Oklahoma and the surrounding region.

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Posted on March 9 at 11:09 a.m.Suggest removal

Point # 1: Studies have shown, and numerous personal testimonies I've heard from women who have had abortions have revealed that women can be negatively affected for life emotionally and even physically after their abortions. These women weren't paid off by pro-life lobbyists - their stories are REAL, and there are certainly countless more like them who are suffering after their abortions who we don't yet know about, because we don't hear their stories often for many years to come after the abortion, and the media doesn't report on these stories.

Point #2: Women aren't given all the facts before their abortion, and the abortion industry hides/fudges the facts while simultaneously breaking the laws. I'm not making this up. I've listened to the heartbreaking accounts of women who would have carried their pregnancies to term if they had seen an ultrasound or given more of an accurate picture about what to expect AFTER the abortion; I've read so many stories where women changed their minds and kept the pregnancy after seeing an ultrasound. For all the mantra about "choice" most women go turn to abortion precisely because they feel like they have no "choice". Some of them are forced into it by family members or their boyfriend or husband, against their will. Is that "choice"? So many didn't realize the life that was really in them until they saw the ultrasound. Undercover videos from the organization LiveAction (www.liveaction.org) have shown Planned Parenthood officials violating parental notification laws for underaged women and failing to report child sex abuse, and lying to women about the facts of abortion. Planned Parenthood officials are trained to tell the women "it's not a baby" , when the truth of that statement is FAR from validated and settled. In fact, in 1952, Planned Parenthood themselves even acknowledged that abortion "kills the life of a baby": http://liveaction.org/blog/planned-pa... . Women aren't told that anymore, and so they understandably are led to believe that getting an abortion is inconsequential; reality doesn't hit until AFTER the fact, and it's too late then. These women are being misled and LIED to by Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry. Wouldn't even "pro-choice" people want women to have all the facts and accurate information first? But then again, abortion is the most lucrative part of PP's business. Not that I would expect the OU Daily or any of the other media to set aside their pro-abortion ideologies and investigate any of this.

Point #3: "This legislation is an unnecessary infringement of women’s rights to do with their bodies what they choose..." Well I guess that settles it. There's no possibility that the unborn life in the womb is human and might have natural inalienable rights too. How arrogant.

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Posted on March 8 at 10:49 a.m.Suggest removal

"[I]gnorant Tea Partiers"? Pardon me, but I'm fairly certain the overwhelming majority of the Tea Partiers whom this paper dismisses as "ignorant" have a college education and possess a good understanding of the United States Constitution. These are small business owners, concerned grandparents, moms and dads, and young college-aged activists who are protesting. They are not "astroturf" organized by the Republican Party - I'm so sick of hearing that B.S. And these protests, while energetic and no doubt an expression of anger and frustration with the government, with a few isolated incidents here and there (as can be expected in any crowd), have really not been violent. The same cannot be said of some of the protests organized by the left over the years. I'm sick and tired of this paper, and the so-called "mainstream" media, and this current White House Administration dismissing these concerned citizen activists as a bunch of "ignorant right-wing extremists". Why don't you re-read up on the Constitution, and the letters of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, and look at the way our government was originally designed by our founders, and then look at the way it has become now today, and maybe you'll begin to understand why the Tea Party people are so upset right now with our government. There are going to be extremists in any movement. The overwhelming majority of these protestors are not "anti-goverment" revolutionaries; they are simply fed up with uncontrolled spending and a government that increasingly does not heed their voice. They want an end to the special interests that have corrupted Washington, and a return to more responsible and limited government - they want a government that adheres to the founding principles of this country and the Constitution. I'm pretty sure the founders would applaud these people for standing up to a federal government that, because of the reckless and self-serving actions of BOTH parties over the years, continues to grow larger and acquire more power every year, intrudes ever more into their personal lives, and is so drunk on unrestrained spending that it makes a person with a high pile of credit-card debt look like a frugal spender. So to those of you at the OU Daily who are actually listening, please get your facts straight before you go off labeling people as "ignorant".

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Posted on March 4 at 12:18 p.m.Suggest removal

"America should lead the nuclear-armed world towards a nuclear weapon free world. America is the only country capable of accomplishing such a tremendous feat, and to begin to do so would drastically strengthen objections to any emerging nuclear program."

And so by disarming America of nuclear weapons, I am to understand that it follows that China and North Korea will also do the "right thing" and lay down their nuclear weapons as well, and Iran (who, by the way, hates America just as much as China and North Korea) will also return the favor and drop their nuclear arms race. And let's not forget Osama bin Ladin and company - being the honorable men they are, they will also play by the rules and call off their "holy mission" to destroy "The Great Satan" America, and we can trust China and North Korea not to sell nukes to these terrorist groups after we've disarmed ourselves. My friend, I'm afraid your arguments are not firmly rooted in reality. As much as I dislike nuclear weapons (and I honest-to-goodness hate them), the reality is that the cat is out of the bag, they cannot be uninvented, and I feel it is incredibly naive to presume that those who hate America and the free world will lay down their nuclear arms just because we lay down ours. No matter how much we'd like to undo history, you can no more rid the world of nukes at this point as you could rid it of guns; disarming ourselves will only make us the laughing stock of the world and serve as an invitation to those who hate us that we are open and vulnerable to attack. Al Qaeda, China, North Korea, and all those who hate America hate the very essence of our culture. Disarming ourselves won't change that, and will risk even more civilian lives on our own soils and abroad than the status quo.

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Posted on February 25 at 11:14 a.m.Suggest removal

While I don't condone this person's means of exposing the realities of prostitution and I agree it's a gross violation of privacy to take video of people having sex (much less post it online for millions of people to see), I find it equally disturbing that you and so many others in this generation fail to see how prostitution at its core actually degrades women of their dignity. Think about it - in the act of prostitution, women are essentially selling their bodies for money. During that set time that the "john" has paid for, her body becomes like "property" for the "john" to use for his own personal pleasure. It's really a system where men get to take advantage of women who are poor. Feminists should be outraged by this. You call this dignifying and liberating? Do you truly think these women are happy doing this for a living? Or are they doing it because they feel like they have no other alternatives? These are women need love and compassion - they need help, and yet our culture doesn't reach out and help them, rather our culture treats them as sex objects, only valued for their bodies. Prostitution is the very epitome of this objectification of women that is so rampant in our society. In fact, it is a form of slavery. These are human persons - God's children - not sex objects to be bought and sold! How dare we strip women of their dignity in this way! No woman should have to sell their bodies and be stripped of their very dignity as human persons just to make ends meet.

I am not at all advocating that women should be thrown in jail for prostitution. At the same time, I don't want to see this trade, essentially a form of sex trade, legalized either. It is an evil on the same footing with the sex trade of children. I think that the men who take advantage of women in their desperate situations are the ones who should be in jail.

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Posted on February 18 at 12:10 p.m.Suggest removal

"It’s time for America to catch up with the rest of the civilized world and grant equal rights to our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens in all areas of the law."
--> By the "civilized" world, you mean the world which has legitimized and applauded actions and choices that are inherently wrong. From the point of view of the non-secularist, this is modern day Soddom and Gamorrah.

"Regarding the military, to tell a member of the armed forces they can’t serve their country and be who they truly are at the same time is ridiculous."
-->I'm with you in principal that anyone should be allowed to serve their country regardless of their sexual orientation. In practice, however, I am against it because of the potential for rampant homosexual activity in the barricades to disrupt or interfere with the mission. Several active duty members I've spoken with have expressed this same fear. So it's not an ideological concern in this case, it's a practical concern.

"The current (largely) religion-induced homophobia, claiming moralistic “family values” is anything but moral. Denying the civil liberties of our fellow citizens based on who they love is as immoral as it can get. The fight for homosexual rights should be fought by every American with an inkling of moral fiber until we are brought out of the dark ages and into the 21st century."
--> Just to clarify, religion does not teach "homophobia" - it teaches that certain actions and lifestyles are inherently evil. It does NOT teach that having an inclination to act a certain way in of itself is wrong, only indulging that inclination that is wrong. Our "moralistic family values" are rooted in an acknowledgement that there is such a thing as Good and Evil - right actions and wrong actions. Many of the God-fearing people of this nation understand in a way that the modern-secularist cannot that legalizing "gay marriage" threatens to undermine the very foundation of the family, which is the first unit of society, by radically redefining the gender roles. As it is, the state of the family in this country is grave condition - divorce rates have never been higher. Children are no longer growing up in loving homes, with good mother and father role models. It has negatively impacted the whole of society.

Your last sentence of the article effectively attacks religion and moral values altogether, and dismisses the sincerely held concerns for the well-being of our society held by people of religious convictions. Secularism is also a form of "morality" - moral relativism, to be precise - and from the viewpoint of myself and many others across the nation who share my convictions, secularists such as yourself are trying to impose your morality on a God-fearing people.

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Posted on February 18 at 11:34 a.m.Suggest removal

@ JJanowiak: Whoa buddy, please point out in my past comment postings where I EVER said that "homosexuals are not human beings"? Indeed, I made it very clear in my last comment on a pro-gay opinion article the important distinction between accepting and loving someone as a human being (made in the image of God), and approving of a person's actions and lifestyle choices. I specifically made the point that we are all sinners and our hearts are inclined towards committing sinful acts (a result of our fall from God's grace in Original Sin (see Genesis)). I also made the point that just because we have inherent natures that incline us toward sin, it does not make those actions any less wrong or more acceptable. And I believe I also concluded with the point something along the lines that through the grace of Christ, we may find forgiveness for our sins and a return to grace if we but seek Him with repentant hearts. You may disagree with my Christian beliefs, but where in ANY of that do you get "Homosexuals are not human beings?" Get your facts straight, pal, before you start making those kinds of accusations. Also, just a suggestion, you might want to avoid making personal attacks on others who disagree with your secularist world views if you wish to be taken seriously.

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