The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 21, 1993, Page 3, Image 3
Waco cult
Judgements on FBI decision
to raid compound premature
This was not the way the FBI wanted it to
way the Clinton administration and Attorney
wanted it to end.
The shock the nation felt as news reports :
fiery destruction of the Waco, Texas, cult com]
And for good reason. As of press time Tuesda;
pie were confirmed dead, including 17 childre:
cult members were accounted for.
Ironically, saving the children from alleged
reason why Reno decided to approve the FBI
cultists with tear gas.
The FBI said they thought the non-flamm
force the cult members and their leader, David
compound, hopefully ending the 51-day stando
However, all were surprised by the flamt
wooden complex within 30 minutes, trapping
inside. The FBI contends that the cult membe
on fire, while many outside critics suggest th
have actually started the fire themselves.
The dust has hardly settled on the site of
before critics of the government have come c
to question the FBI's every move, everythir
botched ambush in February to Monday's tragi
Rather than mourning the deaths of at let
instantly pounce on a government, which, in
to save those children, might have made a mist
But nobody knows for sure. Until the invesi
preceding the burning of the compound it
Treasury and Justice departments, we will no
happened. Any judgments made now would n(
but would ultimately hinder any objective in
the government into their own actions.
We all want to know why those people died
cue or an event which no one, with the poss
cult members themselves, could predict?
But blaming the government for the deaths
not only counterproductive, but ultimately m
why the FBI were in Waco in the first place w
And who broke the law? David Koresh.
The Gamecock will try to print all letters
should be 200-250 words maximum. Full 1
sional title or year and major, if a student,
ed along with an address and phone nun
cock reserves the right to edit for style,
space limitations. The Gamecock will not
under any circumstances.
Fond memories re
when moving out e
Sometime in elementarv
school, we are introduced to the jM
saying about how sweet our JH
homes are and how there are no
other places quite like it.
Ironically, it is only when
you are away from it that the
truth in it hits you. It was after
I had spent several hundred
hours in my department office
that I realized how attached I R
had become to it, and how SHAR
much I yearned its companion- L?_
ship. there is a I
There is nothing more pleas- brewing out:
antly compatible with my sense before my ;
of untidiness than that room but the stac
with its messy table, stiewn ^rs trom m)
books and the general chaotic ers gIOws. I
ambience. There are planned foi
Doublemint wrappers compet- scant hopes
ing for floor space with the My anno
other poorly aimed trash that ^as reared
bounced just otf the rim. again, rende
There is that old, dried patch al serious st
of spilled Pepsi, shaped uncan- impossibilil>
nily like a smiling face, peeking gut as j
shyly from behind the book within the 1
rack. When the air circulation is mate -mymoj
just right, the musty smell ot coat rack
day-old socks mingles with the metallic aim
lingering but ferocious odor ot should I eve
the cleaning woman's perfume phone now
to create a strangely congenial head, givin
aroma. Its walls are adorned by encourageme
Post-Its that had unsuccessfully mouth-shap
tried reminding me of deadlines Pepsi patch 1
that are now history. sticky, stale
And yet, ensconced within its been denude
barriers, 1 feel comfortable and bubble can s
totally at peace with the world, couldn't I!
It is my own little private oasis, There I sit
secluded far away from the hus- Gp good oh
ding and bustling world of friendly and
depressing influence. It's the ings that wil
one place where nothing can at"my si<je jr
ever go wrong, and things are ^ntj 0
always the way I want them to seems to ma
be.
At this moment, it is 3 a.m. ^
on a Sunday morning, and a columnist
I
end. Nor was it the
General Janet Reno
flooded in about the
pound was immense.
y, more than 80 peon.
And not all of the
abuse was the main
plan to drive out the
able tear gas would
Koresh, out of their
ff.
is that engulfed the
most of the people
rs set the compound
ie government might
the Waco compound
>ut of the woodwork
tg from the original
c ending.
tst 20 children, they
their good intentions
ake.
ligation of the events
> completed by the
t know exactly what
)t only be premature,
ivestigation made by
I. Was it an FBI mis
ible exception of the
of those 80 people is
isplaced. The reason
^as to uphold the law.
name and profes,
must be includtber.
The Gamepossible
libel or
withhold names
turn
)f office
A H U L
ANGPANI
big thunderstorm
side. The days left
graduation shrink,
k of rejection let/
potential employhave
tons of work
tomorrow, with
of ever completing
ying mental block
its ugly head yet
:ring any attempts
udying an absolute
r#
x>k around, nothing
mm seems inani
e. The sturdy, staid
seems to extend
is, offering support
r need it. The teleresembles
a human
g silent shouts of
:nt through its open,
>ed dial. And the
eminds me dial if a
fly magnet that has
d of all its fizz and
till smile, then why
. Right in the midst
unconditionally
familiar surround1
always literally be
i uoubled times,
f a sudden, nothing
iter any more.
alnil Sharangpani is
for The Gamecock.
?>0U
Columnist's diatribe
on smoking ignorant
To the editor:
This is in response to Tige
Watts' diatribe concerning his
addiction to cigarettes. Mr. Watts, I
pity your weakness and your lack
of self-will. I also pity your lack of
self-determination. It seems to be a
custom among many younger people
nowadays to place blame for
their problems where it should least
lie.
However, there is no possible
way to excuse the bigotry, stupidity
and ignorance contained in your
April 19 column. In a thoughtless,
two-sentence paragraph in the
middle of your column, you have
managed to provoke me, profoundly
insult my people, belittle
our way of life, uivialize and blaspheme
our religion and profane an
ancient tradition. Is it a general
policy of yours to publish statements
about cultures other than
your own without the slightest
effort to research and add some
knowledge to your writing ?
especially these days when harmony
between cultures and races is
so important.
Peoples of all our nations have
struggled, fought and died to come
this much closer, and all that is
needed to tear apart such a fragile
unity is one voice shouting through
a powerful medium, with a total
disregard for common sense and
plain good manners.
Mr. Watts, when ignorance
speaks, it has a voice like thunder,
and its touch strikes like lightning.
It can kill individually, and it can
devastate civilizations, yet ignorance
is so easy to overcome that I
am surprised and somewhat Uoubled
that you did not avail yourself
of the opportunity. I do not have
the space to educate you on the tradition
of the peace pipe, the sacred
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I -?
& "iwsune
iptor/ you mm \
vwtcmv/v
Mere undergraduates who dare
to challenge die scholarly consensus
are subjected to ridicule for
standing up for the fundamentals of
the Christian faith. I learned this on
the first day of class when the
Book of Isaiah was attributed to
three different authors because the
original prophet could not have
predicted events beyond his own
lifetime.
I have no strong objection to that
conclusion, but I lake strong exception
to its premise that prophecy is
VLJttlll
UNIVERSITY OF SO
Patrick Villegas
Lee Clontz. J.T. Wagenheim
Gordon Mantler
Brian Garland
Jack Dunn. Melissa Tennen
.... Lea Clayton. Rochelle Killingbeck
Jennifer Fuller
Melinda Waldrop
Nancy Salomonsky. Tim Thorsen
Roh Rodusky
Stephanie Nevvlin
Kelly Johnson
Gregory Perez
(. "tins Muiurow
Paul Jon
Chris Davis. Thorn Hannan
Jim McKcllar
I.aura Day
Jim Green
Renee Gibson
Michael Van Bergen
Erik Collins
Brian McGuire
Erin Galloway. Rika Hashimoto
ijjjjjjjj?
significance of tobacco in medicine,
ceremony and gift-giving, nor
is it truly my place to do so here.
I do, however, demand that an
apology and a retraction be printed
in The Gamecock in the very near
future. Since you have done so
much, you can now do no less.
As an afterthought, shame on
you, Mr. Villegas, for letting such
damaging tripe be printed, and
shame again for the unmitigated
irony that printed your Editor's
Note with its particular subject
matter on the same day. You both
should know better.
Christin A. B. Cross
Anthropology student
Religion 101 course
insulting, overly rigid
To the editor:
Let me put it bluntly. If you take
the Bible seriously as a book that
can and has changed lives and has
been vindicated by historical evidence,
do not take this course.
What appeared in the beginning as
an objective treatment of the Bible
as historical literature, with room
for discussion and disagreement,
soon turned into a platform for
anti-Christian, academic pontification
paid for by the people of
^rmfh Cnrnlina
*'
. v;-*
* r
"' ,T*
!liP*lN*;
impossible. When I approached the
professor after class, I was brushec
aside by the logical fallacy ol
appeal to authority obvious enough
for any Philosophy 110 student tc
recognize. I would soon learn tha
"most scholars think," and "mj
studies have shown," were rock
solid proof in Religion 101.
Problems with the scholarly con
sensus being taught continued. Ii
Isaiah 9:6, scholarly consensu;
insists that the words "Might)
God" therein do not attest to the
coming Messiah, but refer insteac
to a newly crowned king of Judah
In a society so fiercely monotheis
tic, raised out of slavery under t
Pharaoh who claimed deity, this i;
not even sound history. It is t
manipulation of the facts to mee
the conditions of the scholarly con
sensus.
But, apparently, appeal tc
authority can only be used to sup
port, but never to refute the schol
arly consensus. Realizing that m)
own conclusions were not to be
trusted in light of such perfec
scholarship, I checked with tht
scholars who edited the Livint
Bible. They too found room to dis
agree with another conclusion oi
the scholarly consensus. In particu
lar, they differed with the dating 01
the first five books of the Bible
given in class as 950 B.C. at tht
earliest. Instead, these editors rtnt
ed the writing of the these
Scriptures at either 1220 or 142(
B.C. Five centuries difference
between Bible scholars and the
earlier dates were not even men
tioned in the lectures. When
raised this topic for discussion, the
opinions of the editors of the
Living Bible were dismissed a:
extremist and based on ignorance.
Appealing next to the text itsel
to prove a theological point usins
Christ's own words, I found tha
they didn't pass the test of evi
dence invoked by the scholarly
icOCl!
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1
r* *
-? >0? ,"T..**7 u
anrawa
niynr^i
, \jy uiw uv.L wAtnaiixw VJI lutad aiiu
; the objective presentation of the
facts, the truth would always pre:
vail. Can that be true in a religion
) course taught by die state? If my
2 professor's determination to escape
2 die basic rules of logic in order to
present his own opinion is any
1 indication, I'm afraid not.
2 However, I refuse to transfer to a
2 school where my beliefs are reinsi
forced, letting these static views in
public schools prevail. I can figure
f that much out without die authority
z of a Ph.D. to appeal to.
t
Brian Eshleman
History sophomore
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; consensus, bucn consensus con1
eludes" that the writer's goal in the
t Gospel of John was to prove Jesus'
i divinity. Therefore, any material
> this writer attributed to Christ's
t own lips that testified to His divini\
ty is to be regarded with suspicion.
- Has this scholarly consensus ever
heard of the fallacy ad liomenim
- circumstantial? Just because some1
one has their own goal in mind
s does not by itself make their action
r suspicious and invalid.
i So, having tried to use my own
1 intelligence to evaluate the scholarly
consensus, having quoted
- respected authorities and having
i used the text itself as the point on
? which I stand, I have still failed to
i move my professor from hrs*
t dogged and exclusionary insistence
on what "most scholars think."1
Perhaps this is what I should have
) expected in a course evaluating the
pillar of my faith in the critical eye
- of history, but still I am paying
i tuition, and the Bible-believing
i people of this state are paying taxt
es, so this view can continue to be
: insisted upon as it has for past 35
I years.
I came to a public school knowf
ing that I would encounter values
different than and often opposed to
f my own. However, I believed that
K\ j tha fi-ao r\f i Hono arvrl