Letters to the editor: 05/23/02

Pleased with industrial development ordinance

To the Editor:

I want to thank all the commissioners on behalf of the Qualla Community Development Council for honoring our concerns and efforts. Special thanks must go to Commissioners Roberta Crawford and Stacy Buchanan, who have consistently called for strong protection for our quality of life in Jackson County.

I sincerely hope that everyone in Jackson County will recognize that this issue was never just about an asphalt plant in the Qualla area, nor has the struggle for preserving our peaceful mountain neighborhoods been won. This is just one small step out of many more which will need to be taken.

We all need to take notice of the current efforts which have grown out of the "smart growth" meetings and be prepared to support further efforts to ensure "smarter growth" of our county when further plans are presented.

The same geography that provides for the beautiful mountain scenery we hope to preserve also exposes us to some of the worst air quality problems in the nation. We all need to encourage passage of a strong "clean smokestacks" bill in our state legislature and to support clean air initiatives on the federal level.

Our Jackson County commissioners are currently providing support for both smart growth planning and air quality issues. They have addressed the issues of billboards, cell towers and now, polluting industries. It seems to me they deserve considerable credit for their efforts and accomplishments.

Sincerely,

Robert Franz

Whittier

County should clean up Allens Branch

To the Editor:

The safety of my children is at risk just walking to the school bus. I have seen vermin and pestilence while "drive through the junkyard," not to mention the chemical contaminants less than a few yards from my home and my small children.

Several citizens have contacted various agencies (the Sheriff's Department, public health, Department of Transportation and county commissioners) to no avail. I feel if the children in the community are injured, it should be a county issue. Let them pay the bill. Seems to those of us in the upper Allens Branch community that it would be simpler for the county to fine the offenders and make them move the junk. We have explored every option we know to try.

What do the county commissioners do? Do they make ordinances? Do they live in neighborhoods of embarrassment? Do their children get harassed about where they live because of the nastiness? Does county government care about the people and the children they are suppose to be protecting?

I would like to cordially invite all elected officials to take a Sunday drive to the creek at the end of Allens Branch Road so they can see my view. I wish to remind the governing officials that this is a election year and maybe we need new people willing to work for the voting body that elected them.

Respectfully,

Brandy Wall

Sylva

State cutbacks will hurt young children

To the Editor:

During the week of April 7-13, your newspaper distributed the annual magazine of the Region A Partnership for Children/Smart Start in honor of the Week of the Young Child. The heartwarming image of a beautiful little girl hugging the neck of her father on the cover represented the kind of smiling child and loving family the Partnership envisions, supported by our nurturing communities.

Partnership Executive Director June Smith invited all "community partners" to join in the commitment to promote the best for our children now because "we don't have a minute to lose."

Mrs. Smith's call to action could not have been more timely. The celebration of young children has been replaced by a forecast of worry about significant program cutbacks that could lie ahead.

Threats of a $50 million reduction in Smart Start funds statewide are among the strategies currently being considered by the state's Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services to address the state budget deficit. That could translate into reductions of up to 15 percent in the seven western counties' Smart Start funds.

When you combine this with other proposed cuts in child care subsidies and those proposed in social services, mental health and public health funds, a negative impact will certainly be experienced throughout our communities. This impact will be felt not only in 2002 and 2003, but also in the futures of the children who will be less ready to learn, grow and reach their full potential. It will also be felt in the futures of families who face the stress of raising children in today's world with less support and confidence and fewer resources. That usually means costlier problems we'll all have to pay for eventually.

I urge parents of young children to consider this:

If you have benefited from public and Smart Start subsidies to meet the cost of child care; have been pleased with quality early care and education for your children because teachers have experienced Smart Start training and career opportunities; if you have received a Smart Start funded car seat, preventive dental hygiene for your child; have received help from a Parent as Teachers Program home instructor or a Child's Garden Family Supported specialist or a Family Resource Center; have borrowed a Smart Start funded children's book from your regional library or Reading River; have participated in a Community Early Learning Group; or experienced any of the many programs and services with the Smart Start logo... then let your legislators know that you want to preserve Smart Start benefits. Talk about it with your neighbors and friends at church and at work.

I worry that if we all don't talk to one another and to our legislators about these concerns we will have a lot less to celebrate during next April's Week of the Young Child.

For children and families,

Gene Perrotta - Board Chairman

Region A Partnership for Children

Read what the Bible actually says

To the Editor:

Matthew 29:19-20 does not read as follows:

"Go ye therefore (men only), and teach all nations (only from the pulpits by men), baptizing them (by men only) in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost (and you women stay out of the Sunday school classes that men will not teach and out of mission work where men won't go and stay home and do only what men tell you to do and don't say anything in church and don't you dare help your husband as an equal partner in his work for the Lord as God gave woman to be his helpmate).

"Teaching them to observe all things (except that which men forbid you to do for Christ) Whatsoever I have commanded you: And, lo (men only), I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (at which time only men will go to heaven). Amen."

Mark 16: 15 & 16 does not read as follows:

"Go ye (men only) into all the world, and (only men) preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized (by men only) shall be saved; but he that believeth not (because they were preached to by a woman) shall be damned."

Webster's dictionary defines preach as: "To deliver a sermon; to speak publicly on a religious subject, especially but not limited to a clergyman; to advocate." So anyone who proclaims the gospel in any manner and in any place, in or out of a pulpit is a preacher. So you ladies you better not witness to others or you might be considered as preaching. By the way a preacher is one who preaches.

I have searched but I cannot find any place in any translation of the Bible that the King James version of the Bible tells the true word of God exclusive of all others and that you are not saved if you believed the word of God from any other translation other than what is known as the King James version of the Bible. Further, the Constitution of the Tuckaseigee Baptist Association in Article III: Authority reads as follows:

"Section 1. The association shall have the power to elect and install its officers in whatever manner the body may deem expedient.

"Section 2. The association shall have the power to recommend measures of usefulness and guidance to our churches in matters of organization, ordinations and questions of doctrines and discipline.

"Section 3. The association shall have no power to infringe upon the right of local churches as sovereign and independent bodies."

As the Constitution stands now, and should remain, the association is only an advisory organization and should not be come a dictator to other churches. We alone answer to God and not to men and their rules. The ends do does justify the means. I do not like okra, but maybe you do, but we don't have to fight over it and it will not keep either of us out of heaven.

It has also been said that Cullowhee Baptist Church has stopped all financial support to the association and should be expelled for this reason alone. If this is a good reason, then why aren't plans in the works to kick out the other dozen or so churches that do not either?

There are churches other than Cullowhee that might in the eyes of some be in violation of the rules of the association, but nothing is being said or done regarding these churches. How can you say you love your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ if you seek to tear them down.

It's time we worked together and do mission work rather than pick on churches for their beliefs. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with the association. The Bible does say judge not lest ye be judged.

Robert Palmer

Sylva

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