When President Bush spoke in September 2001 of the war on terrorism by saying "This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while," many of us were too emotionally distraught to pay close attention to his choice of diction.
When the president used the word "crusade," he obviously meant it as metaphor for a noble and just cause. But many in the Arab world understood the words not as a simple figure of speech, but rather, as an inflammatory phrase referring to a war with religious overtones: the West's crusade for Christ.
Maybe that's why, while campus clubs were recruiting at the beginning of the semester, one caught my attention: Campus Crusade for Christ.
The name is clearly not original. In fact, some pretentious hacks in the 11th century beat them to it -- calling their tirade against Muslims and Jews for the control of the Holy Land a crusade.
Naming a religious organization after a bloody struggle carried out in the name of God made little sense to me.
So I decided to get a hold of Campus Jihad for Allah, to better understand the logic behind the name. Unfortunately the group's office at Guantanamo Bay could not be reached.
Ok, so no such group exists - and with good reason. Muslim students would consider naming their religious group after a religious war both absurd and sacrilegious.
On the other hand, Christian use - and even pride in its bloodstained past - seems to go largely unnoticed.
It's wasn't until just recently we began to debate about observing Columbus Day, a celebration of the life and deeds of a man who murdered and forcibly Christianized thousands of people.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to compare the nice people passing out Sno-Cones to inhuman conquistadors. It's just a little strange that an organization working for the cause of the Prince of Peace is named after the most conflict-ridden period of Christian history.
Since it's inception in 1951, Campus Crusade managed to spread to over 190 countries, conducting programs for everyone from student athletes to Fortune 500 employees.
Maybe the success of the organization partly lies in the fact that out of the 60 projects Crusade has going on worldwide, many of them are under different names - Student Venture (the high school version) and Destino (for the Latino American community).
"In some countries, such as Kenya and Zimbabwe, the organization has changed its name in order to be sensitive to people of cultural backgrounds," said Tony Arnold, director of Media Relations for Campus Crusade for Christ International.
Arnold also admitted that, although no tentative plans have been made, discussion about changing the name has been raised.
When asked about the connotations associated with the word crusade, Jack Perrine, the campus director for ASU, noted the main goal of the group is to promote peace and understanding.
"We wouldn't want our name to get in the way of our mission," he said.
But you can't un-ring a bell. Once something has been said, it's been said.
There is no way to take back the inciting words of President Bush. But the option to stop using charged language that brings back painful memories and divides people is still open - both to the government and to our local campus groups.
Both should take the opportunity to start using language that is more representative of their actual goals and causes.
Lucia Bill is a political science and journalism junior. To tell her she should be burned at the stake, e-mail her at lucia.bill@asu.edu.
