Cross Country want their space, time in newspaper

Ok, since being here at Martin I have seen that the Cross Country team is getting the shaft on articles in the Pacer. I’m tired of opening the Pacer and seeing no article about the XC team. The guys and girls on the team work very, very hard week in and week out and we don’t get any recognition. Coming up soon is the OVC championships and I wouldn’t be surprised if yall didn’t write about it either. Please prove me wrong!

Paul Thames Athletic Training Knoxville

Concert not a matter of separation of church, state

I keep hearing everyone complain about how UTM crossed the bounds of seperation of church and state. It is a fact that UTM is a governmently funded university. It is also a fact that the SAC is a council made up of students. The SAC made a choice based on what they were hearing from the students. When a group of students comes up and talks to someone about a certain band its going to catch their attention. Also, this band has been on the posters around school for sometime now. Why is it that it takes someone else to say after the fact that hey they were a Christian band and it creates an issue. May students went to the concert and enjoyed it up unto the point that they found out that the band was a Chrisian band? It seems to me that the issue here is not a matter of the seperation of church and state but a matter of people either not paying attention to whats going on it took two minutes to search SonicFlood and see they are Christian or just ignorance from saying that because they are a Christian band we shouldn’t like them.

Daniel Hay Criminal Justice Crockett County

Constitution guarantees SonicFlood concert at UTM

It is sad for me to read articles such as “Christian Band Sparks Conflict” by Jay Baker, and see the level of misinformation or rather lack of education in senior level students at UTM. I recognize that Kevin Bay has probably never had a course in understanding the Constitution of the United States of America and his shortcomings on the subject may be blamed on his own complacency, but UTM (and any school he attended as a child) should bear at least some of the blame. How does a person get through 18 years of education without attaining a basic grasp on one of the fundamental documents of our nation? Is the Constitution irrelevant? It can’t be irrelevant since he decided to quote the 1st Amendment (however inappropriate it was) in support of his opposition to the Student Activities Council’s sponsorship of a Christian band playing on campus. When will America go back to educating its students on important issues as opposed to just making sure they get through school as painlessly as possible?

Mr. Bay: It’s your responsibility to cultivate an understanding of such important topics. The education system has failed you.

Joe Dowell English Jackson

America needs principles that promote good actions

You called them bible beaters that shouldn’t wear polyester/cotton blends. Come on, let’s get an understanding of the scriptures before we quote them. Let’s not address the wearing of blends or the eating of pork, but let’s deal with the issue at hand, the way we are living. America, is “a nation laden with iniquity, that has gone away backwards”

So do America not stand for Godly principles anymore?”In God we trust” is what I recall being printed on the thing people love most, money. So why do Americans disregard what God has founded and ordained;marriage as a holy union between a man and a women? Why is His creation so bold to talk back to God, the creator?

The world has gotten so far from what is right, and it is excepted in today’s society.That’s why people can write articles stating that they are free to do as they chose with no fear of God’s judgment.”Right is right even if everyone against it and wrong is wrong even if everyone for it”.

God has always required holiness. Lev 19:2; I Pet1:16 “The righteousness of God is in the land of forgetfulness.” If God meant for men to be with men and vice versa it would have been made clear long ago ( please do not use Johnathan and David’s friendship as justifiable grounds for engaging in homosexuality).

Man is trying to change God’s constitution, for their own unholy liberties. We should consider our actions b/c there is a just recompense of reward. Heb2:2 Woe to them that call evil good and and good evil. Isa 5:20 We need to consider what we claim to be founded on, God’s principles, instead of man’s principle allowing freedom for everyone to do wrong as they please.

Sharita Anderson Nursing Jackson

SonicFlood is a part of freedom of religion, also

Religion is merely a set of beliefs and values. Many secular bands sing about values that one may not agree with as well. Why then are they not critized for promoting their viewpoint on relationships , sex , life etc? - their religion so to speak.

Why is it okay to keep only organized religion segregated yet pay no heed to the subtle( and not so subtle) religions or philosophyies being thrown around in modern music, movies and media?

It’s a diverse country and religious diversity should be honored . However, bottom line _ it is still a predominanlty Chrisitan community in Tennesse( and in America too actually) and no harm in respecting that and offering entertainment that suits the majority...not just the minority.

No one is forced to come and you can’t please all the people all the time. So to those up in arms get over it. You’ll not always have everything just as you want it. Let the main stream do there thing as they should let you do your thing.

Theresa Spidalieri University Studies Branford, CT

If students dislike concert, they shouldn’t attend

Here is another point of view about the concert last Monday night. I absolutely enjoyed the concert and really got a blessing out of it. As you might have guessed, I am a devout Christian and proud of it. I go to Moores Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Greenfield, TN where I also live. I am here to say that if the man that attended the concert had a problem with it then he simply shouldn’t have gone. No one twisted his arm to go to the concert. I know this school is non-prejudice about what students attend here and that we are supposed to be open minded, but I have to say that it didn’t hurt anyone from the students supporting this SonicFlood concert. I had a good time and showed a new Christian how to have good clean fun. I hope that the next one we have, that this man that had the problem with it will get a blessing and a maybe even completely change his perspective on life and Christianity.

Cassie Chapel Pre-Veterinary Greenfield