Dear Editor,
I am writing today to discuss my displeasure with the Critograph’s handling of recent articles. I am specifically referring to the article titled “Faith’s Faith: David’s Trust and The Afterlife”. I am currently a student and student leader to several Spiritual Life Center student groups on campus as well as being employed full-time at the University of Lynchburg. This article is part of a group of several other articles that have been posted by the Critograph in the past year. The Spiritual Life Center staff has reached out on multiple occasions about the harm that articles like this cause to students on our campus of different faith practices yet it appears that the Critograph has done little in response. There is nothing wrong with wanting to share your faith and how you find your spiritual practice to be beautiful and comforting but when your words 1) represent the University of Lynchburg as an institution and 2) promote harmful narratives towards marginalized communities then you need to rethink how you are sharing your message. I could potentially understand if the article had an overarching theme that could be understood and related to by students regardless of their faith practice but even that is not the case here. I have a question for the Critograph, I get that you are a newspaper, but how would you feel if someone thought that you were less of a person because of your religion and then the university that is supposed to be a champion for diversity and inclusion in Lynchburg allows for it to be sent to all students. This is something I would expect out of Liberty University and I am so disappointed that UofL is allowing it. One of President Alison’s 3 pillars of the university is Diversity and Inclusion and this includes individuals who are not Christian. I know personally that I am not the only student who found great issues with this article, many of the students in my own Spiritual Life Groups and others that I am in communication with have also expressed their disgust with the recent article.
I want to make it clear that my issue is not that the University is posting articles about the Christian faith, my issue is with the offensive and disrespectful language used in the article and with the apparent disregard that the Critograph editors have when it comes to the inclusion of all students.
So Critograph, please do better in vetting your articles. This is not the institution for the promotion of hate.
Respectfully,
Megan Pickett
