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'Founding fathers argument is faulty
To the Editor:
I would like to thank the Herald for the last week's editorial, which reminded us all that attempts to label citizens or candidates as "religious right" and "irreligious left" only serve to polarize our nation. However, I am greatly saddened when I read letters to the editor such as one in last week's paper that advocated a return to the founding fathers' Christian values.
Although I am no expert on history, I would caution people of religious faith in using our "founding fathers" as examples of morals and virtues they want our country to adhere to. Although those founding fathers did write an inspired Constitution that included references to faith, they also left us warnings about religious influence in government.
There is considerable evidence that many held other religious beliefs, rather than being the pious Christians some people imagine. Whatever their religion really was, I suspect few people today would really want to live by their values. To do so, we would have to enslave the African-Americans among us and look the other way when husbands took them for mistresses. We'd have to kill or chase away our Cherokee neighbors. We would have to take education and the vote away from women, deny them most employments and send their pay to their husbands if we allowed them to work at all.
A great many of those self-evident truths we now take almost for granted weren't given us by our founding fathers, Christian or otherwise, but by the sacrifice of people of many faiths and beliefs. And I think it very likely that those people who fought for the abolition of slavery, women's rights, civil rights, etc., were often portrayed as "leftist," "anti–conservative," liberal activists bent on leading us astray from the values of our founding fathers.
I hope that this letter does not seem anti–Christian, for if I was asked to name the man I admire most and might like to see become president, I would name a Christian. I would choose a man that has actually, as far as I can see, worked all his life to live Christian values, without using religion as a way of dividing people. I would choose former President Jimmy Carter. Carter is someone who has built homes for the poor, someone who has helped bring clean water, medicine and education to countries ravaged by war. He is someone who has tirelessly worked for peace and been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize.
I believe the Bush administration has been the most destructive, the most crippling administration our nation has ever suffered. While loudly professing Christian values, its members have turned away from pursuing peace through cooperation with the world, and turned the USA into a rogue nation. The administration has encouraged ideological obsession on issues like abortion, gay marriage and terrorism in order to distract America from noticing that the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer, and that Bush is bankrupting our children's future while enriching corporate interests. More Americans die from air pollution than from terrorism, but our environmental laws have been weakened.
I am becoming afraid our country is embracing the morals and values of the founding fathers, but the less–attractive ones they too often actually lived by rather than the ones they aspired to. Our country does seem headed back toward being a society where a relatively few wealthy, mostly white men hold all the power and too often wage war with the lives of the less–fortunate when they believe it suits their interests, all in the righteous name of their God.
I believe Christians like Jimmy Carter speak with more compassion, faith and wisdom regarding the future of our troubled nation. I will vote as he will, for John Kerry.
Robert Franz
Whittier
Progress made on county cemetery
To the Editor:
Over the past three months or so, much progress has been made on the restoration of our Jackson County Cemetery.
We, the Jackson County Cemetery Society, have been slowly been receiving funds from supporters, who share their concerns. A few tools have been donated along with moral support from others.
We now have most of the cemetery and its surroundings cleared from undergrowth, brush and fallen trees. This was done with the assistance of the Department of Corrections and volunteers from the Smoky Mountain High School FFA class. We welcome all help.
We have also been advised and promised by our County Commissioners' Chairman Stacy Buchanan that a 30-foot road will be constructed along with a parking area near the cemetery site. The Department of Transportation will assist in this project. Construction will begin very soon, as soon as the county and the DOT finish the work from the hurricane damage. The cutting of trees and other obstacles from the 30-foot-wide road bed has already begun.
We are now awaiting geoscientists who will bring in their equipment to locate and confirm all the graves in the cemetery. It will take about two weeks to confirm and document our other findings.
We are very thankful for the volunteers and their work and for the merchants who have already committed to give us support and donate material that we will use to rehabilitate, restore and preserve all the graves within the cemetery.
We still have much work to perform. With donations and support, we are looking at a two-year completion time frame.
Hopefully, in the spring of 2005, we will hold a special ceremony in honor of our loved ones and those from the Old Jackson County Home that were buried there.
This has been an ongoing task for us for many years and now we have made much progress with information from our community, friends and state officials.
With cooperation and assistance from our county officials, the Jackson County Cemetery Society can move forward without any expense to taxpayers to have this historical site restored and preserved for all concerned. This site will be something for all of Jackson County to be proud of when we are finished.
Anyone who wishes to go up and see what we have done so far should feel free to call. We will make arrangements to meet and give you a firsthand tour.
Once again, donations can be made to the Jackson County Cemetery Society, P.O. Box 811, Sylva, NC 28779. If you have any tools you would like to donate, please call 586-0809 and we will be glad to come pick them up.
Alvin Frady
Sylva
Airport has economic impact on county
To the Editor:
Last week's report about a Sylva resident who was questioning the Jackson County commissioners' support of the airport led me to respond to the value of our airport.
The money spent in our county by people who use the Jackson County Airport has an economic impact of millions of dollars each year. The benefits to our community in tax revenues are very significant. This is why financially stable communities promote their airports. Community airports help build schools, roads and support community based activities. They are the main source for the free transportation of people in need of medical attention ( thru "Angel Flight," a free service provided by pilots). A good community airport is a great value to all our lives.
All community airports are supported, in majority, by State and Federal funding (as much as 95 percent). The Jackson County Airport Authority is charged with the duty to explore these funding sources and reporting to the county commission. They are making the best recommendations to Jackson County's commissioners based on many hours of their donated time. We need to thank them for their contributions and encourage their continued efforts. We also need to thank the commissioners for their wisdom in supporting the airport. They show the leadership and wisdom to keep Jackson County a healthy and safe community.
Jackson County will continue to grow. We need to improve the airport and keep it one of our safest and most valuable assets.
Ray Ambrose
Sylva
Bush victory would have little impact on abortion law
To the Editor:
Back in 1999, I remember speaking to a variety of different people about the upcoming presidential election. By in large, the major deciding factor of most, if not all, of the Bush supporters was Bush's stance against abortion.
As I converse with people in this election year, I find that many people view this as the determining issue in the election. It has taken a different form this year, manifesting itself in the Supreme Court judge appointment debate, but the issue of abortion is the core concern.
However, given the political pins that have to fall to give pro-lifers their way, it is highly unlikely that this election will make any difference whatsoever in the laws governing abortion in this country.
First, consider the Supreme Court appointee debate. The prevailing logic is that should Supreme Court justices retire, Bush is more likely to appoint justices who would be opposed to abortion. However, Bush has repeatedly stated that there will be no "litmus test" of his appointees. Moreover, if Bush is elected, it is the conservative justices that will feel "safe" to retire, while the left-leaning justices will most likely chose to keep their seats so as to maintain the balance. Even if Bush does appoint conservative justices in their place, which he has conspicuously not promised to do, ultimately, conservatives will gain no ground in the Supreme Court.
However, just for the sake of argument, let's say that the entire Supreme Court retires and Bush stacks the deck with conservatives. Suppose that this new hard-line conservative Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. What happens next? We get a smorgasbord of abortion laws as each state concocts their own version.
At least some states will keep it legal. So, in order to have across-the-board prohibition of abortion, a Constitutional amendment would be necessary. That requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress. Plus, two-thirds of the states (38 out of 50) must ratify the amendment. With America split right down the middle on this debate, this simply isn't going to happen.
What this boils down to is that the pro-life movement in this country does not have the popular support necessary to outlaw abortion, and the president, no matter how strongly he opposes the practice, cannot change that fact. While abortion law may impact this election, this election will not impact abortion law.
For this reason, I urge voters to base their decisions on issues that the president can affect. Environmental protection, education, taxes, defense, fiscal responsibility ... make your voice heard on these issues, but don't delude yourself with the mistaken notion that a vote for Bush will deal a blow to the pro-choice movement.
Melvin Burnette
Sylva
Bush has deceived the American people
To the Editor:
No wonder Sen. John Kerry has a hard time making his views known. The problems that confront this nation and the world cannot be distilled into a sound bite the way the media would like you to believe. For those of you who do not read, question, investigate on your own, or engage in any kind of thoughtful debate, the repeated lies and sound bites of the GOP are all that you will hear and all that you will choose to believe. But for those of you still wondering who can best lead this nation, here are just a few thoughts you might want to explore in detail.
First, national security. Why would anyone think George W. Bush is the one to trust to keep us safe?
Why is it so hard to understand why Sen. Kerry might vote against a particular bill to fund the $87 billion for the troops? He never said he didn't want to fund the troops. He only wanted the funding to come back from G.W.'s big tax cut for the rich instead of having it come down on the backs of the middle class and low income, the children of whom are the ones fighting the war G.W. started. Don't forget this bill came up well after G.W. had already sent our soldiers into battle ill-equipped.
Second, as for George as a "Godly man," anyone can bow their head and pretend to pray. Nothing this man has done as governor of Texas or as president has shown any signs of godliness or the "compassionate" part of his conservatism. The creator must weep at the gross obscenities perpetrated by this administration against the poor, the environment, our educational system, other nations, our Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the Geneva Convention.
Third, Iraq. This was a big, fat lie. G.W. and Vice President Dick Cheney both knew it. The president's own staff and some cabinet members have gone on record stating that it was always G.W.'s intention from day one in office to find a way to go back into Iraq. Just as investigations into the Florida elections fraud were heating up, a way was found: 9/11. This administration decided to run into Afghanistan for a little while, get the oil pipeline run through where they'd been wanting to anyhow, ensconce one of their flunkies as the interim leader and then quickly move on to Iraq, which is what they were really interested in anyhow. They awarded no bid contracts to Halliburton months ahead of the war, while they were supposedly still in diplomatic talks with Iraq. Oh, did I mention, no WMDs and no ties to Osama?
Fourth, social issues. The division in this country over issues like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, gay rights, equal pay, the Pledge of Allegiance, minimum wage and more are not going to be solved in this campaign. As long as George can keep us fighting over them, we're less likely to take him to task over all of the things mentioned in this letter and jeopardize his campaign. However, if he wins, our ability to debate them civilly and solve them fairly may be gone forever.
I've barely scratched the surface, but those of you who have actually read this far probably know all of this. Those who haven't have probably turned on Wife Swap or Biggest Loser by now. But if anybody is interested, here are several books you should read: Big Lies by Joe Conason; The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast; American Dynasty by Kevin Phillips; Bushwhacked by Molly Ivins; Against All Enemies by Richard Clarke; and Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky.
There are more. Read. Challenge. Vote Nov. 2 as though your life depends on it. It does.
Leslie Rojohn
Sylva
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