Letters to the editor: 12/07/00

Hopes for our courthouse

To the Editor:

Now the walls look weathered, dirty and neglected. Are you crying from within, remembering days gone by, when you were so very bright?

I know you wish you could return to former glory days. So do most people in this town who remember you when you were so white. Maybe miracles still occur and magically you'll be transformed to your former white and bright glory days.

I hope you don't receive the fate of our high school or theater, which were torn down so easily. They still cause much sadness in those that attended them for so many years.

A concerned citizen,

Linda Queen Phillips

Sylva

Why can't we believe anymore?

To the Editor:

They tried to assure us that they were not taking any of our beliefs away from us, and that all we had heard were lies and rumors.

Well, I'd like to say that they are not rumors. I am in the seventh grade and I see it happening everyday. People are discriminated against and sometimes punished for having a Bible verse on their T-shirt or wearing a cross around their neck. I see the kids who are told to change clothes because of having "Jesus loves meČ written on their shirt.

I am one of the kids who was told that prayer in schools is illegal and that I should not speak much of it. Well, I believe my opinion counts just as much as the opinion of the person who sits up in that big comfy chair and tries to tell me that I must be crazy for seeing kids at my school being punished for speaking of God during class. But I do see it happening. I am not crazy.

The people of the world today are forgetting about the important things in life, such as prayer and thankfulness. Instead, they would rather watch bad TV shows and be selfish and greedy. We are not being selfish or greedy by praying every Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school.

Why can't we believe anymore? There is no harm in it.

Shannon Murphy

Seventh-graders

Smokey Mountain

Elementary School

Why the rush to replace Denton?

To the Editor:

On a vote of 3-2, it was decided that our current chairman will have six months to find other employment. This is not only a slap in the face, but this is not needed nor called for. The people of Jackson County elected Mr. Denton to serve a four-year term as chairman and county manager, and he should be allowed to fulfill his term.

To change the chairman in the middle of his term would cost the taxpayers more money. What happened to the conservative commissioners who want to save the taxpayers' money?

The public voted to change our current system and hire a county manager. When we voted on this, we assumed that the change would take place after Mr. Denton had served his four-year term. Nowhere on the ballot did it say that this change would be immediate.

What is the rush? We shouldn't just hire the first person to come along, or someone who is a friend or relative. If Mr. Denton were allowed to complete his term, this would give our current board of commissioners the time needed to make sure the right person for our communities, the people, and the county is hired.

Mr. Denton has surpassed his duties as both county manager and chairman. Teachers, don't you have the improvements to the schools that you wanted? Parents, aren't your children attending improved schools or looking forward to attending a new school? Athletes, do you use the new recreation facility in Jackson County? Environmentalist, are the SRC sites improving? Employees of Jackson County, do you feel secure in your current position?

All of these changes have taken place during Mr. Denton's term. Just think what could happen if he were able to fulfill that term?

Don't just sit there. Stand up and let your part-time commissioners know that you would like to see Mr. Denton complete his term.

Carl S. Buchanan Jr.

Whittier

Can we afford the cost of education?

To the Editor:

Anyone who pays taxes knows regardless of how you say you are spending money, one way or another the money has to be paid back via direct or indirect taxes. Lawyers are well known for confusing facts, and educators are catching on fast.

The current proposal is to spend millions of dollars to provide castles for the educators to continue their inefficient method of education via bureaucracy. If we, the taxpayers, would insist on efficiencies now being practiced in Germany, Japan and other countries to educate their engineers and students, we would get better educations for money spent. They do the job in two or three years. We make it a playhouse, and do it in five or six years.

Can we continue to afford this type of waste?

The waste spills over into our Jackson County Commission. Our old system of letting amateurs run one of the largest businesses in Jackson County is costing us at least $4 million in wasted tax money.

The quicker we get a professional to run our county, the more results we will get for our tax money.

Frank Young

Cullowhee

Freedom of religion?

To the Editor:

Christians have sat back and watched their freedoms dwindle. First, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the removal of the Ten Commandments from public places. Most recently we have watched prayer disappear in school and before football games.

Now the school board tells us that according to the Supreme Court, teachers have no freedom of religion anymore. Religion is just not confined to church. Jesus Christ firmly instructed believers to spread the good news of the Gospel. This is not only the order of Christianity, but of other religions also. If you dismiss Christianity, you also dismiss every religion from being expressed.

I am also confused that not only is the U.S. Constitution being ignored, but the North Carolina Constitution also. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Even though the teacher is an employee of the state, they are also a citizen of the U.S. This means to me that they have the right to exercise their religious beliefs, not just in specific places, but in all places.

Every person, no matter what religion, should have a conscience and conviction about their job within their religion. North Carolina's forefathers realized this by installing Section 13 of the state constitution titled Religious Liberty. This states that "all persons have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no human authority shall, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the right of conscience."

It seems as though we are not only removing the rights from teachers, but are trying to control their convictions and their consciences. I agree that no one should be forced to do anything that they do not want to do or do not feel comfortable taking part in. This is also an individual decision made by the individual according to the conscience of that person. Teachers are citizens of the U.S. and North Carolina, but above all they are humans with minds and thoughts. You are asking them to ignore their conscience, convictions and human nature to express their feelings. This is going against not only the foundation of the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution but also against the state Constitution.

I cannot find anywhere in the Constitutions of either the nation or state that says that there has to be a "separation of church or state." It is just simply not there. To my regrets, I was not able to find the law that states this and read it for myself. To not see it with my eyes leaves me skeptical that it is there.

The only thing that I found was that the statement has been used in different court cases and was originally spoke by our forefathers. They gave this statement pertaining to what they had experienced in Great Britain. They did not want, under any circumstances, the establishment by the government of a single denomination state church. This is the reason that the Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion." They were concerned about the government running the church or having dominion over religion.

This is exactly to the pinpoint what is going on within our country, state and now our county. This statement that was originally stated by our forefathers has been totally twisted and distorted from the way it was first intended.

Some of the greatest people I have come into contact with are teachers. Some have been Christians; others have been of other religions; other of no religion. No matter what they are associated to, what I realize most is that they are human. They are no different than any other citizen of the United States or the state of North Carolina. I would like to encourage teachers, students and Christian people of this county to stand on what is right and the freedoms they have.

This situation brings my mind to a story within the Bible. Their was a lame man that laid by a pool that the angel stirred at certain times and it was said that it had healing power. This man stayed there for 38 years and when he tried to enter the pool, he was always beat out by someone else. One day Jesus Christ passed by and healed the man not only physically, but also spiritually. Jesus' instructions were to take up his bed and go and tell the miracle that was bestowed upon him.

We, as Christians, must have and are guaranteed the right to spread the good news of what Jesus Christ has done for us. It is commanded to us, just as the lame man did, to tell about the miracle that was bestowed upon us. It is commanded to us, just as the lame man did, to tell about the miracle that was bestowed upon us when he saved our souls and gave us eternal life.

I have not written this letter to questions anyone's knowledge or to make anyone upset. I only want and have tried to take a stand on what I think is right. This is simply unfair and a closer look needs to be taken at the whole picture. Teachers should have right to head and lead organizations, because it is the student's choice if they attend or if they do not. Teachers also should have the privilege of leading prayer and exercising their freedom guaranteed to them. In the same thought, it should also be the student or player's privilege to take part or not. The state does not own their conscience, feelings or convictions.

Let the faculty, staff and students have their freedoms and most important let them be human beings above all.

With respect,

Josh Brooks

Sylva

Back to Archive: 12/07/00.