Posted on 02/16/2003 11:41:46 AM PST by chance33_98
Coyote Press Online, Southern Nevada Community College
Campus Christian Group Dismisses Racist Accusations
By Nathan Fairbanks
A case of mistaken identity on the Internet has led to accusations of racism against the Campus Crusade for Christ, according to leaders of the group.
The person still has not been identified who is responsible for the accusations. It is not known if their intentions were malicious, or if they just made an honest mistake.
Joe Bushelman, a staff representative for the Campus Crusade for Christ, and Omar Garcia, the club's president, explained the situation outside of the A building at the Henderson campus where the group regularly meets on Thursdays.
"There was a web page printout of a group called Christian Identity, and this group is basically a white supremacist group and somehow the printouts got stapled to our Crusade for Christ flyers and placed in student senator's mailboxes," Bushelman explained.
Bushelman first heard about the accusations when student senator Wendy Cohen contacted him to discuss the situation.
"I think she [Wendy Cohen] was very responsible in what she did. Instead of saying this is some terrible group, she asked us about it and we were able to clear it up," Bushelman said.
CCSN Student Body President Kerri Hamrick also helped to clear up the confusion when she said at the Nov. 8 student government meeting with student groups that there wasn't any link between the Campus Crusade for Christ and racist hate groups.
"The Senate has recognized them as an honorable club, and we are willing to help them restore their good name any way we can," Hamrick said.
The Campus Crusade for Christ, originally founded at UCLA in 1951, currently has active movements on 1,130 campuses with about 45,000 students involved. The group estimates shares the gospel with approximately 9 million students each year.
U.S. News and World Report rated Campus Crusade for Christ as the top religious charity in the U.S. in 1995, and Money magazine said they were the most efficient religious ministry in 1996.
Garcia said the main objective of the local chapter here in Southern Nevada is "to outreach to non-Christians and Christians, spread the gospel, and give college students the opportunity to be involved in a Bible study".
Besides the organization's message, at home and nationally, there is one other element of the story that clashes with the accusations linking the group to white supremacy and that is Garcia's nationality.
"I'm Venezuelan, and what's funny too is that I'm also Jewish," Garcia said. "I'm like a Jewish-Christian. And they said they didn't let non-whites and Jewish people into their group."
Whatever the intentions of their accuser were, both Bushelman and Garcia feel that this incident has been beneficial in the long run.
"I think it's been good overall because it has helped us define what we're about," Bushelman said. "We're about loving others and we want people to come into a relationship with Christ."
"We don't care about a person's culture," Bushelman said. "We just want to be a resource to students whatever background they're from whatever culture they're from. We just want people to come together and build relationships with Christ."
Students interested in finding out more about the Campus Crusade for Christ can contact Omar Garcia at MISTYLOVER@yahoo.com.
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