Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 28, 1993 TAG: 9309290340
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
So what's next? Will our local CADRE chapters be informed that they must cease demanding that youngsters "Just say no to drugs" and substitute, "Well, if you are going to do it, be sure you use a clean needle, and if you can't afford one, the free clinic will be required to furnish one for you."
Has Director Freeh of the Federal Bureau of Investigation drafted his letter to McGruff, the crime dog, that "Taking a bite out of crime" is unacceptable, and in the future he's only to gnaw a little?
We can't change the present administration for another 31/2 years, but we can make sure that its attitudes, which Virginians feel to be morally unacceptable, don't cross the Potomac.
If every person who did not vote for the Democratic Party or who now denies voting for the Clinton-Gore ticket will vote for the Republican slate in the November election, we can show that Virginia still has the intestinal fortitude to "Just say no!"
JERRY L. HAYNES
PULASKI
\ No monopoly on ethics, justice
CHARLIE Linkous (Sept. 22 letter to the editor, "Paying too high a price") states that "30 years ago, almost all Americans agreed that Judeo-Christian ethics provided the measuring stick to determine right and wrong ... Now] there has been a huge increase in violent and non-violent crimes."
Some inveterate jokers like me could say, only half in jest: "So that's what that Judeo-Christian ethics have led to!" This is just as ludicrous, in fact, as to blame, as Linkous does, today's decaying society on the "Many Americans who] reject the Judeo-Christian measuring stick now."
The so-called Judeo-Christians have no monopoly on ethics and justice. Think of Buddhists, Muslims, Taoists, Hindus - you name it. Yes, and secular humanists, too, who value the human being above all, as the name implies.
But, in the name of monopoly of the knowledge of good and evil that Linkous claims, most heinous crimes are committed against humanity. We need only remind him of Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Israel/Palestine and, I hesitate to mention, India, because there it's not Judeo-Christians, but Muslims and Hindus, those "heathen" who periodically slaughter each other in the name of "the one true religion."
Mr. Linkous, it's not the abandonment of Judeo-Christian beliefs that has caused our social ills. Rather it's the failure of those beliefs to prevent the decay of our society that has led many to question and eventually to abandon them.
MORTON NADLER
BLACKSBURG
\ Glad Harris is in the running
I SUPPORT and encourage the appointment of the Rev. Nelson Harris to the vacant seat on Roanoke City Council. After reading the Sept. 20 article by staff writer Joel Turner (``Candidates? There are plenty") in the Roanoke Times & World-News on potential candidates, I was grateful to learn that council is considering him.
The Rev. Harris is a leader in the religious and civic affairs of our community. As a School Board member and a parent, he knows the needs of our children and families. A native Roanoker, the Rev. Harris has a good sense of what our citizens need and expect.
PAULA STOCKS
ROANOKE
\ Heads bowed to take a stand
WHEN I SAW the picture in the Sept. 16 Roanoke Times & World-News of the William Byrd students with heads bowed in prayer, it touched my heart. I bowed my head and wept. I don't know them, but I'm proud to know that they are not ashamed of the Lord and will take their stand for him, even around a flagpole. I'm sure he heard each prayer and rewards each one.
This picture hangs in my kitchen beneath a Bible plaque which reads, "Let not your heart be troubled," etc. May these children keep it up, and God will bless always and reward you abundantly.
NANNIE WHEELER
VINTON
\ Selling out America's interests
THE PRESIDENT, Sens. Bob Dole and John Warner, and Congressman Bob Goodlatte support the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement. They will do so because of the political-action committee money and support for re-election they will get from big business. The millions of people who will lose their jobs to Mexico seem to be mere trash to be swept under a rug.
The history of this country has given us a name and a word for someone who betrays citizens to a foreign government for money and power - Benedict Arnold, traitor!
Come election time, we will remember those who betray us.
BENNIE A. HALL
ROANOKE
by CNB