Christianity req'd for membership?

[naraht]

Wolfman,

You've definitely answered my question. A decidedly Christian culture and ethos, but nothing in the by-laws that limits to Christians.

I *very* much understand if you don't think it appropriate to answer my followup questions.

1) Is Jesus Christ mentioned in the ritual?
2) Are there any quotes from New Testament scripture in the ritual?

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by naraht

Wolfman,

You've definitely answered my question. A decidedly Christian culture and ethos, but nothing in the by-laws that limits to Christians.

I *very* much understand if you don't think it appropriate to answer my followup questions.

1) Is Jesus Christ mentioned in the ritual?
2) Are there any quotes from New Testament scripture in the ritual?

Randy-

Yes, I did answer your question without any remainder. Let me pose a couple of questions to you: Are you Greek? And why is this information important to you?

If you are Greek and you are member of a secret fraternity and respect and value the sacred oaths you've taken, you would not even consider asking me to discuss the Ritual of my Fraternity, and in a public forum at that.

[naraht]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

Randy-

Yes, I did answer your question without any remainder. Let me pose a couple of questions to you: Are you Greek? And why is this information important to you?

If you are Greek and you are member of a secret fraternity and respect and value the sacred oaths you've taken, you would not even consider asking me to discuss the Ritual of my Fraternity, and in a public forum at that.

Yes, I am Greek. I'm trying to research issues regarding the elimination of christian-only requirements in Greek Letter Organizations. As far as I knew, they had all been eliminated by 1970, but my previous research had been in the NIC. And while some of the NPHC fraternities were themselves originally limited to only African-Americans, I haven't seen anything indicating a specific religious requirement at any time in any of the NPHC fraternities or sororities.

As opposed to the racial requirements which would be unlikely to have a component in the ritual, a religious requirement can easily represent and correspond to a component of the ritual. Having no mention of religious requirement in the by-laws is one thing, but if the oath in the brotherhood ritual is done in the name of Jesus Christ or if John 3:16 has a significant place in the ritual, that would go a long way to making the group de facto Christian. Matthew 22:21 (Render unto Caesar...) or Romans 12:21 (Overcome Evil with Good), OTOH, while still New Testament verses that might have ritual meaning to a fraternity, probably would not cause the same de facto religious requirement.

I thought that
"I *very* much understand if you don't think it appropriate to answer my followup questions."
represented a sufficient caveat prior to a question that while I would be willing to answer myself. Apparently not.

Note, In regards to a Christian heritage and ethos, the fact that the Omega Psi Phi International website sells a pin which has the letters on a Ichthys (also known as a "Jesus Fish"), definitely aligns with that. (http://ecommerce.oppf.org/cgi-bin/ca...202&type=store)

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by naraht

Wolfman,

You've definitely answered my question. A decidedly Christian culture and ethos, but nothing in the by-laws that limits to Christians.

I *very* much understand if you don't think it appropriate to answer my followup questions.

1) Is Jesus Christ mentioned in the ritual?
2) Are there any quotes from New Testament scripture in the ritual?

I have always found your more-than-casual interest in other organizations rather odd, but these questions cross the line. Asking questions about ritual, even challenging members on the inner workings of their organizations, when you should know better, is disrespectful. I thought your trying to change a different org's Wikipedia page was wrong, but this one...sigh.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ight=wikipedia

[naraht]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

I have always found your more-than-casual interest in other organizations rather odd, but these questions cross the line. Asking questions about ritual, even challenging members on the inner workings of their organizations, when you should know better, is disrespectful. I thought your trying to change a different org's Wikipedia page was wrong, but this one...sigh.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ight=wikipedia

I agree that I have asked a number of questions looking for answers about a number of different organizations. I appreciate that some are more controversial than others. (No one objected to the "what are your officers called" thread. )

In regards to rituals, I would hope at least for the first question, that this would be a question that would be answered if asked by someone interested in the organization. The second, perhaps not, and I therefore apologize. I understood that it was a question that the *asking* might cause discomfort, that's why I put the caveat before it.

As for my personal feelings on rituals. First of all, I do continue to scan the web trying to keep things from the ritual of my Fraternity off the internet. I've also in at least one case alerted the Headquarters of a *different* National Fraternity when I found their ritual on the web. And I find what's on ********* to be *truly* *truly* sad. However,IMO, there are *general* questions about rituals which perhaps can be discussed without implying lack of respect. For example: "If your GLO uses candles in the ritual, how do you deal with school rules/firecodes which forbid the use of candles in buildings.

As for Wikipedia, the articles are *not* owned by anyone. *Referenced* changes are equally appropriate for the Wikipedia pages of your own GLO, someone else's GLO or Oslo, Norway. At the time that the change was made on Wikipedia, there was no referenced support for the change, the web page change for gammasigmasigma.org came later. Further discussion of that probably belongs back in the original thread.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by naraht

As for my personal feelings on rituals. First of all, I do continue to scan the web trying to keep things from the ritual of my Fraternity off the internet. I've also in at least one case alerted the Headquarters of a *different* National Fraternity when I found their ritual on the web. And I find what's on ******* to be *truly* *truly* sad.

Do you really need to identify that website by name?

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Do you really need to identify that website by name?

Co-sign. The smart people kept their mouths shut.

SMH

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

Co-sign. The smart people kept their mouths shut.

SMH

[naraht]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Do you really need to identify that website by name?

And edited to remove it.