Are You Prepared to Face the World?

By Courtney Soon

As the end of the semester is approaching, Mr. Kilgo, teacher of the Christ and Culture 12, decided to place the seniors’ nightmares into reality. In place of a final exam, the Bible class hosted a debate. Students had to research different current social issues, such as capital punishment, drug legalization, climate change, homosexuality, dating, immigration, and so on. The final project tested them in their knowledge, both around the controversies and their biblical stance on the issues, as they will need a good foundation to defend their beliefs once they leave their Dalat bubble.

For the final project, all seniors in the class participated in different roles of the debate: Topic Presenters, Debaters, and Question Generators. Topic Presenters needed to present findings around the issue to the class in both secular and Christian views. Question Generators were assigned to spur critical-thinking questions and press the debaters to question their ethical, moral, and biblical stance on the social issues in society. Debaters had an unexpected twist in their roles: they were only able to know which side they supported on the day of the debate, so they had to be prepared to argue for both sides.

Not only that, they have to provide biblical support for whichever side they were randomly assigned. When Mr. Kilgo gave the rule that students were not allowed to bring any notes when debating, many students let out a huge sigh. All the facts and Bible verses that they have accumulated have to be fiercely glued in their minds in order to carry out a good debate.

On the first day of debate, Karl Chan (12), Seong-Min Kim (12), and Trevor Ronning (12) went as guinea pigs to carry out the debate on capital punishment. Smiles were still spread across their faces, even though nerves filled them internally. Presented with a tough question, “Isn’t killing killers also murder?”, Karl was assigned to argue the opposing side and had to provide biblical views that would support his argument. He stood up courageously and proceeded to argue, “God gave us a command to love our brothers and sisters, so there is no such thing as killers in the Bible.”

The whole class broke into laughter and applauded him for his effort in answering the difficult question while connecting his given stance to the Bible.

As Lydia Kim (12) explained, “The Bible project is helping me understand more about what's behind the controversies that I hear about frequently but don't know very well. By researching my own topic and also listening to others’ debates, I am learning more to form my own opinions about the issues.”

While this may be a start of a few weeks of chaotic Bible class, it will help the seniors formulate solid backgrounds for the controversial issues when they face the real world.