An Open Letter to the Editors of the Jot & Tittle

RE: "Independent filmmakers challenge Hollywood's attitude toward evangelicals," J&T 4.9 (Spring 2008), by Carol Frugé, M.A./MC

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing in response to the most recent issue of the Jot & Tittle and its front page article "Independent filmmakers challenge Hollywood's attitude toward evangelicals." It was unclear to me whether this article represented a news article, an editorial, or an advertisement for the upcoming film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. If it had been an adverstisement, I would expect it to be demarcated as such, yet there were so such signs. If it had been an editorial, I would expect it to appear in the "Voices" section of the paper, yet it was not. Left to conclude that it was indeed a news article, I couldn't help but notice language that seemed very out of place. Commentary and opinion such as "the dark master Darwin," "so why can't we talk about [intelligent design]?" and "this engaging, excellent film" has no place in a news article. Indeed, the explicit recommendation at the end of the article to "[s]ee the movie Expelled. Go the weekend it opens nationwide when the numbers mean the most to those who make business decisions about movies," belongs only perhaps in a review of the film, certainly not in an article meant to inform the DTS population.

Please know, however, that I am not writing to pick nits with the author of the article or the newspaper itself. Rather, I think it's important to be vigilant about the impressions we, as Christians and as seminary students, leave in the culture at large. Recently, The Wittenburg Door wrote about the private DTS screening of Expelled, noting in passing that DTS was "better known as the fundamentalist Vatican." Now, to be sure, The Wittenburg Door is a satirical publication, and was going for a laugh rather than attempting to reflect reality 100%. Nonetheless, the barb stung; but not nearly as much as it stung when reading the J&T article, and recognizing the kernel of truth in such a joke through the unmarked endorsement of a film that, for any number of reasons, Christians should be a bit more hesitant in embracing so fully.

I recognize the Jot & Tittle's right in publishing this article, but I would ask that the writers and editors of the Jot & Tittle recognize that not all students share a viewpoint that would characterize Darwin as "the dark master" or embrace a film that connects, however tenuously, the scientific theory of evolution and the Holocaust. I would also ask that next time more consideration is given to whether a given article is up to par for a news article, or would better serve its purpose in another section of the paper.

Sincerely,

Tim Ricchuiti
Th.M./Academic, New Testament Studies