A Most Fascinating Letter

I received a most fascinating letter earlier this week. Allow me to quote a few lines: "Is there not a better approach to governance? Is it not possible to put wealth and power in the service of peace, stability, prosperity and the happiness of all peoples through a commitment to justice and respect for the rights of all nations, instead of aggression and war?...Can terrorism be contained and eradicated through war, destruction and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocents? If that were possible, then why has the problem not been resolved?"

I trust you recognize these words. You received the letter too. These words come from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, in his Wednesday letter to the American people. It's not everyday that we receive a letter from a head of state. I trust you have at least offered the courtesy of reading his letter as I have. I, of course, do not agree with everything that Ahmadinejad writes, but I do agree with much of it. As a friend confided in me earlier this week, the letter sounds "more sane and rational than anything I have heard from any politician in D.C."

Of particular note is Ahmadinejad's opening invocation of "God, the Compassionate, the Merciful." Perhaps he is just conjuring the implicit assent of God on certain political views as our homegrown politicians are often apt to do. Assumptions aside, as Christians we cannot ignore the call to examine our politics through our faith. When we analyze the questions presented earlier in this article, the answers are glaringly apparent. What if we did put our "wealth and power in the service of peace, stability, prosperity, and the happiness of all peoples?" As Ahmadinejad points out in his letter, quite the opposite is being done with our power and in our name.

Ahmadinejad is not the only voice wondering where the voice of followers of God is. Jut a couple weeks ago, I found myself crammed into a standing room only meeting in Washington D.C. of theology professors and students to hear leading theologians and activists speak on "Theology, Critical Theory, and Radical Democracy." The title of the seminar was indeed boring and dry, but the ensuing discussion was anything but. Prominent speakers like Graham Ward and Jim Wallis spent 90 minutes wondering how we as people of faith can critically engage our world and speak for a democracy that truly represents its people. More importantly, speakers and attendees wondered aloud how to recapture the public presence of our faith as one of liberation rather than oppression.

I wonder with trepidation about the voice of our faith in light of the quiet student voice at EMU. As Student Government Association Co-President, I had the privilege of offering the student report with my fellow Co-President to the Board of Trustee's meeting in November. I spent much of my portion of the report discussing the student voice on campus, and it was a painful statement to deliver. I do not have intimate knowledge of all of the various publications and venues of student voice on campus, but what I do know is disappointing.

Even with cajoling and the dangling of money and class credit, only a few select students take on the responsibility of our struggling student publications. It is only through the continuous and exhausting hard work of these few that we even have student publications. And even through all that hard work, it is impossible to achieve the same level of quality and diversity that could be achieved with larger staffs. The lack of energy behind our student publications speaks directly to the lack of growth in student media. We must not forget that several years ago WEMC targeted students directly as audience members. Now WEMC will likely be leased to WMRA as just another public radio station for the Harrisonburg community.

For all the clamoring to be heard on campus and have some input on decisions, our Opinion Boards (they do exist) are bare and these Opinion pages are dominated by a few. It is not enough to merely say that students must have a voice on campus. You, the student, must take the time and energy to actually contribute. The topic we speak on may not always be as important as the national and international issues addressed by Wallis and Ahmadinejad, but the core issue remains the same. If we do not speak, we will not be heard, and we have only ourselves to blame.

Contact Galen @ galen.wenger@emu.edu