This letter is in response to Beau Taylor’s “Christ was not a civil rights leader” (SN 1/25). Although I have not read the letter Taylor responded to, I feel some of his remarks demand my reply. I respect his opinions, but some of his comments regarding Christ were inaccurate.

Christ was neither a civil rights nor a religious leader. Christ is distinct for claiming to be God in the flesh, and it is the duty of every individual to decide whether his claims, based on his recorded life, make him a liar, a lunatic or the Lord.

Christ called upon all people of all races to have a personal relationship with God, not to be enslaved to a religious institution or a systematic code of conduct.

Additionally, Taylor suggests the Gospels themselves were directly responsible for such atrocities as the Crusades, the Inquisition and the Holocaust. I challenge Mr. Taylor to cite any passage that encourages such action. Christ called upon us to love one another unconditionally, which demands reconciliation of racial and civil rights issues.

Contrary to Taylor’s claim, the Gospels were not written to convince people that Christianity is the only true religion. The Gospels record the life, sacrificial death and resurrection of the one who came to deliver us from our transgressions. Religious systems - such as Buddhism, Islam and even “Christianity” - will not achieve salvation.

However, a personal relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, will.

Steven Zack
religious studies freshman