Published 12-15-1986
Promotes decadence
Alcohol puts conscience on holiday
This university recently was rated one of the top 20 colleges in the nation for "partying" by that infamous symbol of Americanized decadence and corruption, Playboy magazine. According to Playboy, Ball State is a "good" place to come if you want to "party till you can't see" and "fall into the gutter."
The Playboy article was evil and un-Christian and decadent - they actually intended their comments as compliments, but it does serve to point out a very real and pressing problem. Reactions from members of student government and faculty include being "deeply concerned" and "shocked and disappointed," and well they should.
Anyone walking near campus on a Friday evening can see the problem, if they haven't consumed so much booze and drugs that they can't see anything at all. Many, if not most, of the students have fallen into the sins of the flesh. They spend their nights and even their days drinking, taking drugs and fornicating rather than studying.
The scope of the problem is huge. In fact this terrible abomination of a lifestyle is institutionalized. These institutions are called "fraternities" and "sororities."
Everyone knows the script: The fraternity "brothers" gather at the house with all the promiscuous sorority "sisters." Then they talk these painted women into drinking and taking drugs until they all become hopelessly intoxicated, which of course takes very little convincing. Then one and another of the boys pick up one of these walking sex toys - "stumbling sex toys" would be more descriptive, - and go off somewhere to fornicate.
The major purpose of the alcohol is to put the conscience on a holiday. This also provides the girl with a myriad of ready-made excuses, such as "I didn't know what I was doing" or "He took advantage of me."
In their hearts, people know better than these excuses they make. This is why so many people become so angry toward Jed Smock. If you pay attention, you'll notice that Brother Jed doesn't really upset most atheists. It is the self-proclaimed Christian that will be pricked in his heart; he knows Jed's right when he blows the whistle on students' hedonistic lifestyles and he resents it.
Jed says that the Bible holds only the promise of eternal damnation for these people, and it does. If you accept the Bible as the revealed word of God, you have to accept Brother Jed's message.
The Bible speaks out very clearly on this type of behavior. Chapters 13 and 14 of the book of Romans say, "None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the lord: whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's...Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkeness, not in chambering and wantoness, not in strife and envying but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." Similar sentiments appear throughout the Bible.
We are given freedom in Christ from the bonds of the old laws, such as circumcision and the prohibition against eating pork, but Galatians 5:13 admonishes, "Ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh."
Clearly, drunkeness and whoring are not acceptable activities in a decent Christian society such as ours. It is for the preservation of the common good of all through the traditional family unit, as well as for the good of the transgressor that action needs to be taken; "none of us liveth unto himself."
The administration should take strong action to clean up this menace of drunk drivers and AIDS carriers. If they don't, the legislature should. After all, they pay the bills.
There are many possible ways to discourage students from indulging their weaknesses. One possible measure would be to disallow opposite-sex visitation in the dorms. Fraternities should be banned from serving alcohol, under threat of revocation of their charter arrangements with the university. Another good idea would be mandatory drug testing for student leaders, such as athletes, student government and the staff of The Daily News, in order to protect the integrity of our leadership.
Many people will no doubt consider this something of an overreaction, but it is not. As Christians, we are soldiers in God's army; let us not question the orders of our commander-in-chief. Ideas have consequences. If you accept the Bible as the revealed word of God, you have have to follow through. Anything less is a disservice to our maker.
____________________
Albert Barger, a junior majoring in political science, psychology, and journalism, writes "God and Country" weekly for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily represent those of The Daily News or Ball State University.
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