I believe the upcoming Veritas Forum might possibly be the most revolutionary event at Ohio University. In the academic climate at our school, spiritual topics are rarely discussed, rarely explored through deep questions and rarely unify the community we live in. Yet, the Veritas Forum strives to counter this spiritual taboo. Rather than setting tough questions aside and deciding that everyone's right
the Veritas Forum seeks to engage all members of the university community in a quest for truth, in a quest for real answers to real life issues that every individual faces.
As a follower of Christ and a planner behind the Veritas Forum, I would like to assure the university that the goal of the forum is not to proselytize or to be the religious equivalent of a sales pitch for timeshare condominiums as Doug Cloud wrote in his column April 6. Nor is the Veritas Forum a bait and switch. Rather it is an opportunity for our campus to realize that we are all from different backgrounds, different experiences and different beliefs, and together we can seek truth, significance and purpose in our lives. As the Veritas Web site (www.veritas.org) states, We value people of all faiths and backgrounds voicing their questions and doubts in order to discuss life's hardest questions.
Cloud criticizes the planners and sponsors of Veritas by stating that the forum should not be put on by Christians if they wish to engage the entire university community. He states the event would be different if the forum's objective were for Christians to come together and ask difficult life questions. Cloud wrongly assumes that the truth at the forum is subjective. Also, no one is hiding the fact that those behind the forum have a Christian worldview ' this is evident through the list of sponsors on all Veritas Forum promotions ' but we recognize that our worldview is not the only one and that all options require exploration.
The questions asked during the Veritas Forum have been asked for years and are still being asked, especially in the academic environment. Is anyone out there? Is the material world all there is? Who was/is Jesus? Does following Jesus make you intolerant? Though Cloud asks, Why are they holding their event on a college campus? I would like to ask him, Why not? Why not discuss these deep, often overlooked questions on a campus that seeks to engage the mind? Why not explore different beliefs, different ideas and different ways of life at our university? Why not transform Ohio University from a community that merely tolerates others' beliefs to one that embraces the exploration of truth together?
The founder of the Veritas Forum, Kelly Monroe Kullberg, has stated that The goal of veritas is not religion. The goal is life. And so I would like to invite you to join me in discovering life, not religion. I would like to invite you to ask tough questions, to be intellectually challenged and to explore others' ideas and viewpoints this week through the Veritas Forum's events.
Katie Kiracofe is a junior journalism major.
17
Archives
Letter to the Editor
