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Anti-'Outhouse' writer should relax

To the editor,

I couldn't let Jacob Lauser's letter that appeared in yesterday's Wildcat go unanswered because, contrary to his assertion, it is Mr.Lauser who needs to relax and not Tiger, the creator of 'Out House'.

'Out House' has survived so long because Tiger continues to bring us on a daily basis a refreshingly humorous outlook on life, and while he certainly does attempt through the comic to address a huge range of stereotypes, I do not think he can rationally be accused of attacking any subset of our campus community in its entirety.

The point of the comic in question was not to bash every Christian that ever walked the face of the Earth based on an assumption that they all hate gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender (glbt) people or seek to make them straight. Rather, it was an artistic, accurate and I thought funny representation of what it can be like to be gay in light of the rhetoric thrown around by some so-called Christians in modern day America. Mr. Lauser asserts that Jesus would never support anything that entailed treating people badly or not loving 'thy neighbor as thyself'. Tiger's well put across point was that despite Jesus' apparent unconditional love there are a great many Christians (and others) out there all too willing to judge the glbt community.

Mr. Lauser needs to remember that pictorial or written representations of any group of people should be taken in their proper context. We see and hear a lot of images portrayed every day on this campus and beyond, but we do not assume they apply to every member of the specific group. Just 2 examples should make this clear. Not all fraternity members are binge drinking men out to bed a sorority member. Some abstain from alcohol, and plenty would rather bed another fraternity member. Not all athletes lack in academic ability or fit the 'jock' stereotype; many are outstanding students and many are gay or lesbian.

Do not jump to any conclusions about who the community around you is made up of, nor get unnecessarily defensive when some folks are legitimately criticized. Tiger is trying to enlighten a few souls out there, and in my view is doing a great job.

Nick Ray

Political science graduate student