I am writing in response to Carmen Cerra’s column regarding his opinions about Christianity.

Those who are not interested in hearing any more about Christianity are welcome to exercise their free will and move on to a different article — I don’t want you to feel like this is being “shoved down your throats.”

I certainly respect Carmen’s right to reject Christianity and choose whatever belief system he wishes to, but I felt I must clarify just a couple of his many fallacies so others are not led astray.

I must start by disagreeing with his statement that “most of you are lawbreakers,” only to clarify by saying ALL Christians (and non-Christians, for that matter) are, in fact, lawbreakers.

Everyday I try to defeat sin, but because of my weak human nature, every day I continue to sin. Even those who do not believe in the Bible’s definition of sin still “sin” by not living up to the same standards by which they judge others. From that perspective, all of us are, in fact, lawbreakers.

Second, I must clarify Carmen’s absurd conclusion that all Christians today must slaughter bulls to pay for their sins. That is the problem with merely pulling out random statements from the Bible without reading all of it — you miss the whole point.

The whole point of the Bible is that our sin does, in fact, require some sort of blood sacrifice. In the Old Testament, this meant slaughtering bulls. But once God’s son, Jesus Christ, came and gave his own blood for us, the slaughtering of animals was no longer required. Rather, we must now choose whether to accept Christ’s payment.

Finally, I do agree with Carmen that “a little common courtesy makes a good welcoming mat for any religion.” I get as upset as he does by Christians who “kill in the name of God” or attempt to “force things down people’s throats.”

I am glad he understands this is not God’s will and is not biblical. Rather, we, as Christians, are only called to let others hear about this message and leave it up to them to decide. We are not asked to “convert” anybody.

I hope Carmen would not go so far as to judge all of Christianity merely on the basis of a few “bad apples.” I do not judge Democrats, Republicans, atheists, homosexuals, Daily columnists, nor any other group just because I had a bad experience with a few bad apples in their group.

I understand Carmen and others get sick of hearing about Christianity, as he stated. However, try looking at it from a different perspective.

Let’s pretend what we, as Christians, believe is actually true — that the only way someone can get to heaven is through hearing and believing this message about Christ.

If this is true, wouldn’t you consider Christians incredibly evil people for keeping such a life-saving message to themselves and not doing whatever necessary to let others hear about it?

We just want you to hear our message, as do the countless other groups on campus. Please listen. Then decide for yourselves.

Carter Moss

ISU alumnus

Class of 1995