[Paleopsych] NYT: (Class) God and Man in the Ivy League (4 Letters)

[Premise Checker]

God and Man in the Ivy League (4 Letters)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/27/opinion/l27class.html?pagewanted=print

    To the Editor:

    Re "On a Christian Mission to the Top: Evangelicals Set Their Sights
    on the Ivy League" ("Class Matters" series, front page, May 22):

    As a Columbia student, I was amused to read this article. Although the
    Christian Union may intend to "reclaim the Ivy League for Christ," I
    and the overwhelming majority of my friends are increasingly skeptical
    of organized religion and its minions.

    Considering the Bush administration's perverse manipulation of
    Christianity to invade Iraq, and the increasing blurring of church and
    state, I am ever wary of those who proselytize on my secular campus.

    Deena Guzder
    Sugar Land, Tex., May 22, 2005

    To the Editor:

    The Christian Union wants to reclaim the Ivy League for Christ, and
    evangelical Republicans are using the legislature and the judiciary to
    create a United States of Christ. It's infuriating that evangelicals
    are going to such lengths to assert their power.

    College provides a forum for expression of different opinions and
    varying religious views. It is spiritually disrespectful and a
    violation of the premises of a liberal arts education to impose any
    one religion upon the rest of the student body.

    As Brown University parents, we are appalled that these students and
    their mentors view the campus as a place to proselytize and recruit.

    Colleges are meant to open people's minds, not close them. Students
    may attend programs such as Hillel, Newman and Christian Houses, but
    these are not a replacement for other fascinating and expansive
    opportunities to meet and learn from people very different from
    themselves.

    Beryl Minkle
    Haakon Chevalier
    Cambridge, Mass., May 23, 2005

    To the Editor:

    It is understandable that it makes some of us uneasy when evangelicals
    set out to reclaim the Ivy League for Christ. Not so long ago these
    universities had mandatory Christian prayer and a quota on admissions
    of Jews.

    Brown University, under the leadership of its president, Ruth Simmons,
    just instituted need-blind admissions, which will open doors for
    evangelicals and others of modest means.

    I hope that the evangelicals on campus will recognize that tolerance
    benefits all of us, and I invite them to walk down the hill and visit
    First Unitarian Church, where I am a member and all are welcome.

    Nancy Green
    Providence, R.I., May 23, 2005

    To the Editor:

    Lest readers think that the Christian Union's effort to reclaim the
    Ivy League for Christ represents the only recent religious activity at
    Brown University, I would like to point out the rise of Interfaith
    House, one of several interfaith initiatives here.

    Interfaith House, which I helped found, is a growing residential
    community of about 30 students from a variety of faiths, including
    students active in evangelical groups.

    As it begins its third year next fall, it will seek to enrich the
    hearts and minds of its members and the Brown community through
    discussions on topics including compassion, conscience and leading a
    religious or spiritual life.

    Julian Leichty
    Providence, R.I., May 23, 2005