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"Your decisions will master you, whichever direction they take." MARY BAKER EDDY
Take the haze out of hazing
Early in my college education, I wanted to join a fraternity—intensely. It appealed to me because of the camaraderie. Also, at that time, it was "the thing to do" on campus. It was obvious to me that fraternity life was part of being popular. More important though, the friendship and true bonding implied by the word fraternity appealed to me. Joining a fraternity required a simple petitioning, a long two months of fairly harmless indenturing, followed by an initiation process of one very long week of "abusive and humiliating tricks"—hazing. It seemed worth it, though, because my peers were demanding it.
One dictionary offers two definitions of the word haze—"lack of transparency; vagueness of mind or mental perception" and "to play abusive and humiliating tricks on by way of initiation." Many fraternities have insisted on hazing as an important part of initiation. Of course, it is certainly not necessary for true bonding. In my case, hazing actually had the unintended consequence of introducing me to God! It gave me the opportunity to put into practice the strength of my convictions that I had received through Christian Science Sunday School.

October 16, 2000 issue
View Issue-
To Our Readers
Cyril Rakhmanoff
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YOUR LETTERS
with contributions from Mildred F. Hines, Willie Mae Bailey
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items of interest
with contributions from John Paul Stevens, William H. Rehnquist
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Facing change? Let spiritual ideals lead you.
By Candace du Mars
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BOOK REVIEW
Clare G. Turner
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DEALING WITH UNEXPECTED CHANGE
David Newbern
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SEVEN THOUSAND MILES' WORTH OF CHANGE
Barbara Manning Worrall
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Cruising the highways with God
By Leslee Godfrey Allen
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Porters and bouncers
By Robert Dennison Wright
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Having enough to share
By Elaine R. Follis
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GOODNESS IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE
Dorothy Dipuo Maubane
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Take the haze out of hazing
William Albert Cole
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Get off the dreadmill
By Steven A. Salt
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Prayer heals head injury
Hugh R. Chamberlin
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Successful re-entry into the workplace
Cynthia P. Hammar
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Eye injury quickly healed
Paul Osborne Williams
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Long-standing injury healed through prayer
Andrew V. Scripter
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Praying for others restores full mobility
August Janssen
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A holistic approach to healthcare
By Curtis J. Wahlberg
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Good morning, poet!
Mary Metzner Trammell