COLUMN

EDITORIAL The Wichitan’s column policy

For as early as The Wichitan has existed, the newspaper has included columns. A column is a reflection of the author’s opinion on a specific topic and can be written by The Wichitan staff, MSU Texas students or anyone who sends one to wichitan@msutexas.edu. The Wichitan will publish any column submitted as long as it does not promote hate, violence or baseless conspiracy.

The Wichitan as an organization possesses no political agenda that influences the decision on which columns to post. The Wichitan prioritizes free speech, whether members of the staff agree with the content of the column or not. Columns over topics ranging from “breaking up the US” to “teaching the real history of Thanksgiving” to “you should take late-night drives to Walmart” have been published.

Columns are not required to include citations, multiple sources, quotes or any area of expertise over their topic, which is why each column comes with a warning that the article the reader is about to read is the opinion of solely the author. Columns are not the same as feature articles, which still require the appropriate sources and fact-checking even if they contain more of the author’s voices. Readers should always fact-check everything they read, but they can rest assure that any non-column article posted by The Wichitan has been properly researched.

While many recently posted columns have been written by members of The Wichitan staff, the newspaper is always looking to hear from members of the MSU community and beyond.

CAMPUS VOICES AN OPEN LETTER

to today’s Christians

“Christianity in US Politics,” Mar 10.

GRAPHIC BY OMAR COMBIE | THE WICHITAN

Columns in Campus Voices are the opinions of only the authors and do not necesssarily reflect the views of The Wichitan as an organization.

Dear Christians, Ask any knowledgeable Christian what the Ten Commandments are and they’ll never leave out “Thou shall not commit idolatry (to hold something or someone in higher esteem than God),” and if you ask them which of these commandments are the two greatest, surely they will agree with Jesus Christ that they are “Love the Lord with all your heart” and “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Yet, there are a large number of Christian people who seem to put former President Donald Trump’s words and opinions above those of The Lord, and still, there are even more Christians who look at their neighbors with disdain simply because they voted for someone different from them.

Now, before every 40 year-old on Facebook with nothing to do starts yammering away on their keyboards, let me clarify two things. The first is that I am a lifelong Christian, raised primarily at Denton Bible Church, and I absolutely think our religious

Amos Perkins

views should influence our political views. The second is I don’t think there’s anything wrong with anyone voting Republican, whether Christian or not, and I’m certainly not trying to convince anyone to vote Democrat. However, some Christians have intertwined Republican and Christian views and values so much now that some can’t tell the difference.

I spend a significant amount of time in primarily Christian homes, and some of the behavior I have observed at some of them is concerning. I’ve heard children tell me how coronavirus is fake, how if they could have voted they would’ve voted for Trump and how their next door neighbors are bad people because they voted for Biden. None of the children in question were older than twelve, and none of them could explain to me why what they were saying is true, because it was fed to them by their parents. This is to be expected I guess, when parents are more interested in teaching

Again, there’s nothing wrong with a Christian voting for Trump or any other Republican candidate if that’s what they feel they’re being called to do, but there is when they are emphasizing Republican figures and values over Christian ones in their homes. How can we as Christians send our kids to Sunday school to learn about the Good Samaritan, and then talk bad about people with differing views in our own home? How can we tell them “God’s kingdom is for everyone” and then hold up signs saying certain people are going to Hell? How can we say “Love your neighbor” and then ignore or condemn our black/gay/muslim/immigrant/[insert minority here] neighbor? Children learn a lot more from their parents than they do from a few hours one day out of the week.

Politics should not play such a pivotal role in churches and homes, and we shouldn’t be watching the news more than we are reading God’s word. We as Christians have a chance to raise a generation who embraces love and kindness; let’s not spoil that by emphasizing man, who is by nature sinful, over a perfect and loving God.

With love, A very concerned brother in Christ

Vol. 85 | No. 13 Midwestern State University Fain Fine Arts Bldg., Room D201 3410 Taft Blvd. | Wichita Falls, Texas 76308 (940) 397-4704 wichitan@msutexas.edu | thewichitan.com @wichitanonline EDITOR IN CHIEF: Bridget Reilly MANAGING EDITOR: Amos Perkins NEWS EDITOR: Stephanie Robledo DESIGN EDITOR: Omar Combie BUSINESS MANAGER: Alexis Martin ISSUE STAFF: Emily Beaman, Ryan Clayton, Thalia Doe, Bailey Graham, Abigail Jones, Brian Lang, Elizabeth Mahan, Joseph Nelson, Niko McWilliams ADVISOR: Jonathon Quam

Copyright ©2021. First copy free. Additional copies $1.00 each. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and the Associated Collegiate Press. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication. Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication. Letters should be brief (250 words or fewer) and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a email address, telephone number and address.