Yes, I’m a Christian
Girl's courage in Littleton shootings challenges religious faith
JESSICA FLANAGAIN is a
senior English and philos
ophy major and a Daily
Nebraskan columnist.
It took more than 10 days for the
reality of the massacre that took place
at Columbine High School to hit me.
It took a call to my cousins in ele
mentary school in my former home
town of Littleton, Colo., for me to
understand why this tragedy rocked
the nation.
It took more than 10 days before I
finally read the articles and watched
the special edition shows, before I
finally said a prayer for the friends
and families of the dead, before I
finally began to listen to the murmur
of proposed solutions to these dan
gerous school environments.
But it took only the soft-spoken
courage of 17-year-old Cassie
Bemall displayed before Eric Harris
and Dylan Klebold took her life to
shake the very foundation of my ded
ication to my beliefs.
I can’t tell you why the killings
didn’t move me. I am concerned with
American culture manifesting itself
in children in the form of hatred, vio
lence and absolute emptiness.
All of my extended family lives in
or around Littleton. My darling little
cousins will probably attend
Columbine. As a freshman I attended
a neighboring high school and spent
countless hours at Columbine during
extracurricular competitions, perfor
mances, etc. Somehow, I just wasn’t
interested.
I can’t tell you why. Maybe I’ve
been desensitized to violence. Maybe
I’m becoming an apathetic member
of society. Maybe I didn’t want to
comprehend the horror of the slay
ings. Maybe I’m just too busy trying
to pass my classes. Somehow the
events that took place on April 17 just
didn’t hit home. I don’t know why.
What I do know is that Cassie
Bemall took a bullet in the head
because she spoke up and pro
nounced her faith in God. Students
were asked by the gunmen if they
believed in God, and Cassie chose to
say yes. Cassie said there is a God.
Yes, there is a God.
I believe there is a God. I define
myself by my belief. I try to live a life
that exemplifies my belief in Him.
But I don’t know if I could be ready
to lose my life to avow my faith. I
don’t know if I would have looked
into the eyes of those boys and shown
that much courage.
Is there something in your hie
you believe in strongly enough that
you would die for it? Do you think
you would have taken the stand
Bemall took for your own religious
convictions? As a Christian, if you
are a Christian, do you have that kind
of faith?
Christians are sometimes
ridiculed for their faith, their belief
that the Bible is the inspired word of
God, and the absolute truth gets chal
lenged. And I think most believers
stand their ground, but that’s been
easy. Most go to church, and some
talk about God’s mercy and kindness
with others, but that’s easy too.
When. I think about the incident at
Columbine, I am reminded of
Cassie’s incredible courage. I can’t
help but ask myself if I would pro
claim God in the face of death. I can’t
help but ask myself if other
Christians I know would profess their
belief in God when presented with
the same situation.
Personally, I want my answer to
be yes. In fact, I would tell you my
answer is yes, I would tell you that I
would affirm my faith in Christ at all
costs. But Cassie affirming her faith
last week made me reevaluate my
resolve. I have to be honest; if saying
there is a God meant I would lose my
life, I am utterly ashamed to say I
don’t know if I would speak out or
hold my tongue.
There will come a time when
Christians will be persecuted for their
faith. Some would argue that the time
has already come as missionaries all
over the world are losing their lives in
countries where the message of
Christ is not welcome.
In Luke 21, Jesus tells of the time
when all Christians will be persecut
ed, when believers will be betrayed by
relatives, friends and parents, and
hated by all for His name’s sake,
Jesus goes on to instruct us how to
handle these situations and assures us
that “it will turn out for you as an
occasion for testimony” (Luke
21:13).
As Cassie’s story is recounted
among her peers, among the body of
Christ and in the national media,
there is no doubt in my mind that her
death has turned out to be an occa
sion for testimony. Her testimony, in
life and in death, may be some peo
ple’s only knowledge of Christ.
The truth of her testimony should
resonate in the Christian community.
If one little girl could have such a
strong voice for Christ in her death,
how much more can each of us say in
the way we live our daily lives? How
loud could the collective voice of the
body of Christ be if only we would
set our sights on having a heart after ?
His own?
Maybe Cassie didn’t know that
proclaiming God would get her
killed. Maybe he would have shot her
regardless of her answer. What mat
ters is that her answer was yes, there
is a God. What matters is the message
of truth she sent out in her answer.
Her message should serve as a
challenge to Christians to be as
courageous in life as Cassie was in
death.
»-«mvi._j
JAY GISH is a senior broad
casting major and Daily
Nebraskan columnist.
Well, Jesus, it s just you and me
from here.
(All right, it’s not JUST us. I proba
bly gained more friends in this, my last
year of college, than ever before. But
they won’t be around every minute of
my life.)
I’ve chosen you as my hero, the
one I turn to above all else. Or, maybe,
you chose me. I’ve heard it put both
ways.
I’ve heard limitless opinions on
why this shouldn’t be: Christians are
all hypocrites. The Gospels are just
some books written by cloudy-minded,
ancient fanatics. The words in the
Bible are irrelevant to living a good
life.
None of these, nor any other opin
ions, matter. No matter how much
truth might or might not be contained
in any one of them, they are all irrele
vant.
You see, I grew up with you.
You’ve drifted from being the first
consideration in my decisions to being
a very cursory factor, and back again.
But you’ve always been there in my
mind, and you always will be. To put it
practically, I’m stuck with you, and
you’re stuck with me.
During that period growing up
when ending my existence was a daily
consideration; Mien I felt so estranged
from everyone, including family, that
sleep seemed my lone, intangible
friend; it was my belief in you that
slowly carried me through.
Maybe it was your real spirit that
saved me, maybe it was just my mind’s
own determination. Again... irrele
vant. What mattered was that I
believed in you, and that you wanted
me to keep living.
And ever since then, I’ve known
that I couldn’t abandon you even if I
wanted to; not anymore than you could
abandon me.
Now I’ve reached another point in
my life where the questions seem more
pressing. Some call it a crossroads.
Hello Jesus
Columnist asks for spiritual guidance, clarifications
I’ve got to get somewhere from
here. I don’t know where, but some
where. And you’re my main resource.
So talk to me.
What do I do when someone asks
me how I feel about abortion? I can
find dozens of folks who purport to be
ty.” Which person should I let define
that for me?
And what did you say, Jesus, when
asked what the greatest commandment
was? No. 1 was to love God through
and through. No. 2 was to love my
neighbor as myself.
I could find 100 people to tell me
sex is an expression of love; therefore
to have consensual sex is to share part
of God because we all know God is
love. I could find another hundred
who’d say misusing God’s gift of sex is
indefinitely, Christianity might not
exist, in any form.
So you see, Jesus? You need to talk
to me. I know my brothers and sisters
under God are supposed to be here to
spread your word, and to make living
out your intentions easier.
- and probably are - stronger
Christians than myself who sit very
passionately on separate sides of the
issue.
I’d like to trust you before
them. I’d like to turn open a
page of Mark, and see either
“Be pro-choice” or “Be
pro-life,” and also find spe
cific instructions on how
far I’m supposed to go to
defend that belief. But it’s
not there.
I’d like to see point-by
point how you feel about
fetuses that endanger their
mothers and/or have no real
chance of living past birth. But
the apostles didn’t write that
down.
Sure, just about any one of
those folks I mentioned would
happily tell me, “Of course,
the answer’s there, if
you just let the Word
speak to you. And
right here it is.” Then
they would point out
to me me passage
they felt best support
ed their position.
Jesus, that just
doesn’t seem good
enough.
How do I live my
life regarding premari
tal sex? It’s something
I’ve felt all along was
probably a bad idea.
But, if I’m nitpicky, it’s
hard to find a verse that
expressly tells me not to
do it. Among all the
stuff about how mar
riage is God’s union
and sex is a gift to
humans, I’d like to see
a straight sentence.
Never have sex before
marriage. Or... Feel free to
have sex before marriage. Either way.
at least it would be clear.
Oh yes, I’m quite aware that “The
shalt not commit adultery” is a com
mandment. Nevertheless, most dictio
naries define “adultery” as an affair
“outside of marriage,” not before a
marriage.
The Bible uses “sexual immorali
to hate God.
And what's more, there are pastors
- ordained ministers of the Word -
who live by each of those opposite
interpretations.
I’ve never actually been in a
relationship where sex was a
real option. Should I take
that to mean you put your
” .■>*, foot down on that one?
M. How do I respond to
my country at war / You
told your disciples to
turn the other cheek. Yet
I realize that, at many
points along the timeline
of history, if one of my
forefathers or one of
freedom’s defenders
HAD turned the other
cheek, I might not be
here today.
If they’d all turned
their cheeks to Hitler
Deb Lee/DN
But they don’t all tell me the same
thing. Who do I trust? How do I identi
fy the ones who are right?
And when perusing your words in
the Gospel, do I look at the King
James Version, the Living Bible, the
Revised Standard Version or one of the
hundreds of other translations?
Most Bibles say somewhere in
them that they are the true Word of
God. Does that mean they are all right?
Is every translation throughout history
and the future a full and accurate trans
lation of what you want me to know?
Talk to me, Jesus. How do I deal
with every secular history class that
tells me what Christians say about you
can’t possibly all be true? With every
logic class that “proves” our idea of the
Trinity must be mistaken?
Maybe most importantly, how do I
react to close friends - those who are
supposed to be here to help me - that
live by different standards (often stan
dards opposite to mine) and seem to
pull me with them? Especially those
who state or once stated that they were
your followers, just like me?
Talk to me, Jesus. I’m following
you. It’s your call.