Christianity could be defined as Ścult' also
To the Editor:
Along with Kenneth Lee and others, I have been reading with interest
about the new pagan temple in town and some of the local pagans
who are "coming out" to join it.
It's a shame that more of the local pagans who have been here for years
can't afford to be open and honest about their spirituality and find
fellowship there, although many have and many are probably doing it
quietly. They remain quiet not because they are doing anything wrong,
but because some people are arrogant and ignorant enough to believe
that their beliefs are the only "true" beliefs, and they try
to impose them on others.
When the "others" don't conform, horrible things happen to
them. When one person, or group, starts claiming to have the only "truth,"
be afraid. Be very afraid. I recommend a book called "When Religion
Becomes Evil."
Seems to me Christianity could be considered a "cult" too,
so be careful throwing those stones. ("Cult"- a charismatic
leader (Jesus/pastors), a claim to the "one truth," an expectation
that you will not associate with people not of "the fold,"
an assumption that you will give money, proselytization, etc.) To correct
Mr. Lee, his definition of "pagan" is only one definition,
and it is the most ethnocentric one. The original definition is
"a country dweller." Another is "a person who follows
an Earth-centered faith tradition."
Pagans do not worship "false idols." If you asked the priestess
Lianna, I'll bet she'd be happy to explain that to you. As for Jesus,
he was only the most recent of all the sacrificed and resurrected pagan
saviors who came before him. A good guy. Too bad all his teachings were
twisted and lost. Kenneth Lee wrote that God destroys false religions.
Interesting that paganism and Wicca are flourishing. There are many
paths to God. Why don't we let each choose for themselves, shall we?
I wonder why Mr. Lee wrote such a diatribe about what Christians believe?
Was it because he thought the Christians in town needed a reminder?
Or was it an attempt to scare the Pagans into converting? I doubt it
had that effect on them, if that was the intent. Therefore it seems
just another arrogant imposition of values and a need to be heard. I
doubt that these pagans would ever stoop to protesting someone's church
like I saw one man doing in the paper. The pagans I know are too respectful
of others. Pagans never made the covenant with Yahweh that Adam and
Eve did. They are of the "other people."
The ones Cain married into when he left the Garden. Check out the two
creation stories in Genesis, and try thinking for yourself. I wish the
pagan temple all success.
Sean McBride
Sylva
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Award-winner clarifies story
To the Editor:
I would like to correct some misinformation that appeared in the December
3 article about the Jackson County Farmworker Health Program's receipt
of the 2003 Nancy Susan Reynolds Award.
First, and most importantly, I have never been threatened with guns.
I know The Herald received this misinformation from the Z. Smith Reynolds
Foundation's publicists, and the newspaper correctly assumed the source
to be accurate. However, the misinformation was based on rumor.
It is true that I have been met with hostile resistance by growers who
do not want the public to know about the labor practices that drive
agribusiness. The worst experience I have had since beginning this program
has not been receiving personal threats; it has been having to witness
the mistreatment of my farmworker neighbors here in Jackson County.
Farmworkers are living in deplorable conditions and working at below-poverty
level wages in what is considered to be the second most dangerous occupation
in the United States (mining is the first).
I would like to add that not all growers treat their workers badly.
We have gotten to know two growers in particular who pay their workers
well, see to it that they receive medical care, and treat their employees
with respect. These two growers still manage to make a nice profit in
agribusiness, proving that decent business practices in agriculture
are possible.
The child mentioned in the article was the recipient of a surgical procedure
that was made possible by several people and agencies working together,
including Debbie Hage, RN (Jackson County Department of Public Health),
Dr. Marjorie Tripp, Baptist Hospital, Scotts Creek Baptist Church, Jerry
Hagan, Blue Ridge School, Dr. Roy Douthit, the Ronald McDonald House
and several area residents who donated money and offered support to
the family during this time.
The fact that an entire community came together to help save the life
of a previously unknown migrant child is a remarkable thing. Maybe we
will come together to make the lives of all migrants in our county better
as well.
Finally, I'd like to clarify the role of Jennifer Maynor. She is an
Environmental Protection Agency-certified pesticide educator, a health
educator and an outreach worker.
Last year she received a Federal American Farmworker Opportunity Program
award for her work with the children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
She was flown to Washington by AFOP to accept this award and present
vital information about the health status of farmworkers to an audience
that included congressional representatives and leading experts in the
field of migrant health.
She is not at all responsible for administrative duties (although I
wish she could do that, too!). She is, however, someone Jackson County
and Western Carolina University (where she is a student) can be proud
of.
Josie Ellis
Dillsboro
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We need new deal for the Tuckaseigee watershed
To the Editor:
With the privilege and the profits to use and generate hydropower in
our Tuckasegee watershed for the next 40 years comes an obligation.
An obligation and responsibility much greater than the flawed intensions
of mainly removing the Dillsboro Dam as mitigation for all the dams
in Jackson County. Duke Energy Corp. and 35 of the 50 stakeholders have
produced a highly questionable set of mitigation plans for our multi-billion
dollar watershed. As an insult to this region of Western North Carolina,
they seem confident in forwarding what amounts to a monumental heist
with an impending ecological disaster, according to their environmental
assessment consulting study. This is being done with the blessings of
important resource agency stakeholders who, in their zeal to open up
a 10-mile stretch of the river, are not observing any of the concepts
in the science of sediment management and dam removal. As a result of
the stakeholders agreement, instead of a $20-watershed-wide enhancement
package for the 40-year-term (of the licence), we have a cheap, but
(for Duke) reap, disproportionately valued, poorly planned and flawed
dam removal, as the centerpiece of their obligated watershed wide mitigation
package.
Thank goodness there is a new movement and body of science that has
developed over the last decade on dam removal experience. Once this
Duke crafted stakeholder agreement is scrutinized and disputed in the
courts during the upcoming Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing
process, this deal won't get very far.
Unfortunately Duke carefully crafted a questionable and manipulative
stakeholder process that began with and has resulted in this dangerous
(for the ecology and economy) and non-equitable plan.
The eye of science has been on many dam removals in the New England
states, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
But in the southern mountains, we have very different hydrology and
sediment in quality and quantity. Upon further study, it is well to
observe a body of evidence that Duke and the signed stakeholders remain
generations behind. When one studies this science and draws upon the
experience of watershed and sediment experts, we find that our sediment
flowing down, from, and through these mountains, is very different and
present a difficult set of circumstances. For 80 years the Dillsboro
Dam has acted as a sediment trap. The makeup of the remaining sediment
in the mile-long Dillsboro impoundment is primarily sand, not the lighter,
more volatile silt and clay portions (mud) of any sediment. Herein we
have our big problem. Everyone expects that opening the Dam up gradually
will replicate a typical (brown) high water event. Not so fast Duke
and signed stakeholders. (We'll have a sediment expert here next month
to explain these dynamics). Sand remains behind our silted up sediment
trap Dillsboro Dam (and you haven't even delegated a study of all this).
And this stakeholder derived, Duke proposal sanctions the release, of
300,000 cubic yards of sand-based sediment down the river at Dillsboro.
That would devastate our fishery, ecology and river economy for decades
to come.
We want a "new deal" for the Tuckaseigee watershed.
Duke Energy, with a blind eye on the value of our waterfront, and allowing,
with abandonment, our reservoir to "silt up," aptly described
our mile-long, run-of-the-river reservoir, a pond, in their consulting
studies. We do have a nice pond and need to develop a greater plan for
it, along with park land along its shores. We think this section of
the river, with, its multimillion dollar Dillsboro Dam and pond -front
property, is a monument to your industry and our history. We want a
new deal for the watershed, a trust fund for maintenance for years to
come and a greenway, and an opportunity to do something vastly different
with our dam.
T.J. Walker
Dillsboro
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Former library task force member supports downtown Sylva site
To the Editor,
Now, before any more time is wasted, the moment has come for the citizens
of Sylva to send a clear and firm message to the county commissioners
and the Fontana Regional Library that nothing less than keeping the
Jackson County Public Library within the town of Sylva will be acceptable.
To me, the removal of the library from the town of Sylva is an act of
intolerable ingratitude by the commissioners. They have forgotten how
time and time again the town of Sylva has come to their aid.
They appear to have forgotten that until 1975 the Sylva Volunteer Fire
Department provided the only fire protection for Jackson County, saving
taxpayers untold thousands of dollars. The town of Sylva housed the
department, purchased equipment and provided operating funds and training
opportunities. Would the county commissioners like to make public their
financial support of the fire department during those early years!
It also seems the Board of Commissioners has forgotten that our hospital
was and is made possible by the town of Sylva. Dare the county commissioners
make public their financial support of the hospital over the years!
Have the commissioners overlooked the fact that the hospital, which
they have not supported, provided until 1982 outpatient clinics for
all citizens of Jackson County?
Is the memory of the commissioners so limited that they don't remember
the employment chaos created in 1974 with the closing of the Mead Paper
Plant and the tragic loss of the Hennessee Lumber Mill? The commissioners
pleaded with the town of Sylva to provide a loan from our UDAG funds
so the paper plant could be reopened. That loan of millions was made
by the town of Sylva and the plant reopened.
Is the memory of the commissioners so meager that they can't recall
when they came to the town of Sylva, with hat in hand, desperately urging
that we take the lead in establishing the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer
Authority? They argued that it would open up the county for development
and improve the quality of life of the people. There was only one hitch
in the plea. It could not be accomplished without the help of the town
of Sylva. The town responded, turning over to the TWSA its water/sewer
system with all of its assets, plus a grant from UDAG funds of more
than a quarter of a million dollars.
How quickly the commissioners have forgotten that the town of Sylva
for decades provided the center for goods, services, recreation and
entertainment for the entire county. At the same time, the tax base
of the town made Jackson County fiscally sound.
One could go on and on detailing how the town of Sylva has through the
years generously supported the county with tax dollars, goods and services.
Sylva provided the only swimming pool for the entire county, paid $20,000
to build the tennis courts at Mark Watson Park and, in fact, gave the
Mark Watson Park property to the county when the county school system
was created.
We want to keep our library downtown. We do not want a branch library
or a satellite library. We wish to see the Jackson County Library in
the county seat. I would not presume to speak for the people of the
town, but I personally believe the town of Sylva has more than "paid
its dues," so to speak. I feel the town deserves the library.
I want the commissioners to know that every vote to move the library
or make of the library a second-rate facility connected with a joint
library is driving a coffin nail in the hopes and dreams of maintaining
a vibrant and exciting downtown.
Again, may I say, as for "me and my house," I view the effort
to move the primary county library facility as an act of sheer ingratitude
directed toward the town and its citizens.
The county commissioners may forget our support of the county, but I
don't believe the town will forget their determined ungratefulness for
the past acts of our helpfulness.
John Bunn
Sylva
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