After reading Shadee "I mention drinking and dancing on tables in every column because I think it makes me look cool" Malaklou's column "It is not finished," I was compelled to respond. Shadee has consistently managed to find a way to stereotype someone.
Whether it's sorority girls, African-Americans or in this case Christians, she always manages to undermine everyone else but herself. In her latest column, Malaklou portrays Christians at Duke as "brain-washed, cult-like extremists" who constantly try to force Christianity down the throats of their fellow students.
This misconception and ridiculous stereotyping couldn't be farther from the truth. My experience has been that most Christians at Duke are relatively quiet about their beliefs and those that do join groups, such as Campus Crusade, are good kids with good intentions. They are simply firm believers in Christianity who join these groups to surround themselves with people of similar beliefs, in the same way many of us join fraternities or sororities.
Secondly, if they want to speak out about their beliefs to other students, they should have that right and shouldn't fear being chastised and stereotyped. You claim to be a proponent of free speech and an open mind, yet you attack other students for exercising their freedom of speech and lace your column with snide, closed-minded remarks about their beliefs.
If, however, it is free-speech that you truly want, then I feel obliged to deliver a little free-speech of my own. Personally, I am a Christian. I'm also in a frat, I drink and party like other college students, and I'm perfectly happy having all of those aspects in my life and don't appreciate being chastised for them. I think your column is offensive and ridiculous and is, in reality, nothing more than the asinine rambling of a heathen, closed-minded, teenage brat.
Perhaps you should come down from your pedestal and consider that the reason you are chastised for your progressive beliefs is that no one seems to understand what these so called "progressive beliefs" are, besides some form of rationalization for your own obscene behavior, close-minded comments and criticism of other students.
David Kingsland
Trinity '06
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