Recently it seems I have become a figure of some controversy.

In the semester since I've started writing this column, I've managed to irk readers, other columnists, and even the editor herself. That doesn't surprise me, although I do find it interesting.

As a self-professed radical, I understand that many people will disagree with my opinions. I'd be amazed if they didn't. That's why I've tried to make my column as interactive as possible.

In addition to writing to the Arrow, students can go to CONF ERROR, on the archaic MUSIC system, which has a "charlie" topic for discussion of my columns (just type "conf error" at the go prompt.)

Also, the Talking to Charlie Page on the Web (you're soaking in it) has unedited versions of my columns and a comments page. Readers can e-mail me comments, which I put up on the page, sometimes with responses.

I do all this so I won't have to keep writing more columns on the same subjects. I could have easily written a dozen columns about religion, but that would have been a waste of space. The same goes for apathy. There are simply too many good topics to spend all my energy on just a few.

One example of a great topic is the BSU students who sent a letter to WSIL, requesting that the station not air last week's episode of "Ellen" because the main character was coming out. I have a feeling the Viewpoints page will be full of people talking about this, but I simply can't not say anything about it.

The article on last week's front page asserts that Mr. Oberhauser thought the show should be pulled "because it could have an adverse effect on the show's younger viewers." What, does he think millions of children will decide to become gay because Ellen DeGeneres is?

It's things like this that gives Christians such a bad name. The sheer closed-mindedness and reactionism behind that entire attitude infuriates me. As my friend Gator asked upon reading the article, "How can people who call themselves Christian be so prejudiced?"

Well, they can, and people who've called themselves Christian have been prejudiced for thousands of years. Some of them, like Mr. Oberhauser, even claim that their hate is God's will. As Mr. Oberhauser said, "I felt like God wanted me to write this letter."

But I'm being unfair to Christians. Practically all religions have histories that are drenched with blood.

The sad thing is that the people who so adamantly tried to get WSIL to not air the episode are the ones who would have benefited most from watching it. They might (just might, it's a remote possibility) have realized that homosexuals are just normal people who don't deserve all the scorn they get.

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