Letters on WSU chapel, GOP implosion

Uproar over WSU chapel misguided

The negative uproar over Grace Chapel at Wichita State University is misguided (Oct. 7 Eagle). As a former student body president and the author of the proposal to renovate the chapel, I can say the negative opinions toward the change do not reflect reality.

Renovating the chapel so that it could better serve as an interfaith prayer space was innovative. WSU president John Bardo loves to talk about innovation. It’s ironic that Bardo has focused the blame on students when he is supposed to be responsible for the same students.

I’ve seen several comments on the WSU Facebook page that say the current student government is catering only to Muslim students and that they don’t care about Christians. Those comments are disgusting.

It’s inspiring to see the social media posts from the millennial generation that express support to move forward rather than backward, as some commenters would have us do. I am happy to be on the right side of American history.

All may worship

How wonderful it is that Wichita State University is leading and teaching global peace and understanding by providing, under one roof on the campus, a space in which persons of any faith may worship in their own individual way. Amen.

Don’t accommodate

Muslim students from other countries asked that religious accommodations be made at Wichita State University. Consider the following:

Americans attending a university in an Islamic country would never dream of suggesting that the university there modify its religious facilities to accommodate a Christian position. It would be considered rude and arrogant.

In addition, foreign students come to America to learn about its culture, which is unquestionably tied to a Judeo-Christian heritage. To deprive them of this immersion is a disservice to the goals of better understanding between the cultures.

Finally, Islam is legal here in America, and Muslim students certainly have the right to go to a local mosque without fear of government-sanctioned persecution, but the university is not obligated to provide this accommodation as a right.

Foreign students are a large source of revenue to the university, but let’s not sell our soul there, too. There’s enough of that in Washington, D.C.

Shared space

After reading about the renovations to Grace Memorial Chapel on the Wichita State University campus, I was disappointed to learn that not only are community members scapegoating on-campus Muslims for this fuss, but they are also sadly under-committed to the concept of a true shared space.

The Oct. 7 article began by stating that Muslim students “wanted a better place to pray,” which led to the renovation. But redesigning the chapel was not to pacify a single group but was actually aimed at meeting campuswide needs and following closer to the stated wishes of the chapel’s donor, which were that the chapel be open to all creeds and all races of people. These renovations were meant to match campus demographics and ensure the chapel can be utilized to the fullest potential.

Yes, the removal of pews will make it more comfortable for Muslim prayer, but other religious groups will also benefit. Perhaps the pew-free space will now be better for nondenominational prayer circles or Bible discussions. Perhaps Hindu and Buddhist students can better practice walking meditations there.

Additionally, I found statements describing pew removal as “marginalizing” to Christians somewhat sensational. Though I prefer a pew for my Christian worship, it is not essential to my practice.

This is not an issue of adapting a Christian space to Islamic practice. This was a student-led action creating a more flexible space for worship on a state-sponsored and, therefore, religiously unaffiliated campus. I sincerely hope WSU donors who are upset will consider carefully the negative impact of projecting one’s own beliefs onto such a diverse and changing campus.

GOP imploding

The Republican Party is imploding. The leadership of the party has allowed a small minority of about 40 tea party members in the House of Representatives to run the show.

In other words, the patients/inmates are now in charge of the asylum.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, could have prevented this by simply teaming up with moderate Democrats and gotten things done, but he allowed a small number of shrill troglodytes to set the agenda. This small tea party group shut down the government at a cost of $24 billion, refused to pass any meaningful legislation on jobs, and has taken us to the brink of default on the national debt. They are very like a group of small children who, when they do not get their way when and how they want it, throw a temper tantrum and scream and holler until someone pays attention to them. It is no wonder that no one wants to be the speaker.

This group of crybabies should be left alone. The only way to get anything done in a democracy type of government is through compromise. If only one side gets its way all the time, that is called tyranny. The leadership should consider all legislation, count noses and, if there are 217 ayes, bring it up for a vote.

This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Letters on WSU chapel, GOP implosion."