Christianity req'd for membership?

[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)