To say, as Smith did in his article, that it is a "frightening proposition" when students who do not believe in evolution are allowed to be a part of the Wake Forest community is a direct contradiction of what supposedly is a part of his character. Being tolerant is being accepting of different viewpoints - yes, even the Christian viewpoint - but being intolerant is when someone like Smith implies that to be intellectual you must believe in evolution, and to be a Wake Forest student, you must be anything but Christian.

Smith said in his column that "these sidewalk scribbles were much more than beliefs and opinions, they were written for a reason: To directly offend many potential students with different beliefs and repel them from enrolling." To use a word that he seems to be fond of, I am "offended" that he are accusing these Christian students of chalking the sidewalks for a reason that he has yet to prove really was their reason.

According to student columnist Derek Radney ("Faith lies behind Quad chalking," April 18) their sole purpose "was to show prospective students that Christ is working in the lives of students at Wake Forest." Why would the students want to chalk the Quad to purposely offend others?

Has it occurred to Smith that perhaps the Christians feel offended at a lot of other events that take place on campus or that they feel just as much a minority as Muslim and Buddhist students? Is he aware, for example, that as reported in the Old Gold and Black, there was a group of students in the 1960s who performed a much more mean-spirited act of burning crosses?

I understand that what he calls "a juvenile act of colorless intolerance and intellectual weakness" has stirred up quite an uproar among the student body. Apparently their "juvenile" way of expressing themselves not only made the non-believer pray for rain, but their act of "intellectual weakness" made the intellectuals feel "outnumbered" by the overwhelming amount of biblical messages scribbled on the sidewalk.

I am reminded of a Bible verse, 1 Corinthians 1:27, that says, "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world (e.g., chalk) to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty" (e.g. intellectualism or Darwin's widely-respected theory). Rather than quoting more verses from the Bible, because I realize that Smith has heard enough for one week, I will close by saying that perhaps it would be wise of him to ask the Christian students who did this exactly what their motives were. Perhaps it would be even wiser for him to seek their God for this answer.