Whats going on around UK’s campus involving religion?
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Media Credit: Ed Matthews. A couple walks past the prayer tent set up outside the Kirwin-Blanding complex yesterday afternoon.
Students begin week of 24-hour prayer
By: Megan Neff
Posted: 4/14/08; Kentucky Kernel
Six universities including UK can pray about anything this week during a constant vigil that began yesterday.
Students will pray 24 hours a day until Sunday during the week that marks the anniversary of two tragedies: the shooting at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, and the shooting at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Prayer began yesterday at 4 p.m.
“Students can pray for anything, just like the Bible says that God invites us to do, whether that’s our campus, our friends and loved ones, or even a higher tuition rate,” said David Rempfer, a computer science sophomore and coordinator of the event.
Students who are interested in joining the prayer at UK can sign up for a one-hour prayer shift at the tent set up on South Campus on the sidewalk outside of the Kirwin-Blanding complex. The shift will pass from student to student to ensure there is one person praying in the tent at all times, Rempfer said.
The goal of the prayer tent is to unify UK’s campus, but with the anniversaries of two campus tragedies, students will also be able to sign banners donated by businesses in the Lexington community to be delivered at the end of the week to Virginia Tech and Columbine High School.
The effects of these tragedies are manifold, Rempfer said. In a positive light, the occurrences have led campuses like UK toward more effective methods of preventing incidents like these in the future. Yet the victims, those close to them and the country as a whole have been left with an immense amount of grief, he said.
“They are particularly painful reminders of how deep the pain in our generation runs, and the unspoken truth is that this world just can’t heal it … but there can be healing, both personally and corporately,” Rempfer said.
Rempfer hopes the week of prayer will help the campus and the affected communities progress toward healing. In this way, prayer will act as a preventative measure in its own right, he said.
“That’s why we’re praying – to bring love and hope to hopeless and broken students like both those who survive these tragedies and those feeling empty enough to cause them,” Rempfer said.
The tent is part of a student-led movement involving various Christian organizations on campus. Participants include the Wesley Foundation, Baptist Campus Ministries, Campus Crusades for Christ and Christian Student Fellowship.
The week of prayer will conclude with a closing celebration at Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky., on Sunday at 4 p.m.
E-mail news@kykernel.com
© Copyright 2008 KY Kernel
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The Resurrection of Christ: not as outlandish as we think
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Many see Lent as chance to purge bad habits
Many students have been dieting, tanning or giving up a night out with friends for a few hours at the gym to prepare for Spring Break.
Though these sacrifices lead to sculpted, tanned bodies for the break, other students are making withdrawals for an annual season of sacrifice distant from the crowded beaches of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
In the Roman Catholic Church, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and spans 40 days until Holy Saturday, excluding Sundays. This year that period is from Feb. 6 through March 20
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Students disagree on God’s existence, asked to look inside themselves
Christians, Muslims and atheists debated the existence of God for more than two hours last night in the Student Center, and ultimately reached no conclusive answer.
It is necessary to search for solid rock beneath many layers to build a sturdy foundation for belief, said Ben Hornback, a panelist and Campus Crusade for Christ member who said he built his religious belief upon principles he sees in civil engineering.
But Adam Leedy, one of the panelists who represented an atheist point of view, countered the beliefs of Hornback and others with problems he saw with the existence of God.
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Author promotes friendship of cultures through Gulen ideals
Jill Carroll said learning the ideals of Turkish scholar Fethullah Gulen was like finding a new continent she didn’t know existed.
Carroll, a professor of humanities and religious studies at Rice University and author of “A Dialogue of Civilizations: Gülen’s Islamic Ideals and Humanistic Discourse,” spoke Saturday at the W.T. Young Library during an event sponsored by the Interfaith Dialogue Organization.
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Author to speak on teachings of Turkish Muslim advocating unity
Peter Berres considers talks like the one author Jill Carroll will give tomorrow important in the quest of finding bridges and similarities among cultures
in a “dangerously volatile world.”“This event will address the real meaning of Islam and its commonality with Western religions and humanity,” said Berres, an advisory board member for the Interfaith Dialogue Association.
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Phelps apologizes for anti-Muslim email
Student Government President Nick Phelps opened yesterday’s SG meeting with a public apology, saying he never intended to offend students with an e-mail he forwarded that described Barack Obama as a Muslim and derided the religion. “I was wrong in sending out and forwarding the e-mail,” Phelps said during the full SG Senate meeting last night. “And I was wrong to not realize the implications of my actions.
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SG President’s anti-Muslim email draws fire
Student leaders are voicing concern about an e-mail Student Government President Nick Phelps forwarded to an SG listserv last month that describes presidential hopeful Barack Obama as a Muslim and derides the religion.
