
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 8, 1991                   TAG: 9102080713
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VACUITY PARADING AS A PROFUNDITY

THE CLOSING sentence of a Jan. 26 editorial, "But safe sex is one thing; safe shooting is something else," is a vacuity parading as a profundity. There is no such thing as "safe sex" because there is no such thing as safe sin.

(Of course, the sex act used with fidelity within a monogamous marriage is not only safe; it is also sinless and beautiful, pleasing to God who created us and endowed us with procreative powers. But that is not what the phrase "safe sex" has come to mean these days.)

Safe shooting is a distinctly possible activity, although being shot at is hazardous to one's health whether on the streets of Roanoke or the sands of Kuwait. Your comparison of safe sex to safe shooting makes as much sense as comparing the mythical griffin to the camel, a real if somewhat preposterous creature. GERALD L. BRUNNING THAXTON

by CNB