Wash-U Continues...

February 29, 2000

Wash-U Continues...

Below you will see an email that a student of Washinton University sent to Operation Save America. Subsequently, you will see the response from Brenda Spurlock.

For additional information, be sure to check out WE GAVE WASH-U HEAVEN!!!!, a report of the event that sparked this conversation.

For anyone who is willing to devote their time and energy to Rev. Flip's cause, I would like you to see a quote from an obviously well-educated man.

"India has starvation, not because of overpopulation, but rather because the people in India have the wrong religion and they do not eat cows."
- Rev. Flip

These words were stated by Rev. Flip while visiting Washington University in St. Louis when asked by a student how he feels about birth control as an end to overpopulation. Apparently, Rev. Flip does not believe that overpopulation is an issue in our modern society; rather, he believes that current problems such as famine are due to "people having the wrong religion."

Does Rev. Flip really believe that starving children born into a country with few resources to support a booming population (e.g India, China) will not starve if they accept Jesus Christ into their life? Obviously, Rev. Flip has failed to do his homework, and instead has been blinded to the realities of the world through the selective lenses of a "faithful Christian mind."

While speaking at our school to various students, Flip adamantly declared the Christian religion as the "real objective truth," not simply an interpretation of reality imposed by humans such as ourselves. People did not create the religion, and it is not necessary for the work of people to keep the religion alive. The truth of Christianity is a fact.

Try looking at your earlier quote again with these words in mind. The true objective fact is that people are starving in India because there are too many people in an area of too little resources. Adding cows into the Indian diet is not going to solve the problem. Now, clearly we have an example of an objective fact that has been obscured by Rev. Flip in an attempt to support the Christian religion - an interpretation of reality imposed by a human to defend Christianity.

Do you see the implications of this sitution? Christians bend the truth because they want to believe that their religion is true. This has happened since the beginning of Christianity, and obviously it continues to happen today. However, I do not propose that Christians are bad people for committing this act. Many people stubbornly hold on to false beliefs because they do not want to admit that they may be wrong. They do not actively lie; rather, they really believe that their beliefs are true, and they close their eyes to anomalies that contradict their belief (see T.S. Kuhn's "Structure of Scientific Revolutions" for further information).

I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who has a viewpoint on this situation. I am also curious to see if Rev. Flip wishes to clarify his earlier statement, or if he still holds to the statement that, "India has starvation, not because of overpopulation, but rather because the people in India have the wrong religion and they do not eat cows."

Josh Langhorne

India is an incredibly complex culture with a complicated set of problems which defy simple solutions. Despite what you may have been told, Josh, condoms and abortion will not solve these problems.

There are over 180 languages in India making even basic communication between citizens difficult.

India has a 50% illiteracy rate.

It is the seventh largest country in area and has the highest percentage of cultivated land to the total geographical area in the world, yet India's agricultural productivity is among the lowest in the world.

India's manufacturing productivity is also among the lowest in the world.

China has an even larger population than India, yet it is an economic dynamo, greatly surpassing India in productivity in industry and agriculture. Of course, the problem of productivity is inextricably tied to education and the opportunity to learn new skills. Most Chinese citizens get 10 years of education, while an estimated 70 million children in India are excluded from any formal schooling whatsoever and 100 million more attend grossly inadequate schools.

Hinduism practiced by the majority of India's population, is a cruel religion in which cows are deified while human beings are forced into a rigid life-long caste system that can deny them hope of anything beyond abject poverty. Michael Neri who is working to solve the problems of the poor tells this story: a rich landlord told a Catholic priest attempting to educate locals, "If you educate these people, who will clean our shoes and our toilets, and milk our buffaloes and remove the dung? No, no, you are doing a bad thing and we will never let you succeed."

Hinduism places little value on the lives of women. Hindu texts denigrate females, advocate horrible punishments for minor offenses, promote taking child brides and burning widows on their husband's funeral pyres. The result of this bigotry against women is evident in modern life in many ways. For example, 5000 women die annually in "accidental" kitchen fires because their in-laws are dissatisfied with their dowries. Females are systematically exterminated in their mother's wombs. According to a recent UN report, 50 million females are missing from India's population. In 1920 there were 97 women for every 100 men in India. Today there are 92. Take a bow, this is your population-control philosophy in action.

When I consider India and the serious problems she faces, I think of a TV program I saw about an Indian temple dedicated to rats. The holy men were seated on the floor praying as hundreds of rats scurried over their bodies and along the floor. It goes without saying that rats carry a multitude of diseases but, just as important to a nation of vegetarians, is the destruction of grain, fruits and vegetables that these vermin represent. To me it seems obvious that India must overcome the ignorance that results in these kinds of primitive beliefs before she can overcome poverty. So, in response to your comments, I have to say, yes, Josh, people in India are starving because they serve the wrong God.

Brenda Spurlock