Open mind needed to absorb 'facts' of history
This letter is in response to Nishant Bagadia's article (""Accepting true history requires an open mind,"" March 1-3). I would like to ask Nishant to open his mind before he makes his arguments. He states his purpose as not to disprove religion'specifically Christianity because the Bible is what he refers to. Yet part of being a Christian assumes you also believe in the Bible; you cannot pick and choose what to believe. Mr. Bagadia tries to make the argument that the earth is well over 6,000 years old using the same circular arguments that have existed for years. I would ask Mr. Bagadia to consult www.christiananswers.net, a Web site that answers all of his ""proofs"" and many more. I would like to briefly answer a few of the ""convincing evidences"" that were brought up and hopefully show they aren't that convincing after all.
First, Mr. Bagadia claims that because we can see stars, the earth is well over 6,000 years old. The easiest response to this is that God created light ""on its way."" Just as God did not create Adam and Eve as babies, he did not create stars and then let their light begin to travel. The same can be said for the age of the earth. It is entirely possible God created the earth with age as well.
Second, how do Christians account for the different continents now if they were drifting apart at such a slow rate. It is entirely possible that rapid shifting occurred during Noah's Flood. There is a lot of evidence as to why this occurred.
Third, there is a lot of evidence that Lucy was not on the way to becoming human and was simply a chimpanzee. The knee joint of Lucy was from another spot and the bones are very similar to the pygmy chimpanzee. In terms of dating the primary sites he gives, one must understand that dating techniques have many problems. For example, things 200 years old have been dated to be millions of years old. There are a lot of assumptions one must accept to believe that these ""dating"" techniques are correct.
Now that I have taken a moment to think about Mr. Bagadia's arguments, I hope that he takes a moment and thinks a moment about mine. There are many beliefs in the Bible that do conjure confusion, question and curiosity. That is why we need faith. If everything in the Bible was proven fact, one would think everyone would be Christian. I cannot prove or disprove Christianity to you, and I do not intend to. I just ask that you take a minute to research and think before you quickly ascribe to the beliefs that Mr. Bagadia has.
Segregated fees create opportunity to learn
Recent debates on campus about the services provided by student fees inspired me to think about how segregated fees fit into the broader picture of the educational mission of our university.
First of all, seg fees unearth and disseminate knowledge by providing venues whereby students can pursue their interests and passion. That any three students with an idea or a dream can create a place to nurture their education amazes me and makes me so proud to be a part of UW-Madison.
Furthermore, the services provided by student fees serve to challenge what people believe, stimulate their intellect and expose them to new ideas. We, as students, have the responsibility to demand that our university provide us with an education beyond that of the classroom. The services provided by seg fees do precisely that. College is about more than fun and studying; it's about understanding who you are as a person, which can never be learned from a textbook. It can, however, be learned from the networking, community-building and intellectual challenges that take place in the student organizations of this campus.
I can honestly say I have learned more from ASM than I ever will in a classroom. Student groups like ASM provide amazing opportunities for students and promote the free speech and open forum of ideas that are so important to a complete education.
