it for a few minutes, then Don West came up to their table.
"Excuse me, Dr. Murphy. I saw Shari Nelson a few minutes ago. She said if I saw you around campus to let you know that you had an important message in your office."
"Thank you, Don."
Murphy turned back to Stephanie. "If you'll excuse me, I think I should attend to this message. Shari doesn't track me down unless it's something urgent."
"Sure, I understand. Maybe we could continue this conversation at another time." Why do we keep getting interrupted just when I'm going to talk to Dr. Murphy about the danger he is in? It's almost like some force is fighting against me.
Stephanie sat there watching Murphy walk away. She then looked at the verse he had written down for her.
I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether it be a full stomach or hunger, plenty or want; for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.
Philippians 4:12-13
111
TWENTY-ONE
"BOY, YOU'RE IN TROUBLE NOW!" Shari said with a smirk as Murphy entered the office.
Murphy chuckled. With that smirk on her face and her black pigtails, she was a sight to behold. Shari definitely had her own unique style. "Trouble?"
"There's a note on your desk. Dean Archer Fallworth wants to see you in his office at eleven A.M. He sounded a little upset on the phone."
"Do you know what it's about?"
"He didn't say. All he wanted me to do was to make sure that you got the message. He's probably jealous that so many students are taking your class in biblical archaeology. I think he's wound a little too tight."
Murphy could feel his stomach tightening as he approached Fallworth's office in the arts and science building. Their working relationship had not been an easy one.
112
I wonder what he's going to complain about this time.
Fallworth glanced up from his desk as Murphy entered. Fallworth's hand trembled slightly as he tried to keep his facial expression under control. "I want to talk to you about your class," he said curtly. "I understand that you are pushing religion on your students again."
Murphy could feel his temper beginning to simmer. "I'm not quite sure if I understand what you mean. I am teaching a course in biblical archaeology, and we discuss religious topics in the process. It's part of the curriculum."
"My sources suggest that you are using your course to push your one-sided views about Christianity. I understand that you are talking against Arabs and putting down other religions."
"I don't know where you are getting your information, Archer. But it's wrong. I share facts and details about many forms of ancient worship from Babylonian gods, to Greek mythology, to Christianity. The students are presented with information and its relationship to archaeology and history. I haven't put down anyone."
"Don't you talk about Christianity more than the other religions?"
"Of course I do, Archer. It's a course in biblical archaeology."
"I think that you're coming across bigoted and intolerant of other people's views."
"Wait a minute!" Both of Murphy's feet were firmly planted on the floor and he was leaning forward. "Just how do you define tolerance?"
Murphy could see Fallworth's neck beginning to get red. "Tolerance is respecting other people's viewpoints and
113
holding them on an equal level with your viewpoints. You should give them equal time to share their concepts and not be judgmental of someone else's beliefs or behaviors."
"That sounds good and politically correct, Archer, but that's not what tolerance means according to the dictionary Part of what you're saying is true. Yes, we should respect the right of other people to believe what they desire. Not everyone believes the same thing. But I don't have to put what another person believes on the same level as what I believe. That would make truth relative and not absolute."
"Truth is relative."
"Is it really? If an Arab terrorist, or a Russian terrorist, or a
"Excuse me, Dr. Murphy. I saw Shari Nelson a few minutes ago. She said if I saw you around campus to let you know that you had an important message in your office."
"Thank you, Don."
Murphy turned back to Stephanie. "If you'll excuse me, I think I should attend to this message. Shari doesn't track me down unless it's something urgent."
"Sure, I understand. Maybe we could continue this conversation at another time." Why do we keep getting interrupted just when I'm going to talk to Dr. Murphy about the danger he is in? It's almost like some force is fighting against me.
Stephanie sat there watching Murphy walk away. She then looked at the verse he had written down for her.
I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether it be a full stomach or hunger, plenty or want; for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.
Philippians 4:12-13
111
TWENTY-ONE
"BOY, YOU'RE IN TROUBLE NOW!" Shari said with a smirk as Murphy entered the office.
Murphy chuckled. With that smirk on her face and her black pigtails, she was a sight to behold. Shari definitely had her own unique style. "Trouble?"
"There's a note on your desk. Dean Archer Fallworth wants to see you in his office at eleven A.M. He sounded a little upset on the phone."
"Do you know what it's about?"
"He didn't say. All he wanted me to do was to make sure that you got the message. He's probably jealous that so many students are taking your class in biblical archaeology. I think he's wound a little too tight."
Murphy could feel his stomach tightening as he approached Fallworth's office in the arts and science building. Their working relationship had not been an easy one.
112
I wonder what he's going to complain about this time.
Fallworth glanced up from his desk as Murphy entered. Fallworth's hand trembled slightly as he tried to keep his facial expression under control. "I want to talk to you about your class," he said curtly. "I understand that you are pushing religion on your students again."
Murphy could feel his temper beginning to simmer. "I'm not quite sure if I understand what you mean. I am teaching a course in biblical archaeology, and we discuss religious topics in the process. It's part of the curriculum."
"My sources suggest that you are using your course to push your one-sided views about Christianity. I understand that you are talking against Arabs and putting down other religions."
"I don't know where you are getting your information, Archer. But it's wrong. I share facts and details about many forms of ancient worship from Babylonian gods, to Greek mythology, to Christianity. The students are presented with information and its relationship to archaeology and history. I haven't put down anyone."
"Don't you talk about Christianity more than the other religions?"
"Of course I do, Archer. It's a course in biblical archaeology."
"I think that you're coming across bigoted and intolerant of other people's views."
"Wait a minute!" Both of Murphy's feet were firmly planted on the floor and he was leaning forward. "Just how do you define tolerance?"
Murphy could see Fallworth's neck beginning to get red. "Tolerance is respecting other people's viewpoints and
113
holding them on an equal level with your viewpoints. You should give them equal time to share their concepts and not be judgmental of someone else's beliefs or behaviors."
"That sounds good and politically correct, Archer, but that's not what tolerance means according to the dictionary Part of what you're saying is true. Yes, we should respect the right of other people to believe what they desire. Not everyone believes the same thing. But I don't have to put what another person believes on the same level as what I believe. That would make truth relative and not absolute."
"Truth is relative."
"Is it really? If an Arab terrorist, or a Russian terrorist, or a
Similar Books
