by NIKKI ROBERTI
Lifestyles Reporter

For two years, junior political science and Spanish major, Anna C. Smith had thought about starting a forum for Christians and non-Christians alike to meet and talk about world issues.

That dream is now a reality.

Co-founder of the new on-campus forum “Christians that give a damn about social injustice,” Smith said she hopes the group will help other Christians on campus break away from the stereotype.

Smith

“There’s that safety zone Christians fall into. They only associate with tight Christian circles and don’t branch out from that with people from different beliefs,”

Co-founder and junior psychology major Liz A. Gardner said of what may cause people to form stereotypes about Christians.

But with the new forum, Gardner and Smith hope that will change.

“We’re trying to break away, rethink and look at scripture together about what God says about these issues,” Smith said. “Break out of the mold we all seem to be put into and figure out why we’re in that mold, maybe decide to stay that way or even make a new one.”

“Christians that give a damn about social injustice” will hold their first meeting tonight at 8 p.m. in room 421 of Belk Library & Information Commons.

Many of the founders of this forum come from various on-campus Christian groups, but the forum will not be tied to a particular club.

“We don’t want to be a part of a Christian group. I’m in one and another girl is from something else. We just happen to be Christians in those clubs and want to talk about the same issues,” Gardner said. “We’re all Christians. It doesn’t matter what we are part of.”

Even though one of the founders is the president of one of the Christian clubs, she said she doesn’t plan on advertising it to the club any more than the forum is advertising to the entire campus.

“We’re not here to create division, but rather to promote unity and cohesiveness,” Smith said. “At the same time, we don’t want to endorse or talk bad about any of the Christian clubs.”

According to the group’s written vision statement, the forum will discuss issues such as “the death penalty, environmentalism, sex trafficking and materialism.”

Taylor A. Wall, senior anthropology major, is also a co-founder of the forum.

She said the ultimate purpose of the group is to create an educated group of people with a developed biblical foundation.

Gardner said the forum and discussion is open to everyone on campus, including non-Christians and those with different beliefs.

Smith said even the founders don’t see eye to eye on every issue.

“We wanted to build a team who challenges each other with their different perspectives,” Smith said. “It will be a discussion and not debate.”

Although the Bible is the foundation of the forum, it is not the group’s intent in finding the answer to every issue addressed, Smith said.

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