Under attack?

It's been an interesting week for conservative Christians. You couldn't turn on the TV without seeing protesters in Florida showing their support for, as President Bush says, the culture of life (why the culture of life doesn't extend to Darfur, or indeed, death row, is beyond me). Over the weekend, mourners took to the streets to remember Pope John Paul II, and cable news once again did its best to keep up.

And even in our community, Christians made headlines when an Easter egg hunt by Christian law students was sullied when another student planted eggs that contained comics mocking Christianity. Was it a prank that went over the line? An insensitive practical joke? A hate crime? Certainly it wasn't an American exercising his constitutional right to free speech?

For many, this was just another example of intolerance of Christianity on Penn's campus.

I am not quick to dismiss the idea that Christians can be made to feel out of place at Penn, or at any secular institution. The generally accepted pursuits of college students -- drinking, drugs and sex, interrupted only by occasional bouts of studying -- can make serious Christians feel like they don't quite belong. And obviously, there are many Christians who drink and smoke; for the sake of this column, I am referring to Christians who are also social conservatives.

Additionally, I believe that campus debates can get vicious, especially around the hot-button issue of abortion. Both sides tend to reserve their most politically charged, hyperbolic arguments for this topic, and that easily leads to maliciousness. But it is disingenuous to assail passers-by with pictures of mangled fetuses, tell them that they're responsible and then claim anti-Christian bias when some respond in anger. We can have a responsible dialogue on this issue, but political stunts won't get us anywhere.

So is there a consistent and pervasive bias against Christianity at Penn? I would have to say no. Some students may snicker at W.W.J.D. bracelets, and that is no doubt in bad taste. But it is hardly hateful and probably has more to do with the fact that they don't feel like hearing the good news about Jesus on that particular day. Besides, is that response so different from that of a Christian student who walks by a loud party and shakes his head in disapproval? In that case, should the partiers feel persecuted?

Far from ignoring the influence religion has on our society, for me college has required learning more about Christianity. English literature, American history -- you really need at least a basic grasp of Christianity to truly understand those subjects. How could you assign Paradise Lost without also assigning readings from the book of Genesis? In my major, Christianity is very much in the classroom.

And yet, I can't ignore the fact that at Penn and in America, Christian conservatives feel as if they're outmanned, outgunned and backed into a corner. I'm desperate to understand why. How many non-Christians are there in the U.S. Senate? In the history of the White House? When have evangelical groups ever had this much sway over the policy arm of a political party?

I will concede that the average secular student will make generalizations about other Christians that are often not true. Not all Christians are pro-life, and not all pro-lifers are Christian, and a hundred other variations on the theme. This is, no doubt, irresponsible. But is it so different from the way people make assumptions based on different criteria? Is it so different from the way some will make assumptions about people based on their sorority or fraternity affiliation? Both assumptions are reckless, but to me, neither indicates a widespread bias so much as a general weakness of human nature.

I want to understand this, not just because of how it affects Penn, but also because of how it's affecting this country. I just don't see the victimization. Some liberal commentators have suggested that it is merely a political mechanism designed to keep people voting Republican, but I just don't think that many people take their cues from the Republican Party, no matter how smart Karl Rove is. That so many Christian conservatives feel slighted, at Penn and the nation over, is not a result of policy. But where that feeling comes from, I just don't know.

Eliot Sherman is a senior English major from Philadelphia and editorial page editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. Diary of a Madman normally appears on Thursdays.

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