Christis Comment Corner
A few issues back we asked people to answer the question “Is Christis doing its job?” In order to answer that question, we first have to consider what exactly is the purpose of Christis and recently we have had to think fairly carefully about this issue. We believe that the purpose of Christis is to grow spiritually through gaining a better understanding of Christ and of Christianity, by providing them with an open forum for debate in which they feel comfortable to express their views.
“In order to provide an open forum for debate of Christianity in its broadest sense” (see Declaration of Aims on inside front cover) we have to be prepared to let people express their views. Most media publications exercise more control, because otherwise the system might be abused. However, Christis has traditionally tried to exercise as little editorial power over articles as possible, so that all may have their say. In order for us to continue in this manner, we would ask people to think about how they write their articles or letters. Christians are called, above all else, to “love the Lord your God” and to “love your neighbour”. To love one’s neighbour, one must be considerate of their feelings. As we are exploring Christianity we should be acting in a Christian way — lovingly, caringly, trying to build each other up; and as such, censorship should be unnecessary, as no-one should be intentionally writing in a way which will hurt others’ feelings.
If the aim of this magazine is to enable each other to draw closer to God through gaining a better understanding of him, then in order for this magazine to do its job, this also needs to be the writer’s aim when submitting articles. We would ask people to write their articles/letters in a spirit of love. This means, rather than deliberately setting out to be unpleasant, using a loving tone, with constructive, and not merely negative, criticisms. This relates particularly to letters responding to articles.
We are NOT expecting you to pretend that you agree with everything printed in these hallowed pages! By all means comment if you think that articles are misinformed. All we ask is that you do this in a spirit of love for one another. Likewise, an article which contains throw-away comments or unsubstantiated arguments doesn’t help anyone: a loving and thought-provoking response will be far more beneficial. Could we also suggest that it would be useful to get any letters or articles checked over by a couple of others to gauge the kind of reaction they will receive. If your reader collapses of a heart-attack, this could be taken to be a bad sign!!!
“Let us be self controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate and hope of salvation as a helmet … encourage one another and build each other up.”
1 Thessalonians 8,11.
Christian Aid is a charity sponsored by forty churches representing most denominations in the UK and Ireland. They support work in over sixty countries to enable poor communities to help themselves. This means funding locally based projects such as building new wells to provide safe, clean water supplies, providing seeds and tools to enable families to grow their own food, paying for emergency aid when necessary, and attempting to identify and wipe out the root causes of poverty.
Jubilee 2000 is just one of Christian Aid’s projects. This calls for world leaders to cancel debts owed by the poorest countries by the year 2000, allowing these countries to spend more on improving the quality of life of their people rather than struggling to pay off huge debts which they can’t afford. On Saturday, May 16, at the G7 summit in Birmingham, the first instalment of what is hoped to be the worlds largest petition will be handed in, while the summit is surrounded by a nine-mile long human chain symbolising the chains of debt. Christian Aid also supports fair trade. This guarantees that workers in third world countries producing tea, coffee, sugar and other foods, and also clothes and craft products, are treated fairly, with good working conditions and fair wages. Other projects supported include the Gemini Trust, a project helping families with twins.
Christian Aid week is the charity’s official fundraising week. During this week, over 300,000 people collect money and organise events to raise money for Christian Aid. Last year nearly ten million pounds was raised. Christian Aid week this year is from May 10th until May 16th (week 3), with the G7 summit at the end. The theme for this year’s Christian Aid week is ‘Live in Hope’, concentrating on the people of Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in the world. Events planned for on campus include a ‘rich and poor’ lunch, an international dance evening, a café crawl, a fair trade market, collections and daily prayer. To get involved, contact Liz (emw102@york.ac.uk), Johan (jnbba100@york.ac.uk), Kath (kmr100@york.ac.uk) or Karen (kmb106@york.ac.uk).