Letters to the editor

Springfest quotes inaccurate

This is in response to the Springfest article in the April 11th edition. Overall, I thought the article was well done. But my issue is with the opinions of the people that were quoted in the article. Angela Goebel stated, "This is not how you worship God," in reference to the spectacular performance put on by Toby Mac and his crew. I would like to question where she claims to find the guidelines for worshipping God. Because in my Bible, it says "Praise His name with dancing," (Psalm 149:3) and "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful song" (Psalm 100:1-2). The Bible says to sing praises to our God, and make a joyful noise. It does not say only sing if it sounds good and only if it is a certain genre of music. The Lord desires our praises of thanksgiving and our shouts of joy. He wants us to raise our voices to Him – no matter what form it may come out as. In reference to Ben Jenkins, I agree that the floor was not necessarily the safest place to be, but I feel that he is suggesting something similar to Goebel when he says, "the world’s media of entertainment." Is that in reference to music in general? And if so, does he not use music in his church? I would like Goebel, and the others in her same line of thinking, to think twice next time before stating his or her personal preferences as Biblical doctrine.

Chelsea Young
sophomore, social work

Students need to participate more

This past Tuesday, April 12, I had the amazing opportunity to join 80 other students at the annual Hunger Banquet sponsored by JMU’s very own Community Service Learning. It was a wonderfully thought-provoking and informative program that educated us on the realities of hunger around the world. I must say though, that I was disappointed that out of the 15,800 students attending this university, a mere 80 came out to show support — for those of you who don’t do numbers, that’s only 0.5% of the JMU population. Now I bring this to your attention because I too am guilty of not taking advantage of the wonderful programs offered daily on this campus. It is so easy to become apathetic to the problems and issues our world and nation face and instead be consumed with our own agendas and interests. I applaud those who take the time to educate our student body on issues like world hunger, genocide, rape, fair trade and other important topics. And I apologize for my own laziness and lack of participation in helping to create change. It’s time this campus woke up. More people will vote for weeks on end for a silly mascot than will volunteer their time in the community. Every day 24,000 people die from hunger, but instead of donating money or advocating for change, we guzzle our lattes and buy a new pair of $40 jeans to wear out to the movies on Saturday night. It’s time to stop listening to the statistics and start changing them.

Emily Easton
junior, social work