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Letters to the editor: 10/17/02

Jackson County lucky to have Jack Debnam

To the Editor:

There is no resemblance between the subject of last week's front page expose ("Planning board chairman avoids penalty," Oct. 10, 2002) and the Jack Debnam I know. I've built homes on several developments that Jack owned or had a hand in shaping. He always required that we took care of surrounding properties. He knows better than anyone that an attractive property is more desirable than one that is washed and eroded. His are among the best maintained of any in the county.

Any time you move dirt on the side of a hill there is potential for washing. During the four- or five-year drought we've had, it has been easy to go longer than usual with no washing of soil simply because there has been no water to wash it. Throw in the freeze-thaw cycle you have in January and February when seeding will not come up, and there is no way to stop some runoff when you have a downpour regardless of the steps you take. I'll guarantee that anyone who has a house in Jackson County could have taken a similar picture at some point during construction.

Jack's biggest problem is being in the public eye because of his appointments to numerous boards. Ask people who have worked with him on the EDC, the Hooper House, or the planning board about his contributions to the community. I know from personal experience that he used his contacts and skills to secure land for each of the Habitat for Humanity houses, and he was not gone as soon as the media pictures were made as some were. None of these were done for profit but for a worthy cause.

If you cannot find anything better to write about, then at least find someone who is not such an asset to the county. We are lucky to have Jack, and I hope this doesn't discourage him from continuing to serve this county like few others have.

James McManus

Sylva

Use common sense when interpreting the Bible

To the Editor:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those churches and their members that have withdrawn from the Tuckaseigee Baptist Association. Thank you for defending your right to autonomy and thank you very much for defending me as a woman who is a member of a Baptist church. I know that your effort to stand up for me came with cost and sacrifice.

I believe that the Word of God, the Bible, is completely true and without error. The argument the leaders of the Tuckaseigee Baptist Association is using is based on l Timothy 2:1 11-15 and that the Word of God is true and inerrant; therefore, they cannot believe that a woman can be called to preach or teach men.

There is one really big fallacy with this argument. There are a number of scripture passages that contradict this passage, e.g. Galatians 3:28, which states, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Acts 2:17 also states, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."

Other passages that contradict this argument are: Judges 4: 4-14; Acts 18:26 and 21:9; 1 Cor. 11:5; Phil. 4:3; 2 Tim. 1:5, 3:14, 15; and Titus 2:3-5 and others. Therefore, one cannot state that they believe literally these passages and the 1 Timothy scripture.

Obviously Jesus felt that men and women were equal, and in both passages quoted above, Paul states that women as well as men are fully capable of hearing from God and proclaiming to others what He has said, hence the definition of prophesy.

So we cannot say we believe the Bible is completely true and inerrant and hold so tightly to the argument that woman cannot preach. In doing so we disregard many other passages of scripture, much like the TBA is disregarding 50 percent of their membership.

I believe the Bible is true and without error, that is it the inerrant Word of God and it is very precious to me. I also believe that God bestowed upon us a certain amount of common sense and we can use this common sense to see that Paul in 1 Timothy was writing a letter dealing with a specific church in Ephesus that was dealing with a specific problem with women who were uneducated and at that time it was not advantageous to the church for them to be in leadership.

I can deduce from this information and what the scripture says elsewhere that is it not God's intention to say that He will never speak to a woman and call her to proclaim His Good News from the pulpit.

We use our common sense in other issues, such as when Paul said in l Timothy 3:12, "Let deacons be the husbands of one wife." Does this mean unmarried men cannot be deacons, or how about men who are divorced or remarried for Jesus himself said the only grounds for divorce is sexual unfaithfulness, so a man who is divorced based on any other grounds cannot serve as a deacon, because he has two wives? Of course we have both situations in our churches and we use common sense to interpret what Paul meant.

I was further saddened last week upon hearing the news report involving the TBA giving a considerable amount of money away to very deserving charities. Although I am very pleased that these well deserving charities are receiving this money, I find it disheartening that they are doing this on the heels of disenfranchising 50 percent of its members. I don't believe that favor can be bought by donations, but what needs to happen is that we open our hearts and minds to what God says in this issue.

It must be breaking God's heart to see His children taking His Holy Word and using it to devalue those He felt were worth dying for. I challenge those involved in the TBA to open their Bibles and see what God has already said on this issue and then open their hearts and hear what the Holy Spirit would say to them today. 2 Cor. 3:6 states, "He made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to His people. This new agreement is not a written law, but it is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life."

Let's stop letting the man-interpreted laws bring hurt and discrimination and let the Spirit begin to heal and bring life to this situation.

Lisa Buchanan

Sylva

Improvements needed to Old Settlement Road

To the Editor:

Does the Department of Transportation have roadside signs that say "No Shoulder, 3-foot Drop" or "No Shoulder, 2-foot Drop?" If so, they should post them on Old Settlement Road from the Webster bridge to N.C. 107.

The road is a menace to all drivers. The lanes are so narrow that a vehicle with four-rear wheels (horse trailer, EMT van) has a left wheel on the double-yellow line and a right wheel on the white line at the crumbling edge of the road. If they meet another car, there is a 6-inch to 1-foot space between them as they pass.

Vehicles gain speed going toward N.C. 107 on the straightaway along the river. People are hurrying to work. When they hit the hilly curves, they overlap into the oncoming lane unless they see someone coming, in which case they dive for their own lane. Over correction can put them in the ditch, which is 2 and 3 feet deep in places.

Traffic can be heavy at times. There were 12 cars waiting to get on N.C. 107 last week at 7:45 a.m. Drivers are hurrying to Western Carolina University and Sylva from Dillsboro and Franklin. In late afternoon returning traffic is in a hurry to get home.

I would be interested to know how many vehicles have been sideswiped and/or sent into the ditch along this road in the past. That anyone has not been killed is a miracle.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Rauch Sylva

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