Re: The Optimist, Oct. 20 Campus political groups encourage involvement by Sarah Carlson, copy editor.

I would like to express my deep displeasure with Amy Perez, chair of the College Democrats, for her comment in Wednesday’s Optimist. For those who didn’t see it, the lines in the Optimist read, “‘I see the Democratic Party being more Christian than the Republican Party,’ Perez said citing Jesus’ teachings on helping the poor and the needy.”

I’m not going to launch into all of the issues involved in politics and religion. Instead, I simply want to help Miss Perez understand Christians in the Republican Party, just like she feels people should be educated about Christians in the Democratic Party. Regarding Christ’s teachings on helping the poor and the needy, never once did he say that it was Israel’s government’s responsibility to take care of the needy, nor did he ever say that it was Rome’s responsibility. Jesus Christ always laid the responsibility for taking care of the poor squarely on the shoulders of individual people.

Similarly, Republican Christians believe that we should take care of the poor, but it should be an individual responsibility, not one that is mandated by the government. Does this make us less Christian? I hardly think so, and I humbly request that in the future Miss Perez refrain from saying that I am less Christian because I believe this.

Jeremy Pond
freshman journalism major from Wichita Falls