DePaul Conservative Alliance

DCA breaks for summer

2008-06-12T09:00:00.001-05:00

As summer approaches and final exams await the members of the DePaul Conservative Alliance, our meetings and events have officially finished for the year. The members of the DCA wish to thank you for visiting our website and learning what our organization is all about. We would like to acknowledge graduating seniors Natalie Karam, DePaul College Republicans President and Joseph Blewitt, Lincoln Park Statesman Editor-in-chief, and thank them for their dedication.

If you are interested in learning more about our organization, joining, or coming to a meeting, email contact@depaulca.org so that you may be added to our email list.

Please read the latest issue of the Lincoln Park Statesman if you have yet to do so. The DCA has many plans for the 2008-2009 school year and will be back up and running in September. See you in the fall!

LPS Volume III, Issue 7

2008-06-06T08:00:00.002-05:00

The seventh issue of the Lincoln Park Statesman is now available, and is our last issue of the school year.

Topics include Chris Simcox, Diversity Training, Race, and a Faculty Spotlight with DePaul University Professor Wayne Steger.

Check out our archive of past issues at depaulca.org/statesman.

If you would like to write for the Statesman, please send an email to lpstatesman@gmail.com. You can also send in an opinion/editorial. Submissions will be accepted all summer long, but look for more information in the fall for the fourth volume.

Chris Simcox

2008-05-06T09:00:00.018-05:00

The DePaul Conservative Alliance invites you to a presentation on Illegal Immigration with Chris Simcox.

At DePaul University on Monday, May 19, Mr. Simcox will be discussing the border of Mexico to the United States and its implications surrounding Illegal Immigration and securing the southern boundary.

Please be sure to arrive early for this limited-seating event. Admission precedence will be given to those with DePaul University identification. Questions and answers will follow.

Chris Simcox is the cofounder of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps.

Note: In order to accommodate more guests the venue has been changed to The Sullivan Athletic Center. Student Life requests that a DePaul University ID be presented for admission. Please refrain from bringing electronic devices, bags, backpacks, and bottles.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. As always, any questions you have are welcome and may be emailed to contact@depaulca.org.

LPS Volume III, Issue 6

2008-05-01T09:00:00.005-05:00

The sixth issue of the Lincoln Park Statesman is now available, bigger and better than ever.

Topics include gun control, bias in media, "Poems from Guantanamo," immigration, and Obama's oil policy.

Check out our archive of past issues at depaulca.org/statesman.

If you would like to write for the Statesman, please send an email to lpstatesman@gmail.com. You can also send in an opinion/editorial.

Does God Want us to Carry Guns?

2008-04-23T11:00:00.003-05:00

Mick Paskiewicz, Vice President of the DCA, was cited in the Chicago Tribune blog "The Seeker" this past Tuesday in relating the prerogative of self-defense to divine right. Manya Brachear quotes Paskiewicz on the vulnerability of DePaul in regard to Monday's bomb threats downtown.

"Announcing gun-free zones gives criminals who already aren’t going to abide by the law an easy target," he said. "They know they’re not going to be contested if they decide to engage in murderous acts. It sounds like a vigilante effort but it’s really not."

You may view the whole post here.

LPS Volume III, Issue 5

2008-03-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

The fifth issue of the Lincoln Park Statesman is now available.

Check out our past issues at depaulca.org/statesman, with an archive back to Volume I, Issue 1.

If you would like to write for the Statesman, please send an email to lpstatesman@gmail.com. You can also send in an opinion/editorial.

C-Week!

2008-02-08T09:00:00.005-06:00

The DePaul Conservative Alliance invites you to C-Week, a celebration of women in the household.

On Tuesday, February 20th, during the afternoon, the DCA will be presenting "Take Back the Kitchen," a table depicting the good that comes from a stay-at-home mother. In today's world, we would like to remind women that if they wish to stay at home with the children, they certainly still have that option.

Phyllis Schlaflay will be coming to speak on Tuesday evening at 7pm in Cortelyou Commons. There will be a short Q&A afterwards, and her books will be available for purchase. For more information on Phyllis, please visit her website at eagleforum.org.

LPS Volume III, Issue 4

2008-02-05T09:00:00.000-06:00

The fourth issue of the Lincoln Park Statesman is now available.

Check out our past issues at depaulca.org/statesman, with an archive back to Volume I, Issue 1.

If you would like to write for the Statesman, please send an email to lpstatesman@gmail.com. You can also send in an opinion/editorial.

Dr. King and the Modern Diversity Movement on Campus

2008-01-22T09:00:00.000-06:00

by Mick Paskiewicz

As Martin Luther King Jr. Day passed, I took a moment to reflect on what this man's dream really was about and how so called proponents of his message today are contributing to the issues of race and society. I found myself reading his most famous "I Have a Dream" speech and realize just how far people have escaped his ideas almost as much as those who he spoke out against in his time of injustice. I first think back on the setting of this great expression of justice and equality. He delivered it in 1963 beneath the statue of a man who one hundred years prior liberated a whole race of people and to a group of people not bound by skin color but ideas.

     By examining the setting alone, I realized this alone tells me a great deal the reasons for why he fought so hard. The Lincoln Memorial represented a man who freed black slaves so they could make something for themselves in this nation, not so he could make it for them. Abraham Lincoln was a man who firmly believed in American principles such as all men being created equal in the eyes of God and that every man should be viewed equally under the law as well. Such beliefs empower people to make of themselves what they could regardless superficial characteristics but with regard to what they so choose to make with their opportunity.

     The audience who had joined Dr. King in his quest for justice: they did not consist solely of black Americans who had been oppressed under Jim Crow laws but with white Americans as well. If race was not the common thread, what was? As I said earlier, it was ideas and also principles that united these individuals. Martin Luther King Jr. saw a nation which the focus should have been placed on ideas, principles, and character, not a nation build on racial unification and division. This is because when one race unites it burns bridges between the other races in our society. Ideas and principles are the only common thread this nation shares and emphasis should be placed on those more than anything else.

     I finally actually read the transcript of the speech and am flattered to see that my assumptions about Dr. King are true. He came to Washington with thousands at his side as equal people under God but not under local laws, despite that the founding documents of this nation prescribed such rights to them. All he wanted for all people was the equality the God and the constitution promised so they could make something for themselves and reap the benefits of the greatest nation much as Lincoln had tried to do a century prior to this occasion. He wanted "to make justice a reality for all God's children."

     Let us place this in the context of our current society. While I cannot speak for the "red hills of Georgia", "the snow capped peaks of Colorado", or "ever hill and mole hill of Mississippi", I can speak for my community which is an American university, more namely DePaul, where the issues of race burn in the cauldron of ideas more than anywhere else. How is this university adhering the King's ideals when it helps shape the its students' principles and knowledge as they pursue truth? If he was looking for an institution where his children would "not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" I would reluctantly tell him to look elsewhere.

     I could write a novel about the events that indicate the departure from Dr. King's dream, if DePaul ever adhered to them to begin with. However, it has almost become common knowledge that faculty and staff roam this campus like thugs and bullies, strong-arming administrators of the integrity and purpose of an university with the force of collective guilt. Today, on the other hand, I want to look at the ideas and tactics that drive this shallow diversity movement and how they are the extreme opposite of the intentions of the Civil Rights Movement's greatest and most noble figure and how they pervert the true purpose of the university.

    We now know King fought for individuals being "not judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character," but what do these proponents of diversity stand for? They wish people be appointed, accepted, and hired due to their race, and they believe ideas and merit should be rendered meaningless in the eyes of others since skin color, in their eyes, defines a person more than the contents of their heart and mind. While under their policies, race can grant someone a position in a company, an enrollment at college, sympathy from liberal academics, and even the assignment of an university's president's council, but as long as their ideals are in place, people will be tied to their skin color shackling their diverse ideas and individual accomplishments.

     Other adverse effects of their message is the elimination of equality as seen in Martin Luther King's dream. By judging by skin color, one establishes race preferences, automatically destroying any notion of racial equity. Racial inequity in any sense fosters hatred towards others based on the superficial traits of their skin, something they cannot choose. Focus on race suppresses ideas alone, and the more sickening aspect of the diversity movement is the deliberate intent to suppress speech and expression in favor of race and the extent to which they will implement their will. Such tactics and motivation also strike against the core of King's model for how this nation can provide its promise that all men are created equal.

     Dr. King said himself, "In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred." Facilitators of diversity on American campuses indulge in the "cup of bitterness and hatred" in order to not advance humanity but advanced individual races, while simultaneously holding them back from their full potential as Americans and individuals. What does such removal from true ideas of equality do to institutions where young individuals are shaped and pursue knowledge?

     First of all, the purpose of the university is to engage in all ideas in order to seek a higher truth. Notice, the purpose is to engage in all ideas not all races. Ideas and truth are the fundamental core of the university's existence in society. One attends these higher institutions in order to gain knowledge about the world and themselves. If indoctrination continues in this country that the core of learning is about skin color and such, then this nation is headed down a dark path of varying forms of racism and suppression of ideas and speech. While race is the focus of such a developmental period of ones life, such emphasis will tie someone more to their race, rather than their principles and ideas that can propel them much further in society.

    Equality stems from God and the people who have laid the framework for this country's founding and those who still lead it today. If equality is not our God given right then where else would it come from?  No man has the power to make us all equal, only God, and if we abandon such a notion we leave ourselves vulnerable to future oppressors. Our founding fathers began to implement these rights from God and Dr. King believed that.  King's dream sets us all free to make of ourselves what we please as much as possible, but the restricting protectionist policies of the diversity movement take us all back to the time of King in the most negative sense of those times.

Mick Paskiewicz is the Vice President of the DePaul Conservative Alliance

The Life of a Free Speech Task Force

2008-01-17T09:00:00.000-06:00

On January 9, the DePaul community received an e-mail with the result of over a year of work by the Free Speech and Expression Task Force. The Task Force produced a document titled the "Guiding Principles of Free Speech and Expression." On David Horowitz's FrontPageMag.com, Nicholas G. Hahn III, DePaul Conservative Alliance President and Task Force member, reveals what happened behind closed doors during the Task Force's deliberations and discussions.

Here are some excerpts from Hahn's article, "The Life of a Free Speech Task Force"

In the past couple of years DePaul has suspended, without due process, a professor who defended Israel. It has created de facto policies to prevent students from posting flyers opposing an on-campus event featuring the plagiarist professor Ward Churchill. It has also shut down a student-run Affirmative Action Bake Sale in which cookies were sold at different prices depending on the customer’s skin color because the campus left was offended. It later condemned the student group sponsoring the bake sale in a university-wide email. DePaul seemed to have no grasp of the freedoms vital to a university.

[Except] for concerns raised once in a while that our strategy of "no policy" may allow for any speech including that which is "offensive," the drafting of the Principles went eerily well. We even decided to examine existing university policies concerning speech and offer revisions contingent upon the new Principles.

[Sociology professor Ted Manley] and [law professor Sumi Cho] told us our Principles were fundamentally invalid because we lacked a diverse racial make-up in membership. Isn't it important to note the ideological diversity on this Task Force? "No," [Manley] refused, and pointing to the back of his hand added, "it is about this: skin color."

Bowing to Manley and Cho, the Task Force added some new members who met their diversity standard. Our newly assembled Task Force took up the concerns they raised. Not surprisingly, the new members were not only diverse by skin color, they were also ideologically in tune with professors Manley and Cho.

A university is not about feeling “comfortable.” The pursuit of truth is often the contrary. In fact, a university isn’t about “feelings” but knowledge. It is about reason and inquiry.

But they should not think for one second that they are advocates of free speech. Or representatives of what a modern research university should be. The real advocates are those students who give voice to their beliefs and fearlessly engage in the ideas of others.

20 January 2007 Update: Nick Hahn has been removed from the Task Force after exercising his free speech through the publication of his article. The Principles, apparently, have been unable to withstand their first test.

Conservative Coming Out Day

2008-01-08T09:00:00.001-06:00

On Tuesday, January 15, the DCA will be hosting Conservative Coming Out Day, taking place in the Student Center during day classes.

View our facebook group here.

We hope you attend to proclaim your conservatism loudly and proudly!

Welcome Back

2008-01-03T09:00:00.002-06:00

As the First Quarter comes to a start, the DCA would like to remind you of our upcoming events. Our first meeting of the quarter is on Monday, January 7th, at 9:15pm in room 312 of the Student Center.

Conservative Coming Out Day takes place on Tuesday, January 15th in the Student Center. Stop by to proclaim your conservatism, loudly and proudly!

Phyllis Schlafly is coming to speak on Tuesday, February 19th in Cortelyou Commons. She will be speaking about the "Vagina Monologues."

If you would like to add a subscription of our events to your calendar application, click here to stay automatically updated.

We have a lot planned for the quarter and are excited to kick off the year. Please join us on Monday for more information.

Welcome to 2008.

Injustice Occurs. The Left's Response: A Resounding Silence... Again.

2007-12-01T09:00:00.001-06:00

Apologists for Islamic militants often cite the encroachment of American foreign policy into Arab and other Islamic states. While history and current events shows plenty of evidence that these fundamentalist are just intolerant nut-jobs, willing to use brutal force on women and children in order to coerce others into their view of Islam, the naive pacifists (now spewing babble on a campus near you) are probably turning a blind eye to the headlines once again. This time the news of hate mongering against those who don't see eye to eye with the fundamentalists comes from Sudan. The reason these devout Muslims are calling for demonstrations after Friday prayers is not because of an American military presence, but because a teddy bear has been named Mohammad by a British teacher as part of a class assignment. Islamic law strictly forbids any physical depiction of their sacred prophet. Such an offense in this case merits forty lashes by law, but the fundamental Islamic population of Sudan is calling for her execution.

This teacher, Gillian Gibbons, who by law has insulted Islam--a criminal offense--actually let a student, Mohammad age seven, name the bear after himself. The mere prospect of this being the case should be enough to avert the flogging. While the Koran states that those who insult Islam should be physically punished, it also states that if there is ANY doubt then the brutality should not proceed. So why would Gillian still be brutally flogged at this point? These militants who see themselves as the purest followers of Islam like others throughout the world will use violence against the most innocent people in the name of their faith. But where the absolutist interpretation of faith fails, progressive activism groups will surely pick up the slack--right?

When asked for a comment or position on this issue, the National Organization for Women continued unwaveringly on the path they have blazed throughout the years regarding Islam's poor treatment of women. They didn't give any comment or take a position, but there's no need to fear! A spokeswoman for the organization said the issue is definitely on their radar. I think everyone can expect more of an effort than that. Why wouldn't N.O.W. speak up against the lashing of an innocent woman? My guess is because some of their leftist allies in the L.B.G.T. community pay for similar treatment in bathhouses across the nation. So this may seem like a reward to a sick few. While technically this is a non gender issue, N.O.W. manages to speak up on non gender related "injustices" stateside so why not do it when their efforts actually might have some use to society? Former president of the Los Angeles chapter of N.O.W., Tammy Bruce, did manage to give credit to the true advocates of those oppressed in this world in an interview with Fox News.

“We have a duty to make a difference for women around the world. The supposed feminist establishment is refusing to take a position in this regard because they have no sensibility of what is right anymore. They're afraid of offending people. They are bound by political correctness.”

Bruce went on to state, “The American feminist movement has not taken one stand to support the women of Iraq, the women of Afghanistan, the women of Iran. It is the United States Marines who have been doing the feminist work by liberating women and children around the world.”

Well said Ms. Bruce. Not only has it been the struggle and effort shown by those who are willing to stand up and fight these totalitarian militants and regimes around the world to bring true suffrage and freedom to afflicted people, but it is the left who binds its logic in warm and fuzzy feelings and political correctness that allow it to continue. How can anyone fight wrongs in this world when it is wrong to identify something as wrong? This outcry was seen during Terrorism Awareness Week where Muslims and members of the PC police showed opposition and protest to the DePaul Conservative Alliance's effort highlight the greatest threat towards America and the West. Call me a racist, call me a fascist, I don't care because suicide bombs and immoral conduct related stones will most assuredly break my bones (or I might be beheaded), but your lame name calling will not hurt me or stop me from fighting TRUE injustices.

Mick Paskiewicz
Vice President, The DePaul Conservative Alliance

Does Congress Need Efficiency Experts?

2007-11-25T09:00:00.001-06:00

Congress left for its Thanksgiving recess recently, a time that is traditionally designated as a home work period to deal with their constituency. Regardless, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) has departed for a Latin American tour to address what he considers 'stagnant' policy by the Bush administration in the region. Senator Reid must be forgetting the U.S.-Columbia Free Trade Agreement soon to die in Congress that is heavily supported by the White House, which will help revitalize a rare success story in the region. While most focus is on their radical neighbor to the east, Columbian president Alvaro Uribe has immense popular support. Uribe has transformed a region ravaged by drugs and violence into a democracy turning the corner and would do so further with the help of the free trade agreement about to be killed by House Democrats. But while Harry Reid is taking his personal 'Spite the President 2008 Tour', what business has he and other members neglected by taking this time off?

Congress took its recess while leaving behind business that deals with federal income tax refunds, delaying refund checks totaling 75 billion dollars. This issue stems from a 'glitch' made by a former Congress over thirty years ago with the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). This was used to tax over one hundred people in the one million dollar income bracket who managed to avoid being taxed, but they failed to adjust the tax to inflation, forcing millions to pay more than they needed to with this mandatory minimum tax. In the Senate's effort to amend this situation, the debate over taxation and failure to act has delayed the IRS' procedures in shipping out these refunds until they resolve it after their lengthy Thanksgiving break.

Members of Congress did not only feel they earned their turkey with their efforts in the most recent legislative session, they treated themselves to some pork. A recent piece of legislation was passed that contained massive pork barrel spending for Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who faces tough re-election prospects, to help cover fraudulent spending in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This was much to the dismay of Republicans working hard to get back to their fiscally conservative ways, but the measure prevailed, helping Landrieu possibly preserve her seat and a Democrat majority. Hopefully the efficiency experts will make a better call regarding who to keep and who to let go in 2008 than in 2006.

Mick Paskiewicz
Vice President, The DePaul Conservative Alliance

Maybe the Bobs from “Office Space” can help fix the glitch in the 110th Congress and the Senate.

Thank You

2007-11-19T09:00:00.000-06:00

As the fall quarter comes to a close, the DePaul Conservative Alliance will be adjourning until the new year. Thank you for supporting a great kickoff to the school year.

The DCA participated in the environmental fair at the beginning of the quarter, and hosted Terrorism Awareness Week in October as well as Freedom Week in November. Out first event for 2008 will be "Conservative Coming Out Day" at the start of the winter quarter in January. The Lincoln Park Statesman has published three issues for its third volume, and will resume publishing in February.

To view pictures from our past events and read our Statesman issues online, view our events and statesman pages.

We are looking forward to a phenomenal winter and spring quarter with additional events and the publication of our "Professors List." Also, the Alliance will be supporting the DePaul College Republicans in their upcoming events, especially their winter and spring debates.

Please continue to read our blog and view what the DCA has to offer. If you would like to become involved, stay tuned for information about our first meeting and event. Be sure to let your friends know of depaulca.org. In the meantime, please join our facebook group if you have yet to do so.

With warmest wishes, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas! Enjoy the rest of the year.

The DePaul Conservative Alliance

Wingnut Awareness Week

2007-11-16T09:00:00.001-06:00

Adam Doster has written a reflection of Terrorism Awareness Weeek called "Wingnut Awareness Week: Neocons Beat the War Drum on College Campuses." Particularly insightful are his closing remarks on Conservatives and schooling:

"[Nicholas Hahn's remark] reveals how conservatives view the role of higher education. It is not an impassive search to deepen, broaden, and complicate our understanding of the world, but a commodity that should titillate or anger. And that makes sense: Calm, rational people do not rush to join irrational demagogues—at home and abroad—who beckon us toward never-ending war."

You may view the article at inthesetimes.com.

NY Governor Eliot Spitzer drops "Licenses for Illegals" plan

2007-11-14T08:15:00.001-06:00

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced this week that he is dropping a controversial plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants because of overwhelming opposition to the policy.

"I am not willing to fight to the bitter end on something that will not ultimately be implemented," Spitzer said, "and we also have an enormous agenda on other issues of great importance to New York State that was being stymied by the constant and almost singular focus on this issue."

source: New York Times

Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno said on Wednesday that Governor Spitzer abandoned his plan to give licenses to illegal aliens because the people of this state abandoned him and overwhelmingly said he was wrong.

An estimated 12 million illegal immigrants currently reside in the United States.

LPS Volume III, Issue 3

2007-11-12T09:00:00.001-06:00

The third issue of the Lincoln Park Statesman is now available.

We will resume publishing in the winter quarter. In the mean time, check out our past issues at depaulca.org/statesman, with an archive back to Volume I, Issue 1.

If you would like to write for the Statesman, please send an email to lpstatesman@gmail.com. You can also send in an opinion/editorial.

Tear Down This Wall

2007-11-07T09:00:00.000-06:00

Come to the "Tear Down This Wall," a forum where three Chicagoans remember their experiences as we celebrate the 18th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

Friday, November 9th, at 7PM in Student Center 314.

Part of Freedom Week.

Obama would engage Iran if elected, he says

2007-11-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

The International Herald Tribune interviewed Barack Obama this past Wednesday and discussed Iran.

"[A] new relationship with Iran would be a major element of a broad effort to stabilize Iraq," Obama said.

The entire article may be read at iht.com.

Freedom Week!

2007-10-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

It is with great honor that we announce the DePaul Conservative Alliance's Freedom Week! On Monday, November 5, to honor Veteran's Day, the Alliance will hold a Support the Troops rally in the atrium of the Lincoln Park Student Center. Alliance members will be present with letters of support you can write to the troops serving overseas. Please stop by any time during day classes.

On Friday, November 9, the Alliance will commemorate the 18th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The brutal "progressive" systems of communism and socialism fell with the destruction of this wall separating Berlin. At 7pm in room 314 of the Lincoln Park Student Center, three local Chicagoans, formerly living in the Soviet bloc, will speak about their experiences living under communism and what the destruction of the Berlin Wall meant to their lives and their countries. This event is free and open to the public.

Please visit our events page for more information. Freedom Week is a project of the Young America's Foundation.

We encourage you to attend and participate in events of Freedom Week!

A Terrorism Awareness Week Thank You

2007-10-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

The DePaul Conservative Alliance wishes to thank all who attended and participated this past week's Terrorism Awareness Week. TAW successful in sparking a campus-wide academic discussion on a tenaciously seminal issue of our time: radical Islam.

On Monday of last week, students, faculty, administrators, and members from outside the DePaul community all were treated to a forum, diverse in ideas, examining the threat of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Amir Abbas Fakhravar, the Natan Sharansky of our time, recieved a standing ovation after his stirring presentation. Robert Spencer encouraged a sincere intellectual discussion and called on all Muslims to engage in reason. Professor Scott Hibbard gave both Fakhravar and Spencer ideas to consider and debate about a potential war with Iran. An outstanding discussion amongst the panelists and the audience ensued.

The marketplace of ideas was alive and well at yet another Alliance event: a screening and discussion of the film Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West. A deeply thought provoking film sparked an open and diverse discussion of the enemy the West faces today.

On Friday of last week, the Alliance called on companies who invest in rogue state sponsors of terror like Syria and Iran to divest from those nations. Thank you to all who stopped by the table in the Student Center.

Once again, the DePaul Conservative Alliance sparked an open and diverse discussion of an important issue campus-wide. Even though Terrorism Awareness Week is over, we as a community hope to continue to examine the threat of radical Islam in our curriculum and campus discussions.

Thank you again to all who were and still are willing to engage in these ideas.

The DePaul Conservative Alliance

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West

2007-10-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

The DCA wishes to thank all who attended War with Iran? on Monday night. Seating was limited and we apologize to those who sincerely wished to participate in this open dialogue but due to restrictions were unable to fit in the Cortelyou Commons.

Please come to Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, a documentary we will be showing at 7pm in room 220 of the Student Center. Seating is limited. In order to ensure accommodations please arrive early.

We invite you to stop by an informational table we will be hosting on Friday in the Student Center, Divesting Terror.

Enjoy the rest of the week. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach us at contact@depaulca.org. Be sure to look at our events page for upcoming events in November.

on Islamic and Christian relations

2007-10-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Recently Islamic clerics sent a letter to the Pope, Archbishops, Patriarchs displaying side by side excerpts from the Bible and Koran that placed an emphasis on peace and understanding between one another. The clear goal for these representatives and leaders of Islam is clear: they wish for the two faiths of Christianity and Islam to coexist in harmony as the letter states if "Muslims and Christians are not at peace the world cannot be at peace." I read this and I cannot help but feel good about seeing this initiative from Muslims, proving that the vast majority of those who are of the Islamic faith are peace loving individual who strive for similar goals of the Christian faith, just through a different world view. However, as I read further I grew concerned and realized that these leaders of the Islamic faith were taking an initiative in the wrong direction.

The clerics went on to write that Islam is on peaceful terms with Christianity as long as Christians "do not wage war against Muslims on account of their religion, oppress them and drive them out of their homes." Having taken that statement into consideration, I realized that we should not have a problem and should not have had a problem in over 700 years, but that is hardly the situation we see today. The only events occuring for Christians "on account of their religion" would be the massive persecutions seen around South Asia and the Middle East by Islamic extremists in the name of their faith.

Yes, American and coalition forces are fighting Muslims who do fight under the banner of fundamental Islam, but they do so along side freedom and peace loving Muslims, much like these clerics claim to be. Not only are Western nations led by America fighting with Muslims of Iraq and Afghanistan, but they are doing so for the sake of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan and all peoples within these borders regardless of their faith. This is being done with the understanding that the religious harmony these Islamic leaders strive for can only exist in nations that are free and not run by thugs and dictators who claim their fundamental beliefs to be absolute truth and grounds for persecution and genocide.

To these Islamic clerics: you are absolutely correct. The world cannot have peace as long as Islam and Christianity and Western civilization in general are in conflict, but it is not that simple. Islam and Western tradition are not at war against each other, but these forces and militant Islam are, and the world cannot be at peace as long as these two are fighting as well. So if you seek peace much like I and members of my faith and citizens of my nation do, you should denounce those who ignore the values of the Koran you cited in your letter to my religious leaders and wage war and terror contrary to the values you hold dear. Denounce Osama bin Laden and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and their militant ways, letting us move forward towards a true harmony.

Mick Paskiewicz
Vice President, The DePaul Conservative Alliance

LPS Volume III, Issue 2

2007-10-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

The second issue of the Lincoln Park Statesman is now available.

More issues are at depaulca.org/statesman, with an archive back to Volume I, Issue 1.

If you would like to write for the Statesman, please send an email to lpstatesman@gmail.com. You can also send in an opinion/editorial.